Episode 16: Simply the Basics

Listen Now | VOC Producers | Share

A transcript, lightly edited for clarity and length, follows.

Show Guests: Meghan Freebeck the Founder and Board Chair of Simply the Basics.

Voices of the Community Introduction: Welcome to voices of the community which explores critical issues facing Northern California communities. We introduce you to the voices of community thought leaders and change makers who are working on solutions that face our fellow individual community members neighborhoods cities and our region. This is George Koster your host. 

Series Introduction: This episode is part of our series exploring COVID-19’s impact on nonprofits and small businesses in San Francisco. We started the series back in April 2020 during the height of the first phase of the Covid 19 pandemic and the Shelter In Place requirements. Over these past nine months the Covid-19 pandemic and economic meltdown has wiped out millions of jobs in both the nonprofit and small business sectors as well as shuttered tens of thousands of small business operations.

The goal of the series is to shine a spotlight on the nonprofits, small businesses and their staff who are struggling to deal with the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on their operations, services and sustainability. The series of interviews we conducted features voices from a cross section of organizations that make up the fabric of our community.  Each of them brings a unique perspective on how they and we are dealing with the issues facing our community during the global pandemic and economic depression. 

Show Guest Meghan: Someone was experiencing homelessness. They were very likely to get an infection because they couldn't stay clean and they were sleeping outside and a cut might get dirty, or they might have a skin disorder. So, we said, okay, we will respond to that need of sanitation.

Episode Intro - Show Host George: In this episode, our featured voice is Meghan Freebeck, the CEO and founder of Simply the Basics. Simply the Basics is focused on providing access to hygiene for our fellow community members who cannot provide this most basic need for themselves and their families.

Simply the Basics has created a unique National Hygiene Bank Model as well as piloting an Open Marketplace for people to list in-kind donations. These services are designed to make it easier for both individuals and other nonprofit organizations to better utilize the in-kind product donations to provide hygiene products for our un-housed and low-income community members and in turn, support their most basic core health needs.

Show Host George: I'm joining remotely via zoom by Meghan Freebeck the CEO of Simply the Basics. Thanks for being here, Meghan.

Show Guest Meghan: Thanks for having me.

Show Host George: So please provide the audience just a quick overview of why you created simply the basics. And the Hygiene Bank and, what I also found really interesting was, your whole idea of the Marketplace.

Show Guest Meghan: So I think the idea of Simply the Basics was a long time coming before moving to San Francisco, about eight years ago, I was managing a homeless program and interim housing program in Chicago and moved to San Francisco and was working at San Francisco Suicide Prevention at the time and really realized on our crisis line, how so many of the people calling in were in distress because they just really couldn't meet their most basic human needs. And that would exacerbate so much of their mental health and so many of their challenges. And then I would leave work and walk through the streets of San Francisco and feel worse, you know?

And I think that that was really telling me that I spent eight hours on a suicide hotline. But felt worse about the outlook leaving work and walking around San Francisco. So, at first, I thought I would do a one-time support to the community. This was back in 2015. So menstrual care was not yet the popular donation drive it is today, which is phenomenal that people really have stepped up and understood the need. But we set a goal to collect some menstrual products for anyone in need anyone experiencing homelessness. And in two days we had gathered enough supplies for every single person who might statistically menstruate and was experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, which was in the thousands. So, we knew right away that, we were onto something people wanted to support and that there was a need for. But I have worked in nonprofits for a really long time, I know how often people get an idea and they run with it. So, I said, we're not going to do that, we're going to really make sure we understand what's going on and what the need is.

So, we did about six months of research and surveying, speaking to people experiencing homelessness, we surveyed over a hundred nonprofits. And we worked with the San Francisco General Hospital to understand why were people going to the emergency room? And what we found was that second to, accidents and to a substance abuse or mental health distress, Someone was experiencing homelessness they were very likely to get an infection because they couldn't stay clean and they were sleeping outside and a cut might get dirty, or they might have a skin disorder. So, we said, okay, we will respond to that need of sanitation.

So that's what led to creation of a Hygiene Bank. We set a goal to improve health and wellness through hygiene and save nonprofits time and resources. Because we really found that nonprofits were spending on average 14 hours a week just getting really poor-quality supplies. And, since that time, when I began working professionally, this was all as a volunteer, but I worked professionally with Project Homeless Connect and it was there that I could see the type of stuff people donate.
It's opened products. It's bars of soap that don't even foam or lather, you know, it's used things, things that don't really help. So, we really knew that we would set out to provide quality things, recurring supplies, items that really impact physical health and in that way we kind of are focused on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If you can't meet your very basic needs, you're not going to achieve any other goals. So that's where Simply the Basics came from. What we thought was a onetime menstrual drive. And today it is an expansive Hygiene Bank. We work a lot like the food bank but focused on hygiene care.

And to your question about the Nonprofit Marketplace, that's for all these items that are not necessarily hygiene. But it works like a Craigslist and it's totally free for nonprofits and anyone can donate on it. The rule is you're not selling like on Craigslist. It's just putting items up for donation, because like I mentioned, nonprofits get so much stuff they don't actually need, they aren't allowed to throw it away. So, they end up with all this stuff in storage. So we said let's, pair that let's make sure stuff isn't wasted, but stuff people actually need is getting to them. So that's why we created the Nonprofit Marketplace as well.

George: So how, has COVID-19 impacted, the distribution, if you will, of hygiene products through the bank? I imagine it is somewhat virtual, but you still have to move products around. So how is that going? And I can imagine that the demand for products, has really expanded, given that so many people are un-housed still.

Meghan: It's huge. We have known for the four or five years we've been doing this, that hygiene health is public health. Access to sanitation and hygiene supplies it's not only a basic human need, but it can impact the health of a whole community. And I believe the pandemic has really magnified that. It's really shown people what we already knew, which is that, when someone in your community is sick because they can't get, clean, they can't wash their hands.

They can't access the showers. Then everyone is at risk of getting sick. So, we have seen greater awareness of the importance of what we do, but absolutely an increase requests for supplies, increased requests for very specific supplies, like sanitizers masks, face shields, thermometers, gloves, and cleaning supplies for facilities.

I have never received so many requests for these ever before. And you know, the challenge, the flip side is our volunteer groups are limited. Because we can't have volunteer groups in person. And we can't have them walking around as easily, but we are certainly doing it in a very modified, safe format.

George: What would you say are some of the needs that you've seen, and your team has seen, that people can, help with because to your point earlier, what people, donate. So, it's a better to donate funds. If people have hygiene products, you know, is there a place they can go perhaps on your, site to kind of a checklist of these are the kinds of items that we need, if you want to donate them. And then of course, if people want to volunteer, which is very difficult these days, how can they go about doing that as well?  

Meghan: Yeah. so absolutely donating makes a huge, huge difference. You can go to her website, www dot simply the basics dot org. And there's a lot of information about hosting a hygiene drive, as well as making a monetary donation. And because of safety, you know, touching supplies and moving supplies around, we do really prefer and appreciate when people make a monetary donation. It allows us to purchase and send directly to our recipients and to our partners exactly what they need. It helps us just to ensure that we're getting them the right items, the right makes, the right sizes, sanitizer.

At a lot of sites, they don't want sanitizer that has a certain level of alcohol in it, things like that. So, we can really make sure that exact needs are getting there. But we also have a really cool platform for remote volunteering. So, people are looking to volunteer. We have created a whole system that we actually developed before COVID so that groups can volunteer anywhere.

So, a company, we had a group from Google had about 40 volunteers, all joined virtually. We get them the supplies in the mail. Or they do a pickup of supplies. And then we have a virtual conversation about hygiene and homelessness. We do a little bit of a compassion training, and then we all pack the kids together over video.

And we just ask them, you'd be able to then drop them off at one of our receding sites in their area. And we've got them all throughout the Bay area. We've got about 80 different receiving sites that they could drop them off at. So, families have done this. Parents of kids have done this. Individuals are doing this.

Absolutely we love to get volunteers in and. If you are looking to donate, you can sponsor a volunteered or two and help cover the cost of those supplies.

George: So, Meghan, in the process of doing this and creating the system and reaching out, could you share with the audience, perhaps one of your favorite moments of, getting the hygiene bank created and its impact on our un-housed community members?

Meghan: Yeah, you know, we have done community events and we're a volunteer-based organization, so we really have relied on the community. But we've done community events for three years. One in particular is my favorite. It's called the Women's Empowerment Day. It's for, anyone who identifies' as, a woman experiencing homelessness or survivors of domestic abuse to really comment and feel like the best version of themselves.

We have makeup artists, hairstylists, facials, manicures, massages there's live music playing like a real spa. We bring in lunches, we do bra fittings and you get donated bras and blazers. And then a professional head shot so that people could use these in their next endeavors, you know, to share on LinkedIn, anything like that.

And it's a really, really great, phenomenal moment, that we host every year. We aren't able to host that right now because of Covid. So that's something that I cannot wait to bring it back once COVID ends. But we have had a lot of really impactful highlights during COVID. For example, there's one recipient.

We refer to all of our clients is recipients they're receiving support from us. And we were connected to them through their caseworker. And the caseworker shared with us that this person had developed a skin disorder from sleeping outside and being in the sun all day. And it was creating lasting consequences on their health, but also their dignity.

They didn't feel comfortable. They didn't want to talk to anyone. They didn't want to be seen by anyone because it was visible. And they had so much shame that they stopped going to their appointments with their case manager. And so, the case manager reached out to, to us and said, you know, what can you do?

We get bars of soap, but they don't lather they don't sanitize. They're not dealing with infection the way it should. So, through our Hygiene Bank program, where we really believe in getting people exactly what they need. So, we were able to collect them with a special, dermatological lotion and ongoing wipes and washing care because as I'm sure, you know, even the few public showers that did exist are not operating right now during COVID.

so, we got them some wipes some body wipes that they could use and watching care, and they were able to use these enough that their skin cleared up. And a few weeks later, we heard back from their case manager who said the recipient returned to their meetings and has since gotten into a housing program they're no longer sleeping outside.

So that was really great, because it was proof that when hygiene needs are consistently met and met in a way that provides exactly what someone needs at that time, it can really be life changing.

George: Thank you, that was great. I love the vision of that event and when it comes back, I think it'll be even more powerful with regards to providing all those wonderful wraparound services. Through, everything that, you've been through with your work with Project Homeless Connect and Simply the Basics. What are some of the good things that you could see coming out of the other side of our pandemic health crisis, that would really help people with all of their hygiene needs let alone all of the housing stuff that people are still struggling with?

Meghan: That's such a great question. It's so hard to think of any of this as having a silver lining, but I do believe that people are realizing at a much greater scale how important hygiene health really is and every one's hygiene health.

We take it for granted when we can brush her teeth anytime we want and need to. And that we have soap and shampoo and that if you know, you get a cut, we can use antiseptic and put a band aid on it and not worry about it, or think about it again. We take that for granted, but when you don't have those things, it's all consuming.

It's all you might be thinking about and it affects your relationships. It affects your self-worth and it affects your health. And now we see with COVID, it affects everyone's health. You cannot wash your hands. If you don't have a mask and regular masks access all the time, then you might get sick and you might get other people sick.

So, when one person is healthy and safe, we're all healthier, we're all safer. And when one person is not cared for the entire community is impacted. So, I really believe that you know, what we're doing has never just been about one act of kindness. It's not one product, but it's, you know, it's a public health crisis that we're responding to thoughtfully carefully and, we can't do it alone.

So, I'm really grateful that the community sees how important this is and they're getting involved in supporting us and supporting these initiatives.

George: So, if people wanted to help, what’s the best place to go to?

Meghan: Definitely our website, www dot simply the basics dot org and you'll find contact forms and helpful information. And if whatever you're looking for is not on there, just go to the contact page, you'll see an email. You can reach out over email and someone will respond very quickly. Likely myself or someone else, but we will definitely get back to you quickly.

George: And do you have any, COVID-19 style funding campaign that you guys are working on at the moment?

Meghan: We wrapped up a big PPE campaign to get masks and sanitizers and gloves and thermometers. We went through that very, very quickly. So, we are going to be starting another one in the next couple of weeks. So mid-November that we hope to just keep seeing us through this pandemic, which is going to be really focused on raising the funds that it takes to add a new partner organization. For every partnership we add, it's about $1,500 a year to meet their hygiene needs. So, we're gonna really focus on help us raise the funds. We need to add these partners that are serving our community.

George: Thank you Meghan for sharing your work on Simply the Basics and of course, all your wonderful work for Project Homeless Connect. We'll make sure as always that, your contact information, social media website, are shared out, for viewers and listeners of this interview. And again, please stay safe as we continue to work our way through, whatever this dystopian future has for us.

Meghan: Thanks. I appreciate it. You as well.

Episode Outro - Show Host George: That’s it for this episode of voices of the community. You have been listening to the voice of the voice of Meghan Freebeck, the CEO and founder of Simply the Basics. The combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and its health and economic impacts on both our un-housed and low income community members has exacerbated the need for basic hygiene products and services. To find out more about how you can help provide hygiene products to our un-housed and low income community members go to simply the basics dot org.  

We mentioned Project Homeless Connect which Meghan has been until recently the CEO of and is one of the partners of Simply the Basics. You can find out more about Project Homeless Connect by listening to Episode Nine of our series on george koster dot com

Series Outro: We hope that you enjoy the insights, points of view and personal stories from the voices of change makers and their nonprofits and small businesses featured in this series. To  find out more and get engaged with the nonprofits, small businesses and staff members, featured in this series please go to my web site george koster dot com and click on Voices of the Community to find links to the extended versions of these interviews and to listen to the entire series. After listening to these stories we hope that you will consider making a donation and volunteering to provide a hand up to your fellow community members.

Series Credits: I want to thank my associate producer Eric Estrada, along with Mel, Michael and Lila at the San Francisco Public Press and KSFP. To listen to our next episode in this series and to our archived past shows which feature community voices working on solutions to critical issues facing Northern California communities, please go to george koster dot com. While you are on our website please consider making a donation to help us provide future shows just like this one. Follow us on twitter @georgekoster and please email us with feedback and show ideas at george@georgekoster.com. I'm George Koster in San Francisco and thank you for listening.

 Copyright © 2016-2020 Voices of the Community / Alien Boy Productions All rights reserved.

Voices of the Community transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Descript. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of Alien Boy Productions’ Voices of the Community’s programming is the audio record.