photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

A worker can be seen retrieving supplies from a vehicle near the entrance to the city-sanctioned homeless campsite on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

A local congregation is partnering with the City of Lawrence to provide an enclosed shower and laundry trailer one day per week in North Lawrence for those experiencing homelessness.

Lawrence Heights Christian Church raised the funds to support operating the trailer, according to a release from the city on Tuesday. According to the release, the city will provide “property for the trailer to operate on along with limited support,” but the trailer itself will be managed solely by volunteers with the church, including transportation, operation and disposal of wastewater generated by its use.

The trailer will be parked at 100 Maple St. — the address of the support site — every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning today, Aug. 1.

“The city is pleased to partner with this local organization to provide an important need for individuals experiencing homelessness in our community,” the release reads.

Earlier this year, the city installed a bathroom and shower trailer that it had previously purchased with federal pandemic aid. That trailer is still in use.

“The City provides a shower and hygiene trailer for community members staying at camp New Beginnings,” Laura McCabe, a spokesperson for the city, told the Journal-World in an email. “We do not have on-site laundry facilities, which the church trailer will provide.”

New Beginnings is the name of the city-supported tent site behind Johnny’s Tavern.

McCabe said the church trailer also would be available “for people experiencing homelessness who have chosen not to stay within the New Beginnings campsite.”

The support site has been open since October 2022 and seems set on remaining in operation until the city’s planned Pallet Shelter Village on North Michigan Street — made up of prefabricated 64-square-foot cabins and other support structures — is ready to open. As the Journal-World reported, construction at the future site of the Pallet Shelter Village was delayed six months in early June due to delays in several components of the project. Most recently, the city began demolition at the site about a week ago, with plans announced at that time to include installing permanent fencing around the site once demolition is complete and then developing a final site plan.