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‘A dignity to being clean.’ Akron nonprofit to bring mobile shower buses to Canton
October 31, 2025
Canton Repository
Oct. 31, 2025, 5:59 a.m. ET
- The Akron-based nonprofit Forever R Children is expanding its mobile shower bus program to Canton in 2026.
- The program provides free showers, clean clothes, haircuts, and other services to people experiencing homelessness.
- The Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA) is donating three buses to be retrofitted for the program’s Canton expansion.
CANTON ‒ Robert Ford wanted to bring food to those who needed it.
So he founded the Akron-based nonprofit Forever R Children, which operates a mobile food pantry, in 2019.Related: Mobile shower facility will lead the way for ‘caravan of love’ serving Akron area’s needy
He later realized just dropping off meals for the homeless wasn’t enough.
A young woman asked Ford if there was a place she could go to wash up. He said he unfortunately couldn’t help her.
That’s when he said he thought of the idea to bring a shower in a vehicle so people without regular access to one could use it.
With a donated Akron METRO bus retrofitted for about $90,000 in donations and grants, Forever R Children launched a mobile shower that visits locations around Akron in May 2024.
Visitors get 20-minute showers, new clothes, free food, free haircuts and free use of a laundromat to wash clothes. And they get referrals to social services.
The city of Canton now is helping Forever R Children deploy mobile shower buses in Canton starting in 2026.
Mayor William Sherer II spoke at an Oct. 29 event near the Refuge of Hope shelter to promote the program.
“This mobile shower bus is more than just a vehicle,” the mayor said. “It’s a symbol of dignity, hope and care. For so many people in our city who are struggling with homelessness or hardship, something as simple as a warm shower can restore confidence and bring comfort and remind that they are not forgotten.”
About 80 people attended the event, including U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron.
Shower bus Canton
Sherer said he invited Ford to give him a pitch on the concept at a homeless task force meeting at City Hall in September. The mayor said he was immediately sold. His administration is prepared to offer space for buses to park, to provide water and to dispose of waste water.
The mayor met with SARTA officials about donating a bus.
Sherer, a former ironworkers union official, is having conversations with local trades unions to donate labor to retrofit buses and install showers. Sherer said he’s also trying to see if local foundations might provide grants.
Ralph Lee, interim CEO of the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority, told SARTA’s board the agency will provide three buses. Lake County’s transit system Laketran gave one to SARTA because it reached the end of its useful life. SARTA will in February donate to Forever R Children two of its 13-year-old buses with more than 600,000 miles that need to be replaced.
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Forever R Children coming to Canton
On the morning of Oct. 29 near the Refuge of Hope’s shelter on Second Street NE, SARTA’s staff surprised Ford, Forever R Children’s director. He learned the agency, which has a staff of seven, would receive three buses for its Canton program, not just one.
SARTA had planned to ceremonially present the former Laketran bus to Ford at the Oct. 29 event. SARTA executives had driven it to Canton the prior week.
But SARTA’s chief operating officer, Mark Finnicum, said the vehicle’s air bag had a leak, and so the bus wasn’t safe to drive to present. Finnicum said SARTA’s mechanics will fix the issue, so SARTA can turn over the vehicle to Forever R Children soon.
Ford said he hopes that the former Laketran bus can be retrofitted by May with the two donated SARTA buses ready to be used shortly after that. Forever R Children would use all three as shower buses in the Canton area.
Each bus will have a 300-gallon tank of water, enough to provide showers for about 25 people.
“My dream was to be able to bring this service to any where in need,” Ford said. “Any bridge. Underpass. Any encampment to offer a warm shower, clean clothes, fresh haircut and just conversations about, ‘We love you, we’re for you and we care for you.'”
Ford said his group puts out flyers advertising mobile shower times and locations. Anyone who shows up can use it. Ford said from late May 2024 to September 2024, the program gave 904 people showers.
At the event on Oct. 29, Forever R Children arranged for two hair stylists to give free haircuts.
Anthron Grimes, 57, of Canton was among those waiting for a haircut. He said he thought the idea of a mobile shower bus was great. Homeless after years of unemployment and health issues, Grimes said he has gone as long as a week without a shower. He’s able to get showers through a shelter but it can be difficult to get a secure a bed.
Amber Mitchell, one of the stylists, said she’s provided the haircuts at the mobile shower locations since May 2024.
She said those who get the showers and haircuts “feel like a brand new person. … Their smile. You can tell, their posture. Everything changed after the shower and the cut and all that great stuff.”
Refuge of Hope Ministiries CEO Scott Schnyders said his organization is planning on setting up a facility by the shelter where people can get showers and a public laundry service.
“There’s a dignity to being clean,” said Schnyders. “You feel good about yourself. You feel like, ‘Hey I can do something different than I did yesterday because I’ve got cleaned clothes and showered.'”
Reach Robert at [email protected].
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