Showers of Blessing Honors Donors

Nonprofit Provides Showers and Dignity to Homeless Community Members

Boardmember Fr. Nicholas Speier, Board President Ann Veazey, Executive Director John Tamiazzo, Development Manager Jackie Goodman, and Supervisor for Daily Operations David Marsango | Credit: Gail Arnold

On July 12, Showers of Blessing hosted a lovely event to thank supporters for enabling the nonprofit to provide showers, and along with it, a sense of dignity, to homeless members of our community. The Donor Appreciation Party, held in the Unitarian Society’s scenic courtyard, featured speakers sharing their perspectives on the organization’s mission, which also includes providing toiletries, food, and connection to other services. It operates at seven sites each week with two small trailers of shower stalls.

Supervisor Laura Capps thanked supporters and lauded the nonprofit’s work, which literally, she noted, provides a fresh start for someone’s day or evening. Capps praised the nonprofit for initiating and expanding services using an innovative way to care for community members that breaks the mold of traditional congregate shelters. In touching remarks, Capps shared the importance of smiling at people when they show up for services, “knowing that for them, every day is much harder than what we’re experiencing in our own lives.”

Showers of Blessing’s compassionate team — a full-time executive director, several part-time staff, and many more volunteers — embody this spirit, providing a welcoming environment for our homeless community members. Daily Operations Supervisor David Marsango, a former Santa Barbara Rescue Mission program participant who has worked at Showers of Blessing since 2019, conveyed his gratitude to donors. He feels blessed to serve guests who come in with afflictions and addictions, doing his best to make them comfortable. He enjoys seeing guests come to trust him and regard the Showers of Blessing team as family.

A former guest of Showers of Blessing related that decades ago when he was homeless, he would use the ocean, beach showers, and coffee shop sinks to rinse and bathe. Then three years ago, when he was again homeless, he availed himself of Showers of Blessing’s services. In a sweet, emotional moment, he attested that Showers of Blessing truly had been a blessing for him.

After some musical performances, including an especially fitting and delightful performance by Dan Diamond of James Taylor’s Shower the People, Executive Director John Tamiazzo closed out the program with an equally fitting quote from Mother Theresa: “Do we look at the poor and the hungry with compassion? They are hungry, not only for food; they’re hungry to be recognized as human beings. They’re hungry for dignity, and to be treated as we are treated, and they’re hungry for our love.”

Showers of Blessing provided 7,500 showers last year to 750 individuals. It anticipates serving even more this year. At each site, guests receive a towel, washcloth, toiletries, food, and a pair of socks and underwear. Other nonprofits serving this population are also present, providing medical care and other services.

Volunteer Sally Faulstich related how she loves her position checking in guests at the St. Michael’s University Church site in Isla Vista each week because of how appreciative the guests are. They appreciate not just the showers, toiletries, and food, she related, but also being able to share their stories and to laugh with someone. “It’s really a loving community,” she added.

All Showers of Blessing sites are in South County and most are at churches. Only 10 percent of its $385,000 budget comes from government sources, and that funding is uncertain going forward. The Women’s Fund of S.B., the Natalie Orfalea Foundation, and the S.B. Foundation are among its supporters. Showers of Blessing seeks donations at any level, including sponsors for specific sites for a month, season, or year. It seeks to add an additional site in Goleta.

The mission, Tamiazzo related, is not just to give people a shower, but rather to help them gain a role in the community again. A shower is part of human dignity, Tamiazzo shared, so the program is really about love and respect.