Maryland resident Omolayo Adebayo turned a four-year-long dream of hers to help the homeless into an innovative nonprofit for the community.
After Adebayo’s nonprofit — The Neighborhood Well — raised $50,000 to purchase a mobile shower, the 32-year-old rolled out the unit in October 2021, Fox 29 reports. According to Adebayo, the vision for an innovative way to help the homeless was first spurred in 2017.
“It came from a dream, from God,” Omolayo Adebayo told the outlet. “It was a mobile shower, a man in front of it saying ‘Thank you’ and that was the dream.”
She continued: “And that came around the time God was pushing me to start a non-profit,” she continued. “So once I had that dream, it solidified…this is what the non-profit was for.”
The Mobile Shower
Located in Prince George’s County, MD, the two-stall shower unit, which includes a toilet, will offer free showers every second and fourth Saturday.
“We all know what that fresh feeling is like,” Adebayo said. “But then to add for someone who doesn’t know where their next shower is coming from, or some people who may not shower in weeks…it’s just a new sense of self.”
The unit also provides fresh underclothes, toiletries, and refreshments.
The Nonprofit's Services
The Neighborhood Well makes a great effort to provide those experiencing homelessness with transportation through its partnerships with churches based on availability.
In partnership with Community Crisis Services, Inc. and Prince George’s County Public Library System, the nonprofit also provides Blessing Bags — toiletries, food, and resources — as well as prayer and conversation to those experiencing homelessness, according to their website.
The Location
The Neighborhood Well’s pilot program is hosted at First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville.
The church will be the unit’s location until March 2022.
Learn More
To learn more about the mobile shower program, click here.
