A few weeks ago, Slog editors asked readers to name their “cause,” i.e. the non-profit organizations that they support. Many fine organizations were mentioned, but the one that was brought up the most was the Urban Rest Stop. I took a cue and headed over there to have a look.

This is the Urban Rest Stop, or URS, located at 9th and Virginia, right next door to the Greyhound Bus terminal.

The URS is one of three facilities in the entire Seattle area that offers free laundry and showers to people who need them. The URS is the only facility with no barriers for using the services—you don’t need to sign up for treatment, you don’t need to forswear alcohol, and you don’t need to give your social security number or other personal details. According to the staff, the place operates at full capacity whenever the doors are open, 365 days a year.

This begs many questions. Why aren’t there more of these facilities? Why is a place like this, which is providing an utterly necessary service, reduced to begging for money to stay in business? Why is the city spending upwards of $100 grand each year for a handful of poorly functioning public toilets when they could be supporting clean and well-run places that serve 100 times the number of people?

This is Ronni Gilboa, who founded and manages the facility. She has a LOT to say about hygiene, about homelessness, and about the metropolitan government abdicating its responsibility to keep the region’s poorest people healthy and clean. I couldn’t possibly transcribe the many powerful words she shared with me, but here’s a few choice excerpts of our hour-long conversation:

Ronni: By keeping people clean, we keep people healthy and alive. Clean people have an easier time riding the bus and going to the library. They have an easier time finding services and feeling like they’re not invisible. If someone is dirty, they’re in a bad position to ask for help. Once that same person cleans up they become someone to listen to and take seriously. They quickly become more qualified for a job or for a home, more easily able to participate in society.

Access to clean water and sanitation is an essential defining aspect of civilization. The Romans and Greeks had easier access to clean water than people in this city, and it is widely acknowledged that access to clean water and a working sewage system are essential in curing diseases and preventing epidemics.

We’re heading into a long wet winter. We’re going to see a lot of colds, a lot of viruses, a lot of chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma, and circulatory problems that get worse with the weather. The URS is often in the strange position of being the first ones to recognize these things and taking the first steps that are necessary to get help to people who need it. If you want people to get better, you have to give them the tools.