St. Jude’s Restarts Shower Program

St. Jude’s Episcopal Church will re-open its public shower initiative, beginning Saturday, June 5. 

The Saturday Hot Shower & Hot Meal outreach program, held weekly, will resume after a 15-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Located on Paradise Circle in Ocean View, the shower ministry hours of operation are 9 a.m. to noon.

To accommodate pandemic safety concerns, a few changes have been made to the shower protocol. Masks will be required on the church grounds. All shower clients must sign up for a time slot, which begin at 9 a.m. Social distancing will be observed and temperatures will be taken during the shower sign-up. Shower times will be limited to 15 minutes to be sure there is ample time for thorough disinfecting of the shower between clients.  

Since the shower ministry opened in September of 2013, over 8,000 showers have occurred at St. Jude’s. The congregation recognizes how important the hot showers are to the community and are very happy to restart this program.  

“It was a very difficult decision to close the showers, due to COVID-19,” said program spokesperson Cordelia Burt. “We think of those who use our showers as family, and our members have been very concerned about our shower clients over the past year. We are truly looking forward to seeing them again.”

Community volunteers are welcome and there is no church service attendance required for anyone who participates in the shower ministry. For more information, visit the church website at  www.stjudeshawaii.org.