Chico News and Review Best of Chico Nominee for Best Activist, Charles Withuhn
In the stirring documentary "A Shower Trailer for the Homeless on a Budget of Love," a powerful spotlight is cast on Chico resident Charles Withuhn. Dwelling in Butte County since 1972, the thoughtful Withuhn is an unlikely visionary, something the film never shies away from acknowledging. Less of a love letter than a meditation on Withuhn’s unwavering dedication to marginalized communities, it nevertheless offers up his simple yet profound initiative: a shower trailer.
Born out of Withuhn's deep-seated belief in restoring dignity and humanity to those in need, the shower trailer became an important exercise in partnership for Chico. A team of approximately 20 volunteers and ten businesses offered specialized expertise to design and pitched in the necessary materials to construct the shower trailer. According to Withuhn, the shower trailer’s creation reflected history in the making.
“It is the first solar-charged shower trailer that we have heard of,” he said. “This is a huge service to the community.”
Serving the community is an established calling for Withuhn. Eight years before his innovative idea that inspired an evocative documentary labeling him a hero, Withuhn noticed that the City of Trees had stopped planting as many trees as it cut down. This observation prompted him to help form Chico Tree Advocates with the goal of convincing the city to hire an urban forester–a goal that Withuhn and his supporters ultimately accomplished.
“Charles is a legend,” City Council member and fellow nominee Addison Winslow said. “He’s been incredibly successful at building a consensus and support for organizations that directly address Chico’s needs. No one questions that Chico should be a tree city. No one questions that we have a shelter crisis and that it’s cheaper to get people off of the street. That messaging is largely due to Charles.”
With the mission still far from being over, Withuhn had no intention of sitting on his laurels; from 2017 until 2023, he served on the board for Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT), regarded by many as “the driving force” behind the unique and collaborative housing concept that eventually became Everhart Village.
“It’s impossible to know exactly how many hands Charles shook or conversations he initiated around housing during his tenure representing CHAT at the Saturday morning market,” fellow nominee Ashley-Michelle Papon said. “What isn’t impossible to know is that Everhart Village stands now largely due to the work of Charles himself.”
Despite this progress, Withuhn felt the need to do more, noting that “at least” 26 individuals died outside in 2023.
“That’s just the number we know of,” he said. “There’s no telling how many we just haven’t found.”
Withuhn founded the North State Shelter Team (NSST) with the mission to address the shelter crisis through crafting solidarity with the constituency of the unhoused in creating new concepts of shelter and increasing access to hygiene services. The benefits of building solidarity and dispensing hygiene services aren’t just for the unhoused, he explains, but everyone.
“Providing these services reduces the demand at Enloe,” he said, pointing out the relationship between hygiene access, hospital efficiency, and public health, including mental health. “Less despair makes streets safer.”
As a finalist for Best Activist in Chico's esteemed Best of Chico awards, Withuhn's story resonates deeply as one of compassion, resilience, and visionary thinking. His reputation as a mover and a shaker within Chico not only addresses immediate challenges but also ignites a broader movement of compassion and solidarity in the community. His nomination underscores his pivotal role as a catalyst for positive change, inspiring others to embrace empathy and take proactive steps toward a more inclusive and supportive society.
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Learn more about the work of the North State Shelter Team
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