Urban Alchemy Brings Radical Hospitality® to San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, CA
January 4, 2021
LavaMaeˣ consults with non-profit Urban Alchemy to launch mobile showers in the SF Bay Area, and trains its staff in Los Angeles
The Backstory: From LavaMaeˣ partner to shower provider
Urban Alchemy has been helping unhoused people alongside LavaMaeˣ since they launched in 2018, helping to staff Pop-Up Care Villages and mobile showers with de-escalation support and much more. In working so closely with LavaMaeˣ, Urban Alchemy soon became inspired to adopt mobile shower service as part of its own programming. The philosophy of Radical Hospitality—meeting people wherever they are with extraordinary care—resonated with the organization as it fits in line with its safety and service principles and wanted to do more for the community.
In order to begin providing showers, Urban Alchemy had to cross many barriers, such as sourcing shower trailers, permitting, and having to adjust to COVID-19. Time was of the essence, and LavaMaeˣ was already looking to donate two of its fully operational shower trailers in San Francisco. After permitting and paperwork, Urban Alchemy acquired two shower trailers and has since partnered with a laundry provider and caseworkers.
Adopting Radical Hospitality
Building trust is one of the most important aspects of delivering showers and reaching communities you intend to serve. With Radical Hospitality, you can do this remarkably well, and Urban Alchemy has adopted this from LavaMaeˣ’s free training session and has already seen its effectiveness.
“Radical Hospitality affects how we talk to our guests and neighbors. We remember names and stay open to talking with everyone; a lot of the time people just want to be heard. The relationships that are being built are really strong,” says Matthew Milor of Urban Alchemy. “We had a couple who would come shower with us from time to time, and one day they showed up with their kids. We had no idea they had children, but now they were comfortable bringing them to use our showers. It felt so good that we had built that trust.”
How LavaMaeˣ helped
In addition to donating two trailers, LavaMaeˣ provided Urban Alchemy free training on how to run shower service and connected them to grant funding. LavaMaeˣ staffer Annie Stickel provided this training, and gave Urban Alchemy staff the knowledge and confidence to deliver shower service.
“In many regards LavaMaeˣ inspired us,” says Bayron Wilson of Urban Alchemy. “And then they offered all the resources to get started: the trailers, the trucks, and even startup grants. Not to mention the ongoing support and training. To know that we could call LavaMaeˣ for some of the harder questions makes a huge difference. That’s what you call a game changing trendsetter.”
Louie, another Urban Alchemy staffer, says, “Lava Mae gave me confidence. I was very afraid of going in to start a shower program. After we were done with our training with Annie, I had the confidence to do it and am now able to share my confidence with the team and newcomers.”
The Urban Alchemy Service Model
Urban Alchemy has adopted the LavaMaeˣ service model. The organization dedicates its staff to particular roles throughout the day, from line management and data collection to cleaning shower stalls and providing hygiene items to guests.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, Urban Alchemy operates two shower trailers, one that serves the San Francisco Main Public Library’s Safe Sleeping Village and the other trailer serving two of Oakland’s Community Cabin sites and a location in neighboring Alameda.
In Los Angeles, Urban Alchemy staffs LA County’s Shower Stop program that operates six trailers throughout LA County. Urban Alchemy staffs these trailers and was trained by LavaMaeˣ consultant Joey Freid.
“Joey is responsible for how we train the whole team!” says Bayron. “He brought a whole mindset to us around how guests should be treated when they’re at their most vulnerable. We saw and felt it at our onsite training and knew It was powerful.”
Keys to Success
To Bayron, the key to Urban Alchemy’s success is “our flexibility—how we adapt to almost all situations. We’re not here to judge, we're here to support, listen, share. There is no “us against them,” there’s just us. Homelessness has no ethnicity or religion. We have to come together and use each other to get to better places.”
How To Help
To learn more and support Urban Alchemy, you can click here.
