Humanity Showers
Jordan Verdin, founder of Humanity Showers, offers unhoused people a safe place to wash up – and a chance to share their stories.
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F9, ISO 125
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F9, ISO 125
“I feel human again,” Brett said after taking his first shower in over a month. He was one of the first people to try out the movable shower trailer Jordan Verdin set up in a San Diego parking lot in 2019. After his shower Brett got a haircut, a shave, and some clean clothes.
Brett became homeless after losing his job due to health setbacks. He hated the way people would look at him, and the reactions when he walked inside a building. Jordan treated Brett with respect, kindness, and had been getting to know him long before offering a chance to try out the new shower trailer. By 2022, Brett was living in his own place.
In 2014, Jordan didn’t know any unhoused people. What he did know was the power of stories to change implicit bias, so he formulated the idea of interviewing 100 people to challenge stereotypes about homelessness. As he got to know these subjects, he asked what made them happy and what they needed. The most common responses he heard could be summed up in this way: “The need to be seen and the need to be clean.”
Jordan knew he could not immediately solve the complex problem of homelessness, but he realized he could creatively meet those two basic needs. After noticing a mobile shower at a concert, it became clear to Jordan that this would be an effective way to meet the need to be clean.
In 2015, he started a crowdfunding page and slowly raised enough money to build one shower trailer with two private stalls, thinking of naming it Bob’s Bus after a man he had been getting to know. Bob had a master’s degree and was working on his PhD when he became homeless. When Bob died, Jordan decided Bob’s Bus would be a way to honor the memory of someone who helped transform Jordan’s perceptions about homelessness.
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F10, ISO 100
Moreover, upon hearing Brett say he felt like a human again for the first time in a long time, the name Humanity Showers was born. Humanity Showers also honors each individual with a few moments of peace, dignity, and personal refreshment.
“If I have a really bad day, or go through seriously challenging things, I go home and take a shower. It washes that experience and those interactions off me,” Jordan explains.
“I was meeting people on the streets who were having the worst day of their life every day while out here. And that’s just stuck on them. The street’s stuck on them. So, they were saying, ‘Man, I’m able to wash this off me.’” A shower is a first step in feeling able to go for a job interview, follow up with a social worker, or meet small daily goals.
Since that first day in 2019, Humanity Showers has grown to operate 2000 showers a month across San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County.
Each trailer is equipped with roomy, individual locking shower stalls, soap, shampoo, and towels. Humanity Showers also offers clothing, haircuts, and food provided by volunteers with and without homes. More importantly, at Humanity Showers events, the lines between ‘us’ and ‘them’ blur as a sense of community comes into clear focus.
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F10, ISO 100
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F8, ISO 100
The Power of Connection
While Jordan was developing the idea for Humanity Showers, he was growing his skills as a photographer. His sister helped him get a photojournalism job in 2018, and he began teaching himself basic skills. Now, he uses portraiture to allow the unseen to finally be seen.
“I have FUJIFILM GFX50R along with FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR. What I love about that camera is how much it feels like analog film. It lets me be slow with my process and connect with people. A lot of times, I only get one photo and that’s it. It’s not like I’m having a full-on session. All these pictures are made on the street.”
Jordan sets up a black background and a light to create uniformity in his portraits and let the beauty in each person shine through without any distractions. The environment of the homeless encampment can be chaotic, and he wants the person to be the primary focus of the portrait. “It makes a little barrier,” he explains.
Jordan learned everything he knows about photography from experience and online videos. For him, the most important artistic device is human connection. Jordan rarely makes a portrait the first time he meets someone. Usually, they will have talked several times beforehand.
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F8, ISO 100
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F8, ISO 125
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F8, ISO 125
“If I gave you my exact settings, my exact setup, you would make a different picture than I would. Mostly because the connection we’ve had creates the portrait more than the camera.”
When Jordan’s dad was struggling with addiction, it took just one kind person to help his father turn his life around. “It wasn’t money, but it was relationship and conversation. It shifted the entire history of our family.” The change in his father inspired Jordan to live a life of service.
“One person a long time ago cared about my dad. She didn’t do a story about him or anything; she just cared about him. And then it led to me being able to do what I’m doing. That’s why I believe in the power of caring.”
That care shines through his portraits. Jordan has partnered with local libraries to host art exhibitions. Through his photos, estranged family members have reconnected, and Jordan reads words of encouragement from people who saw their portraits on social media to the subjects of the photos.
“I always give power to the people, saying, ‘Hey, I’m gonna share your story on Instagram.’ The purpose behind it is to educate people, and dismantle the stigmas and stereotypes. I’m gonna let people read your story and then, at any time, if you wish for me to take it down, I’ll take it down. So, they always have control. If you ever want to edit your story, we can edit your story. I always give agency and power to the community.”
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F6.4, ISO 100
Building Peace
Jordan studied conflict resolution and peacebuilding in college, learning that stories, more than statistics, have the power to change mindsets and transform the world. He learned about implicit bias and wanted to challenge common stereotypes about homeless people. Now, he’s working on a master’s degree in crisis management. He hopes to eventually work Humanity Showers out of existence because local communities will find sustainable ways to meet all residents’ basic hygiene needs.
In addition to having a full-time job, being in graduate school and raising a family, Jordan runs Humanity Showers as a volunteer. He wants to inspire people, to prove anyone can make a positive difference in their neighborhoods.
“If people could just take what they love and use it to bring relief to an injustice, that’s when they are living their life’s purpose. And if we could take what’s available to us right now and use it to make the world better, that would really shift everything.”
“I’m hoping and believing we’re making the world better just by loving folks. No judgment if you’re addicted, if you’re not addicted, no matter what. We’re just sharing stories, hoping it helps people see people as people.
To explore more of Jordan’s work, discover more about Humanity Showers, and hear his subjects’ stories, visit his website or Instagram.
Photo 2023 © Jordan Verdin | FUJIFILM GFX50R and FUJINON GF45mmF2.8 R WR, 1/125 sec at F6.4, ISO 100
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