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Project HOPE
Mary Ann Kirby – Shower Power Director of Operations
Sleeping in a bed is something
we all take for granted.
But according to data that we’ve found, Jackson
has nearly 900 unsheltered citizens that make
tents, abandoned buildings, and bridge
over-passes their sleeping quarters.
In November of 2019, Shower Power MS
(a non-profit founded by Flowood resident and
Jackson native Teresa Renkenberger), began
offering weekly showers for the homeless
community in downtown Jackson. We have
served an estimated 300 unique visitors, roughly
a third of the entire homeless population, at a
rate of 60-70 per week. And the number is
growing.
In October of this year, Project Hope, an
extension of Shower Power, was born. Project
Hope serves to identify which of our unsheltered
visitors would be good candidates for
low-income housing–and then helps them
get there.
Lucious is one of the first to have been
entered into the program. He’d been coming to
Shower Power from the very beginning–since
November 2019, and is beloved. He’s 64 years
old, but the last 20+ years on the street have
been hard on him. He seems much older.
He’s originally from Memphis, Tennessee.
He came to Jackson over 20 years ago to bury
his daughter. She died from cancer. (His voice
cracked when I asked him about her.) After the
funeral, he just never left. I’m not entirely sure
what the circumstances were. Maybe he
couldn’t afford to leave. Or maybe he didn’t
want to leave her behind. It’s heartbreaking
either way. He’s lost track of time.
On October 2, Lucious came to Shower
Power and was frail. We were immediately
worried. He couldn’t focus and seemed off
balance, mentally and physically. He said his
medicine had been changed. These guys have
no one to help them manage things like their
prescriptions—assuming they can even get
them filled. He was definitely off. It felt
extremely vulnerable. Lucious is quiet, keeps
to himself, and is very soft-spoken. He’s no
match for the cold streets of Jackson.
28 • JANUARY 2021