BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Dignity and wellness access for underserved populations Welcome to the fourth week of The Optimist Daily’s Annual Local Changemakers series. This week, we highlight leaders ensuring that basic human needs like hygiene, nourishment, and health are met with creativity and compassion. In San Luis Obispo County, California, Gwen Watkins transformed a simple idea into a mobile movement for dignity. In her seventies, Gwen launched Shower the People, a volunteer-run mobile hygiene nonprofit that’s now delivered more than 25,000 showers and counting. One woman, one idea, and a whole lot of heart It started with a need Gwen Watkins couldn’t ignore. In San Luis Obispo County, many unhoused individuals were unable to access the church-based shower services available in the area. Gwen recognized the gap, and at an age when many would be stepping back from service, she stepped up.  In her seventies, she began fundraising for a mobile shower trailer that could go where people were, not the other way around. After two years of determined effort, Shower the People officially launched in 2017 with a sustainable, completely volunteer-run model that continues to serve the community with compassion, consistency, and genuine human connection. As nominator Alicia put it: “Gwen saw a need… Many folks can’t travel to the churches that provided shower services, and the mobile van brought the showers to areas where folks could access them more easily, providing them with a sense of dignity.” With no blueprint but plenty of resolve, Gwen designed the program to be sustainable, flexible, and centered on the people it served. Her approach was simple but profound: meet people where they are, greet them by name, and make every interaction a moment of respect and care. As the organization’s new General Manager Gary Petersen explained: “Her vision was that the unhoused could find a place to be treated with dignity, called by their own name each time they arrived, and get a shower, supplies, and referrals for local services. She always emphasized, ‘We do showers.’” A growing community care hub What started as a mobile hygiene effort has grown into a robust, wraparound support network. As volunteer coordinator Kevin Dunlap shared with The Optimist Daily: “It is interesting to note that Shower the People is a completely volunteer-driven organization. From the Board, General Manager to the Shower Cleaners, there are no paid positions.” That spirit of service is part of why the organization has grown into a wider care network. At sites like the alley behind the San Luis Obispo Library, Shower the People now offers, among other services: Free monthly health clinics in partnership with Vituity Cares, Access Support Network, and WashMeGo. In 2024 alone, these clinics served 340 guests, providing over 120 medical exams, 70 vaccinations, treatment, testing, and even haircuts and hot meals. No-cook food bags from the SLO Food Bank, tailored to unhoused residents’ nutritional needs and distributed by STP volunteers at Thursday shower shifts. A new healthcare access guide, created by STP, which demystifies local medical and mental health resources for those without stable housing. The resource outlines eligibility, walk-in options, insurance requirements, and more, making healthcare less intimidating and more reachable. Veteran outreach at events like Veterans Stand Down in Santa Maria, where STP has provided showers every year since 2017. Regular hygiene days with community partners that transform shower sites into pop-up wellness hubs. These services are essential to the community, as it is clear that the need continues to grow. Last month alone, more than 700 guests came for showers, supplies, or referrals. Each guest receives a clean T‑shirt, underwear, socks, toiletries, a towel and washcloth, and 15 minutes of private hot water. These seemingly small, simple things really deliver a big impact. At the heart of it all are the volunteers, whom Gwen often called “the backbone of this work.” As one volunteer told KSBY News: “Everybody who’s part of the organization is doing it because they want to be there. The more volunteers we have, the more effective we can be.” A legacy in motion Gwen officially retired at the end of 2024, but her vision lives on through the thriving nonprofit she built. In a resolution honoring her, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors wrote: “Her compassion, generosity, and humble leadership have guided the efforts of the all-volunteer-run organization since its founding in 2017.” That legacy of seeing a need, showing up, and staying steady continues to ripple outward with every clean towel handed out and every guest reminded of their worth. Support or get involved Visit their website: showerthepeopleslo.org Follow them on Instagram: @showerthepeopleslo Take a look at their volunteer opportunities! “I am not interested in being awarded anything—I’m just incredibly proud of the work Shower the People does for the homeless, and incredibly proud of our volunteers.” -Gwen Watkins The post Shower the People: How Gwen Watkins built a mobile hygiene hub and a legacy of dignity first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.