Published 2 weeks ago by Laura Fruitman and Kris Kepler. Read about 8 minutes. Picture: Provide LavaMaex brand

Mobile shower pioneer LavaMaex and Unilever brand The Right to Shower have formed a partnership to provide more than 38,000 homeless people with a sense of dignity, hope and fresh opportunity.

Did you take a shower today? Anytime this week? Imagine if you can't. How would it feel? How will it affect your self-perception and the way you act in the world?

Doniece Sandoval and Laura Fruitman both adopted this empathy and felt the need to act-Sandoval created the non-profit organization LavaMaex, Bring mobile showers and other basic care services to the streets, because homeless people need them most; and Fruitman donated part of its profits to mobile shower suppliers through the creation of the Unilever brand The Right to Shower. Together, they firmly believe that hygiene is a human right and are determined to restore hygiene to the homeless. This has led to cross-departmental cooperation and a new sense of opportunity for communities across the United States.

In 2013, Doniece Sandoval's three experiences forced her to open her eyes and truly see the homelessness crisis on the streets of San Francisco, showing her for the last time how she can help. Walking in the design area, Sandoval passed a young woman who was begging.

"She was upset and untidy. She said over and over again that she would never be clean. Although I know her words can mean many things, I am curious about the chances of her being clean."

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Not good, the result came out. Sandoval learned that the city has only 16 public showers that can accommodate about 7,000 homeless people. She also discovered that the Municipal Transportation Bureau is phasing out old buses. Bells flashed through her mind, she decided to convert the bus into a well-stocked, well-designed mobile shower and toilet facilities. Only a year later, Lava Mae (now LavaMaex) started taking a bath in the street.

Throughout the country in New York City, I couldn't escape the experience of the early 2000s, when I often chatted with a homeless person I saw nearby. When he told me that I was the only person talking to him, I was touched—and troubled.

Years later, when I was a senior executive at Unilever’s Dove brand, I saw Doniece Sandoval’s TEDx talking about the launch of Lava Mae. Inspired, I suggested that Unilever create a special brand of natural soap and shower gel, and use 30% of its profits to expand the use of shower rooms. As a resident entrepreneur of Unilever, I founded The Right to Shower and launched the series in April 2019 with four perfumes-each perfume is named after the emotion I want to arouse the user: joy , Strength, hope and dignity.

The belief that access to cleanliness is a basic human right—helps restore the health and dignity of the homeless—is rooted in the “right to shower”; while developing the brand, I look for a way to change this belief on the street. As a realistic partner. I contacted Doniece in 2018 and launched the right to shower with LavaMaex as the main mission partner. As a social enterprise, The Right to Shower provides funding and products for the shower program; LavaMaex uses its expertise to advise brands and identify, review and recommend projects for The Right to Shower funding projects.

This cooperation is at a critical moment for LavaMaex. Responding to demands from all over the world, the team has begun piloting the transition from being primarily a direct service provider to primarily working as a consultant, teaching social entrepreneurs and community groups to provide mobile showers and other basic care services designed by LavaMaex to their own streets.

The relationship with the right to shower accelerated the proof of concept of the pivot. I (then the senior director of projects and impact) managed the partnership; when the non-profit organization changed its name to LavaMaex in January 2020-for exponential growth and accelerated impact-I took over as CEO and led the team to a broader shift Influence. LavaMaex is now working with startup service providers through its LavaMaex Connect platform and one-on-one consultations, and provides seed funding to providers ready to launch through The Right to Shower grants.

Since the start of the pilot phase of the consulting program in 2018, LavaMaex has directly trained and helped start 33 service providers. Among them, 20 American providers obtained seed funding through their partnership with The Right to Shower; in total, they worked with 3,250 volunteers to provide more than 82,400 showers to 37 communities.

This kind of seed funding, usually about US$10,000 per project, has a huge impact. Most recipients use the money to buy or build shower trailers, which is usually the difference between starting service or stopping service.

"This funding is critical to our plan," said Ricka Davis-Sheard, founder of the Share Community in Antioch, California. Funding from The Right to Shower allows us to provide more than 100 showers per month for those in need. Most of our support comes from small donors, so this capital injection puts us on a healthy track. "

The start-up cost of a mobile shower room ranges from US$55,000 to US$85,000, depending on the size of the trailer. The US$10,000 matching grant from The Right to Shower to LavaMaex is usually the last thing the provider needs to bring care services to the street. Part. Grants for several consecutive years allow providers to extend services to new locations.

"We were able to purchase two shower trailers with seed money from LavaMaex and The Right to Shower-one for Bangor. Members of Brick Church have been providing outreach services to homeless residents for many years and are very happy to be able to Provide hot showers; and a second shower for disabled American veterans in Massachusetts. This is part of a concerted effort to reach out to homeless veterans and help them leave the streets,” Bangor, Maine Peter Kelleher, founder of Support the Soupman, reports that the company also sells The Right to Shower products on its website.

The partnership also helped LavaMaex increase training, consulting, and resource services during the pandemic—including designing and deploying a do-it-yourself handwashing station for communities lacking running water. Currently, the organization is negotiating with nearly 70 start-up suppliers, and more than 884 people from 381 cities in 22 countries/regions are active members of its Connect platform.

Successful business and non-profit partnerships are not only about money; it is rooted in deep-seated mission alignment, mutual respect, and the willingness and ability to contribute to each other's goals. The foundation allows partners to take a team approach and establish a relationship that is long-lasting enough to have a lasting impact.

The Right to Shower and LavaMaex collaborate on service expansion and marketing opportunities. LavaMaex collects impact data and stories; the right to shower spreads them on its communication channels to demonstrate the value of showering in restoring the hope and dignity of the homeless. The brand hired a former LavaMaex employee to help lead social media, and her voice provided authenticity to the company's message.

Partners also carried out high-profile activities around homelessness awareness month and World Water Day; during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Right to Shower led six Unilever brands to donate LavaMaex and its supplier network A hygiene kit for the homeless.

Of course, funding is very important. As shown in the impact data above, the ability to provide grants over many years has significantly expanded the impact of the partnership.

The combination of funding and advice provided by the LavaMaex and The Right to Shower partnership has greatly accelerated the ability of social entrepreneurs to bring their services to the streets, because the homeless need them the most and with radical enthusiasm Hospitality-LavaMaex spirit provides these services to meet people, no matter where they are, take extra care.

More such cross-sectoral partnerships are needed, not only to provide services for the homeless living on city streets, but also to take care of the increasing number of people displaced by the long-term effects of extreme weather events and climate change . All these people need showers, etc.-LavaMaex is also training providers to provide one of its new concepts, namely Pop-up Care Village: a multi-vendor service model where guests can get haircuts, medical care, legal advice, and employment Assistance and other free services. In addition to the shower service.

The village approach is a way to mobilize community resources to achieve maximum results and make the displaced, regardless of their situation, feel connected and cared for. As we discovered during the pandemic, this is the feeling we all need; any cooperation that can produce it is very worthwhile.

Published on November 2, 2021 at 8 a.m. EDT/ 5 a.m. Pacific Standard Time/ 12 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time/ 1 p.m. Central European Time

Laura Fruitman is the co-founder and general manager of The Right to Shower, a personal care brand that provides high-quality, ethical head-to-toe cleaners and uses 30% of profits to help the homeless Mobile shower plan.

Kris Kepler is the CEO of LavaMaex, a non-profit accelerator that aims to change the way communities around the world view and serve their homeless neighbors. @lavamaex