Recovering From a Fire

10/02/2023

This month, we experienced an unfortunate incidence of vandalism to our toilet at the Unitarian Universalist church. Early in the morning on Saturday, September 9th, two people on skateboards lit a fire inside the toilet located in the church’s parking lot. The event was caught on video at the church.

Our wonderful volunteer Maria was able to clean up all the external debris that day as part of her maintenance route. Paul then inspected the structure to assess the damage and screwed it closed so that it couldn’t be used until it was repaired.

Luckily, the fire damage was superficial. With a wire brush, some soap and water, and lots of elbow grease, Paul was able to get the structure cleaned up. With a coat of paint and a new toilet paper dispenser, the toilet was ready for use again by Wednesday!

We learned some valuable lessons from this vandalism, the first of which is how quickly we are able to get a structure repaired and serviceable again. We were also reminded of the gap between all the people who think we have a worthwhile idea and the community resistance to helping an underserved population. We always thought the money acquisition would be the hard part. Turns out, getting our toilets out into the world is really the challenging part.

Thank you for being part of our supportive Toilet Equity team. We are so grateful that you believe in our mission to provide equitable toilet access to those without, in support of community and environmental health. With your help, we will make this dream a reality, changing minds and bringing together communities along the way.