By Tharran Gaines, MODR PIO
Anyone who has ever used a Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief shower trailer knows the routine is to leave your shoes on the steps so that everyone knows that shower is in use. Being based in a trailer, though, the key word is “steps” … and not everyone can climb steps. That’s why Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief invested in an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant shower trailer this past year, which offers both shower access and laundry facilities to those with disabilities.
“Our response to devastating flooding in Spencer, Iowa, was one of the first few times the ADA shower unit has been used on-site following a disaster,” said Charles Porter, Shower and Laundry Ministry Coordinator for MODR, noting that it was used in Arkansas shortly after it was purchased. “Once it’s located on-site, it can be lowered, and a ramp installed to make it fully accessible to anybody using a walker or in a wheelchair.”
In addition, the unit incorporates a washer and dryer for handling towels, as well as clothes brought in by storm or flood victims. As Porter related, the ADA shower and laundry unit was particularly valuable in Spencer, since up to 100 people or more, who were displaced from their homes due to flood damage, where temporarily housed in the Event Center on the Clay County Fairgrounds. Consequently, the ADA trailer, along with two conventional shower and laundry trailers were parked right next door.
“We don’t have separate figures on how many times the ADA trailer was used for showers,” Porter related. “But it’s safe to say that it was used at least once a day and often multiple times a day.”
It wasn’t just handicapped persons using the ADA trailer, either. Several times a father and young son or a mother and a young daughter used it. Thanks to the larger shower area, it was much easier for a parent to assist a child in the shower, or to keep an eye on the child while they took a shower.
“Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief has one of the few ADA shower units available in the state or even the Midwest,” added Gaylon Moss, MODR director. “So, we’re glad it’s already proving its value in bringing Help, Hope and Healing to people affected by a disaster.”