The gap between a call to service and the act of serving can be a long one.
Shower Power New York City, one of the city’s burgeoning nonprofits, was born as a result of putting belief to work. Since officially forming in 2017, the organization has provided free hygiene access to thousands in need.
Chuck Van Buren, one of Shower Power’s co-founders who serves as board president, had long felt the charge to serve his neighbors. But a shift occurred for him in 2004, after which he had no choice but to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty.
It began with something of a confrontation from the late C.S. Lewis via his book "Mere Christianity." Van Buren says it helped him see service as an unavoidable expression of belief, rather than a concept.
Hear how Van Buren heeded a call to serve his neighbors, and how it became an organization that now serves thousands in New York City's homeless community in our full conversation:
“I like to say I stepped out of the shadows a bit and stepped into the light and was willing to take action a little bit more,” Van Buren said.
“‘You believe this, you should do this.’ As in, it’s not just something that’s academic here. You should be acting because this is such a big deal. That was just so clear.”
Van Buren probed for opportunity at church the following Sunday, where he was told to “just show up” at the local soup kitchen on Saturday morning. He did, and he would come back to serve nearly every Saturday for five consecutive years.
After a seven-year stint living in China, the first agenda item for Van Buren upon his return was serving at the same kitchen. Just showing up, again and again.
According to Van Burden, life-changing impact wasn’t made in the momentous, the spectacular, or the unbelievable, but in the ordinary act of offering his presence for the sake of others.
“What I truly got addicted to was just spending time with people, just being present for people,” Van Buren explained. “It was grounding. This was rolling up your sleeves and doing work.”
Van Buren and others provided food, clothing, shelter, and other services to those in the homeless community who needed them. But, often, the greatest need was just someone to talk to.
“People need to eat, and people need clothing, people need services. But a lot of times that’s not all they're there for,” Van Buren said.
“It’s the community. It’s to have somebody to talk to, somebody to listen to them, somebody who recognizes them. And I benefited from that as much as the guests did.”
Hundreds of Saturdays at the soup kitchen, and hundreds more relationships that offered a glimpse into the experience of living without a home, eventually sparked an idea for Van Buren and four others: easy and free access to high-quality hygiene for all.
The work began with formulating and handing out hygiene kits, which include basic items like soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste, lotion, shampoo, combs, and more.
Mobile shower services were first offered in 2020, through a partnership with Doctors Without Borders, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shower Power NYC has since provided upwards of 30,000 hygiene kits and more than 5,000 showers to people experiencing homelessness.
The work is multifaceted. Health conditions are improved for many who lack access to clean water or facilities, and a hot shower can also help establish a sense of normalcy and routine for those who often exist in daily instability.
But, like the many Saturdays spent at the soup kitchen, the work stretches far beyond meeting material needs.
When Shower Power offers hygiene kits and mobile shower stations, they’re also providing a sense of dignity and self-worth, community, and belonging.
“Shower Power can be very unique in that it’s a pretty personal service,” Van Buren said. “Keeping clean is pretty personal. It also does a lot for your sense of who you are as an individual, how you see yourself, your sense of dignity, how you feel afterwards. It’s pretty renewing.”
The renewal that takes place can only partially be credited to warm water and soap. Shower Power is designed to use cleanliness as an entryway into conversation and, eventually, relationships.
Other partners, like the Salvation Army or Harlem United, have come alongside Shower Power to provide complementary services. Together, the organizations join forces to offer comprehensive care, designed to allow short-term relief and the stability required for long-term security.
As the 2026 busy season approaches for Shower Power, its team has its eyes set on the same goals: the filling of hygiene gaps for all, the proliferation of community-driven, comprehensive care programs, and dignity for those often forgotten.
In short, just keep showing up.
“Your job may not be to change the world, but to have a positive impact for those around you with you living together in that environment,” Van Buren concluded. “There may not be a lot you can do to change each individual’s circumstance, but part of it is being together. Doing for them as you would want somebody to do for you.”
Click here to learn more about Shower Power NYC’s work or to get involved.