Build A Bus Home operations manager James Osier along with director Lisa Gillotti give a tour of the 53-foot Shower Trailer that houses 17 shower stalls and a wash station with eight sinks and mirrors. Supported by a 2,500-gallon grey water tank truck, it can provide on-site shower facilities to the homeless throughout Thurston County.
In January 2018, Lisa Gillotti had the idea to create a bus village that would contain housing, services and an opportunity for community for homeless populations in Thurston County.
A year and a half later, the first unit in that dream — a mobile hygiene trailer — is almost ready to roll out.
Gillotti, now the director of Build A Bus Home, and operations manager James Osier, along with a team of volunteers, have put hundreds of hours of physical labor and thousands of dollars from their own pockets into renovating a former national resources trailer into a 17-stall shower station, complete with benches, sinks and mirrors.
The trailer features five women’s showers and 12 men’s showers with the possibility of logistical changes depending on who needs to use the services. Gillotti emphasized that the showers will be welcoming to the LGBTQ community.
The operation is completely self-sufficient with a pump plant, a portable bladder for fresh water, disposal methods and its own power source.
“We’re ready now,” Osier said. “We just have the final touches to do, which is some final finances we have to take care of.”
The organization is waiting on finances to secure the licenses and insurance needed to drive the 53-foot vehicle from site to site.
Though they have received some outside donations, Gillotti is hoping the cities of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater and other agencies will contract with them to provide the remaining finances.
Gillotti, a Lacey resident, wants to start services there then expand to Olympia and Tumwater. She already has spoken to Lacey-area churches about providing parking stations for the trailer.
A representative for the City of Lacey said that while the city is supportive of any non-profit providing services for people in need, they don’t currently have any ties to the Build A Bus Home organization.
But lack of participation by local government is not deterring Gillotti or Osier.
“It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Osier said. “If I have to sell my car, I guess I will.”
Though after already contributing $40,000 to buy the trailer, he’s hoping it won’t come to that.
“We want the community to jump on board and help us,” Gillotti added.
For both, this has become a personal project. Osier was homeless for two years at one point, and said he would have appreciated free and accessible showers during that time.
“People treat homeless people like they’re dirt,” he said. “Not everyone is there because they want to be there.”
Osier will drive the hygiene station from homeless camps, to mitigation sites, and into the woods, where many unauthorized homeless encampments have popped up. He said the unit will stay in one place for a few days to accommodate everyone who wants a shower.
“It can offer a change of life. And we’ll help them get off the streets if that’s what they want,” Gillotti said.
Even as they wait to start operating the hygiene truck, the organization is already planning for additional projects. Gillotti wants to make her bus community idea — A Village of Care — a reality. She said volunteers have started working on renovating a school bus to serve as a laundry facility and the next project will transform a bus into a computer hub where people can work on resumes, speak with social workers and relax.
After those projects, Build A Bus Home plans to start tackling long-term housing; building small and large affordable-living units in buses for people of all needs.
Gillotti and Osier are certain they will succeed.
“Everything is falling into place as it should be. I have faith,” Gillotti told The Olympian.
Osier is a bit more direct.
“I want this thing up and going before the end of July,” he said.
