Nicknamed "The Beast" the mobile shower trailer is the newest addition to services available to Central Florida's homeless (population). It features three restrooms and (two) washer(s) and dryer(s). "It's dedicated to (youth and) young adults experiencing homelessness in Central Florida," SALT Executive Director Eric Camarillo explained. Camarillo thanks a partnership with Simply Healthcare Plans, which presented a $150,000 check to pay for the trailer. An $8.4 million federal grant awarded to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida funds the initiative. 

"Now you've been housed for a year," WESH 2's Sanika Dange said. "How has that been?" It's [been] very great. I can take a shower whenever I want to; I can just lay around. It was a blessing," Hawkins said. "SALT gave me security because sleeping in my car, you don't really get sleep because you're sleeping with one eye open because every little thing you hear, you wake up," Hawkins said. "You sleep with both eyes closed now?" WESH 2's Sanika Dange asked. "Yeah, I wake up refreshed, yeah," Hawkins said.

The laundry trailer has six commercial washers and dryers and will provide free laundry service to ensure those experiencing homelessness have access to clean clothing.

As a wave of unemployment and evictions swells up on Central Florida’s horizon, Orlando is investing in homeless outreach groups to help those most affected by the economic implications of COVID-19.

SALT Outreach is helping the homeless through their SALT Shower Trailer. They partnered with Downtown Orlando’s First United Methodist Church hosted the SALT Shower Trailer for the first time on Tuesday, March 10th as the COVID19 pandemic was beginning to worsen in Orlando.

Mario Perez doesn’t have a car to take him places or a home to call his own.

But he nailed down a job interview this week, and he’s going to look sharp for it, thanks to SALT; a Christian millennial group of volunteers dedicated to helping Orlando’s homeless freshen up.

A new mobile shower unit directed at homeless youth in Central Florida is set to begin running next month as part of a collaborative effort between the nonprofit Service And Love Together and Simply Healthcare Plan. The mobile shower will add to the fleet SALT Outreach already has. It's parked in Sanford until the unveiling happens in February. The shower trailer has three bathrooms and stackable washer and dryer units. Simply Healthcare Plans donated $150,000 to cover the cost of the trailer, while the program as a whole is being funded by an $8.4 million federal grant awarded to the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which cited Central Florida as having the highest rate of 16 through 24-year-olds experiencing homelessness.

“At the time, he came to me for personal advice,” said Portelli, the mayor’s advisor. “The organization was doing well, but it was not super-solidly funded yet, and I knew he had gotten married, and I didn’t think it was the best idea [to quit his Amazon job]. He did it anyway. That was really a demonstration of his faith in the mission. Every minute of every day, he lives his faith.”

At the ribbon cutting ceremony for the first of its kind laundry trailer in Orlando Florida, Mayor Buddy Dyer, declared April 15th to be SALT (Service and Love Together) Day for the city of Orlando!

Eric Camarillo, 31, is running the biggest mobile homeless center in Orlando, Florida — a ministry he started nine years ago as a way to get young Adventists involved in community service.

The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) said that they have partnered with SALT Outreach Inc. to provide energy-efficient showers to homeless citizens around Orlando. Engineers with OUC reportedly worked with SALT to retrofit the trailer with four solar panels to provide about 60 showers per charge.

“I thought I would do all of these things when I graduated in order to have an impact on people,” he says, “but why not do something now?”

Camarillo has used what he’s learned in the classroom to grow the organization and support the community.

Johnson spent the last five months, including some of the sweltering hot summer, living on the streets of Orlando. She says she's never liked asking for help, but she eventually sought help from SALT, which gave her a place to shower and do laundry. And SALT just recently helped her find a new home. "I would think about my parents and they would tell me if you have to ask, ask, don't be ashamed to ask for help, and that's what I would do," Johnson said. "I mean, I would break down and say I need your guys help and they would write letters - I mean big time letters." Thanks to SALT, Johnson says for the first time in a long time, she's thankful to have a place to call home. I'll tell you what - I looked up to the Lord and I said thank you, Lord," she said.

SALT Outreach President Eric Camarillo, who founded the organization in 2011, says the group helps fill gaps between what local homeless people need and services other local aid groups are able to provide.

Camarillo says the laundry trailer is one of a number of trailers stationed at the Christian Service Center in downtown Orlando. They also provide clothing, haircuts, showers and other services.

When a group of students saw local nonprofits struggling with issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to help out the Orlando community.

"The idea for something like SALT came to mind," he explained. "Where we encourage and empower young adults to start their own outreach project and help support them to help it to grow."

SALT, or Service and Love Together, has grown since Camarillo founded it in 2011.

A shower trailer will soon be available to homeless people in downtown Orlando. Eric Camarillo -- president of SALT, which stands for Service and Love Together -- said he hopes it will change lives. "We've done surveys with the homeless, and some who are actively looking for a job haven't showered in three months," he said. "You can't get a job if you can't shower."