TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tammy Nealey has been in Tucson for nearly a decade. For three of those years, she and her two adult sons were unhoused.
“We don’t like to be dirty," she said. "Just walking around out here, in this air, it gets in our pores, it gets in our skin. I can shower today, walk out here and an hour later take a wipey… and I’m like what happened?”
Some of the near 2,200 people experiencing homelessness also have to worry about not being able to attend to skin issues, like staph infections.
"I have scars all over my face from it and my nose still isn’t healing… you can get well from it, meet someone on the street, shake their hand and that’s it… you’ve got it again because our Immune systems are so low from not being able to get proper hygiene.”
That's one of the reasons life-long Tucsonan Sam Nagy is bringing Cloud Covered Streets, a non-profit mobile shower trailer, to his hometown where he once experienced homelessness.
"It’s very challenging to wake up, not be able to shower, go for an interview, try to get a job, get turned down, then not have any money to buy a meal," he said.
However, Nagy estimated that the trailer won't be coming to Tucson for another couple of weeks, so he and the rest of the team are collecting items and storing them in a local storage unit.
They're gathering new socks, underwear, toiletries, laundry supplies and pet supplies through donations— both material and financial. You can find the full list on the Cloud Covered Streets Facebook page.
The animal supplies are a pet project by a Cloud Covered Streets Advisory Board member who goes by Laurie Oliver. She says she's worked in animal rescue for most of her adult life.
“Even if it's one dog," she said. "It's important to me that they aren’t burning their feet and that they have water accessible."
Nagy said that something that may seem as simple as a shower can be the catalyst for major life change.
“If someone can shower, they can stay clean," he said. "They can stay hygienically well, they can get a job, the person then can get employment and live in an apartment somewhere.”
Nealy said that this is something she's looking forward to and several members of her community said the same.
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Alex Dowd is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9, where her work combines her two favorite hobbies: talking to new people and learning about the community around her. Her goal is to eventually meet every single person in Tucson. Share your story ideas with Alex via email, alex.dowd@kgun9.com, or connecting on Instagram or X.
