Last week, Brooklyn President Eric Adams announced a new
project aimed at restoring dignity and respect to local homeless people. His
administration, Brooklyn Community Services, or BCS, is joining forces with
Turning Point Brooklyn to build a mobile dual-shower bus for the homeless.
The project will cost $385,000, $308,000 of which will be funded
by Adams’ capital budget for Fiscal Year 2018, and another $77,000 will be
donated by the City Council. The converted bus will take a year to complete,
and will join Turning Point Brooklyn’s “We Care About You” campaign which provides
showers, clean towels, shampoo and soap, shaving kits, socks and underwear,
laundry services and other amenities in Sunset Park.
The shower bus will aim to help those in other locations.
“We are going to target those locations where homeless are located.
We’re going to go to food pantries, hospitals, different locations where we find
homeless going to try to find some type of basic shelter,” Adam explained. “You
cannot get a job if you can’t walk into a space to deal with your basic hygiene
needs. You can’t sit in a classroom, you can’t get on the train, a bus, if you
can’t deal with your basic hygiene needs.
“This bus is going to become a symbol where our homeless men
and woman will be able to identify a safe space not only to clean themselves,
but to also start the process of holding on to their dignity,” he added.
