Homeless, but what are they wearing?

Walking the dog early in the morning, it is obvious that the homeless population of Sonoma County and specifically Santa Rosa, is growing rapidly.  Not a morning goes by that I don't see several people sleeping in the park or in the bushes or in the shelter of some random building. Included would have to be all the homeless who are already up, moving their possessions around or stashing them somewhere, like in the bushes or under the bridge by the creek. Sometimes they are rearranging their stuff, transferring things from one plastic bag to another. To say that it's sad to see trivializes the entire situation.

But I have recently seen another phenomenon: discarded items of clothing.  Lots of items, from underwear (very yucky) to shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, skirts, shoes, socks. You name it, I have seen it on a bench or lying on the ground or hanging from a tree or tossed on the top of a trash can. Maybe because they have no way to wash their clothes, they just toss them away.  Maybe it's one more possession that is simply too encumbering. I have also seen people, early in the morning, digging through the Goodwill kiosks around town, looking for clothes people have donated. So it isn't that the homeless don't need clothes.  It's a puzzlement.

And this leads me to another thought: if I won a bunch of money in the lottery, I would like to create a mobile laundry and shower facility for anyone to use. I know they do this in SF now and then. Anyone, especially those in dire need, could come in and do a load of laundry (wash and dry) and take a shower. There would be a limit of course, one load per person, one 6 minute shower per person. It would be free, funded from my lottery winnings. Even with the current drought, I think it could be done economically and I believe there is such a need for this that it could be operating 20 hours a day.  In one hour a person could have clean clothes and a clean body.

Until then, Cooper and I will watch the piles of tossed clothes accumulate and we will wish we could help.