The following article appeared in the August 15, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Project Outpour’s showers become an entry point for broader support: housing, health care, food and human dignity
The Project Outpour team stands outside the mobile shower unit after helping neighbors in need. (Photo courtesy of Project Outpour)
by Reid Heaton
About a year ago, Brenda had been regularly taking free showers offered by Project Outpour when the nonprofit’s chief dignity officer, MaShonna Hughes, learned the woman was homeless and living with HIV.
Hughes connected Brenda to partner organizations Hearts for the Invisible and Carolinas Care and secured her housing. While Brenda may no longer need showers, Project Outpour has continued to be a vital resource for her.
“It all starts with a shower,” Hughes said. “We touch pillars of employment, pillars of health, pillars of food support and housing, and so being able to access … individuals who need support in all these areas, it allows us to be able to meet people’s needs far beyond just showers.”
Since 2018, Project Outpour has played a key role in helping the unhoused community of Mecklenburg County. Currently, there are over 2,400 individuals experiencing homelessness across the county, Hughes said.
The organization operates a mobile shower unit at five rotating locations every week. Neighbors are invited to take a 20-minute shower and pick up necessary hygiene items, all for free.
Through a team of four people, Project Outpour provided 2,494 neighbors with hot showers in 2024 and is on track to offer more in 2025, Hughes said. The nonprofit has already provided 1,500 showers this year.
But the impact of Project Outpour extends far beyond just a shower. With partners such as Mecklenburg County, Roof Above and RAIN Charlotte, the mobile shower unit becomes a hub of resources, light and hope for those in need, Hughes said. For example, RAIN comes to a shower location on the second and fourth Wednesdays each month to provide free STI testing.
Earlier this year, Project Outpour was awarded a $20,000 prize through SEED20, an annual program of Social Venture Partners Charlotte that supports local nonprofits. As a part of the SEED20 class of 2025, Hughes and the team received training and participated in a pitch competition, where Hughes pitched the organization to a live audience and won the cash award, which she said was used to purchase a new pickup truck.
“Those funds have directly impacted our community already,” Hughes said. “The exposure, the awareness that has been created as a result of the SEED20 opportunity, has been phenomenal; it creates more opportunities for volunteerism and donations. It has been a full scope of support.”
Hughes says the team wants to expand and increase outreach but says they need investment in their infrastructure.
“As we continue to combat and fight for our neighbors that we serve, I want to remind our community that this is what is going on in our own backyard,” Hughes said. “In order for us to combat, continue to address and advocate, it is going to continue to take a community effort in order for us to do that in a way that our impact is felt through the entire city of Charlotte and beyond.”
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