1 of 8

Sunnyside Shower Project (SSP) Needs Assessment

Findings & Recommendations

2 of 8

18 guests in total

  • 17 survey respondents
  • 7 interviews
  • 19 people in an audit of 3 weeks worth of sign in sheets

Average age: 52

Gender:

  • 1 woman, 16 men, 1 declined to answer

Race:

  • 2 Black people, 1 Latinx person, 12 white people, 3 declined to answer

Demographic Information

3 of 8

Barriers

Time (n:10)

  • Guest satisfaction with the current available days and times to shower varied significantly (M:7.65; SD:2).
  • Seven guests requested more available days and extended hours to shower
  • Three guests said that scheduling appointments is difficult
  • Two guest suggested that opening every day would help, allow for more walk ins
  • Many guests would like more than 30 minutes to meet all hygiene needs

Finding Services (n:6)

  • Feeling unwelcome, distance to get to the services, and limited number of service options limit guest ability to meet hygiene needs outside of the SSP

4 of 8

Needs

Specific Toiletry Items (n:9)

  • Survey respondents’ ratings on their satisfaction with available toiletries varied widely (M:7.73; SD:2.09).
  • Requests for specific brands (Axe, Old Spice, Method)
  • Requests for specific items (razors, spray-on deodorant, and hypoallergenic soaps)

​

Clothing (n:7)

  • Seasonally appropriate items
  • Clothing exchange idea
  • Two guests mentioned that other hygiene programs offer better/more clothing options but SSPs other positive qualities keep them coming here

5 of 8

Strengths

Facility & Location (n:6)

  • 13 of 18 participants stated that the SSP is the only place where they meet their hygiene needs
  • Centrally located near other services, the library, and places where people live

​

Volunteers (n:7)

  • Survey respondents’ average ratings on trust in and satisfaction with volunteers were high (M:8.53; SD:2.43).
  • Two guests called volunteers “friendly”, other guests described volunteers as “awesome”, “very nice”, and “good conversationalists.”

6 of 8

Recommendations (short term)

Make the most of current operating hours

  • More outreach to fill all current available shower appointments
  • Outreach to people where they are on shower days so people keep appointments
  • Encourage use of other bathrooms for pre- and post- shower hygiene needs
  • Increase hot water supply with new hot water heater

​

Providing more consistent ways for people to give feedback

  • White board for people to write down one-off requests or give feedback
  • Comment card box for people to submit more anonymously (already implemented)
  • These will be reviewed regularly by Cole and discussed in regular check ins with Hannah

​

7 of 8

Recommendations (long term)

Extending Operating Hours

  • Meet with church leadership to discuss our access to the facility
  • Recruit more volunteers

​

Future Assessments

  • Conduct assessments annually
  • Improve processes next time based on learnings from this assessment

8 of 8

What’s next?

Sharing the final report with guests, volunteers, and other community members

  • Jes is making a graphic representation of these slides!

Implementing what we’ve found

  • Hopefully securing more funding!

Planning future assessments