Steinbach Community Outreach (SCO) is collecting soap for people experiencing poverty and homelessness with Soap for Hope. 

When asked what soap and cleanliness means to the people coming to SCO, Myra Gerbrandt says it is exactly their mission statement: restoring dignity through meeting basic needs. 

“And we see that dignity so tangibly after someone who has been walking the streets for a few nights comes in and they're dirty and they're smelly and they just need a shower,” she says. “When we take them for a shower and they come back, it is unbelievable how different they walk, how different they present, that you can tell that they just feel like a new person.” 

She says it's mind-blowing seeing the power of a shower. 

“You hardly recognize them just how they carry themselves after they feel that dignity of being clean and they don't just feel like a bum on the street anymore.” 

SCO doesn’t just help people that are homeless, they also have people below the poverty line that come for help as well. 

Gerbrandt says cleanliness is something we don’t think much about, but for those struggling, it’s never guaranteed. 

“We had one young family, gorgeous little girl, and they were in desperate need of toiletry items,” she says. “And as I handed her the toilet paper, she was pretty much in tears. She said ‘we've been using newspaper for the last two days’ because they were completely out of money.” 

She says it was heartbreaking. 

“Because you wouldn't expect that of anybody in this community, that we can't just go out and buy a roll of toilet paper. And visually, they seemed to be a family that would have it all together, and it was such an amazing reminder that we have no idea the needs that are represented in our community.” 

Gerbrandt says the items they need the most are dish soap, laundry soap, shampoo, and body wash, as they run out of them all the time. 

“So many people are asking for laundry soap and they can't just afford to go out and get it, so when we have those things on hand and know they're going to have a set of clean clothes to change into in the morning, that's amazing.” 

SCO gets a lot of donations of travel size soaps and shampoos which is great, but Gerbrandt says they could really use big bottles. 

“Most of the people that we serve are from homes with families, and it's very helpful to have full size containers of things.” 

Soap For Hope is April 18 at Pharmasave in Steinbach. Learn more about Soap for Hope here. 

 

With files from Corny Rempel