News
New AI-powered guide links SLO County homeless residents to resources
The Tribune covered the new VivaSLO app on Sunday.
A new AI-powered resource guide gives homeless and at-risk San Luis Obispo County residents a complete list of every means of aid available in the area. VivaSLO.org launched in January after several months of development by Shower the People, an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to bringing free hygiene services to the county’s homeless population.
VivaSLO! program aims to help people at risk of and experiencing homelessness in SLO County
KSBY covered the new VivaSLO app on its nightly news program.
“We’re helping to make it easier for these people who are working on the solutions to find each other and for the people who need that help to find them,” [VivaSLO project lead David] Gross said.
VivaSLO (vivaslo.org) is a new guide for how to get by when you’re barely getting by in SLO County.
It helps you find free and low-cost resources that can help you if you are experiencing homelessness, are threatened with homelessness, or are just short on money.
It is free and ad-free (and always will be), and a project of Shower the People.
It covers everything from basics like food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, to more specialized topics like how to replace an ID card or birth certificate, where to get a shower, how to get legal help, where to get mail if you don’t have a fixed address, how to get job training and employment, where to charge your devices, and how to care for your pets.
The Numbers Are In: 2025 in Showers
In 2025, Shower the People…
- gave 6,212 showers
- handed out 5,690 T-shirts…
- …5,214 pairs of underwear…
- …and 6,092 pairs of socks
- with ninety-three volunteers,
- helping us log 6,617 volunteer hours
- over 259 shower days in five locations
Sunday Showers Moving Earlier
Shower the People’s showers on Sundays at the downtown SLO library are moving earlier in the day. Starting on January 25, 2026, showers will be offered there from 10am–1pm (the old time was 12:30pm–3:30pm). This also affects the Vituity Cares health clinics which will also be held from 10am–1pm starting in February.
How Gwen Watkins built a mobile hygiene hub and a legacy of dignity
The Optimist Daily featured Shower the People founder Gwen Watkins in its 2025 Local Changemakers Spotlight. “With no blueprint but plenty of resolve, Gwen designed the program to be sustainable, flexible, and centered on the people it served. Her approach was simple but profound: meet people where they are, greet them by name, and make every interaction a moment of respect and care.”