Some people go to the Salvation Army for showers a couple times a month.
Their paychecks don’t stretch far enough to pay their water bill, or they just need a little time to get back on their feet. They clean up, put on button-up shirts and head to work.
For others, their situation is even more difficult.
Men who panhandle on highway exits come in, shower and leave with the same soiled clothes as before. Entire families clean up and put on socks and undergarments they have worn for weeks. Others emerge from their humble tents in the woods, only to trek across the dirt floor in shoes held together with tape.
The Salvation Army in Akron has taken note of the small necessities.
As a complement to its free shower program, the group has started HUGS for the Homeless to collect essential items for those in need to wear after cleaning up.
HUGS stands for the four key items the organization is collecting: hats, underwear, gloves and socks.
“Because there’s nothing like a pair of warm, clean socks,” said Rebecca Baker, the social services ministry director of the Salvation Army of Summit County.
Baker said the HUGS program serves as an arm of the shower program, which offers free showers at the Salvation Army’s downtown location on Maple Street to anyone in the community who needs them.
The project started last spring when employees noticed some didn’t have clean clothes to put on after showers.
“It’s a beautiful program,” said Jeanette Brown, the community and public relations manager of the Salvation Army of Summit County. “It’s heartfelt here because so often, people come in to take showers and don’t have anything to put on.”
Brown said the program was introduced last year at Greystone Hall in Akron when the organization put on a play about the organization’s history. During the event and continuing through Christmas, the project received a lot of donations.
Since the holiday season has ended, the shelves have been bare.
The organization is now in desperate need of packaged undershirts, underpants and white athletic socks, which will be distributed to people who need them after their showers as well as people on the streets.
Though the items are small, they have a large impact.
Major David Dunham, the Summit County Salvation Army coordinator, said there are about 400 homeless families in Akron, totaling more than 800 individuals.
“Year after year as we count families that are homeless, the names change, but the numbers stay the same,” Dunham said. “Sometimes what we do seems pretty insignificant, but it’s still something. It doesn’t solve the problem, but it lessens the pain.”
Baker said many who receive items from the program are extremely appreciative. She remembers one man who needed gloves for work, and when she gave them to him, he shed tears of gratitude.
“A lot of times it’s the little things,” she said.
The Salvation Army of Summit County offers a variety of programs to the community, including hot meals to those in need and various educational programs for children.
Donations for HUGS for the Homeless can be dropped off at the Hall Street entrance of the Salvation Army offices at 190 S. Maple St. in Akron. For more information, call 330-434-7365.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com.