When you need to go
By DAN WEST
Dan.West@gjsentinel.com
Everyone poops.
That universal fact is driving a local nonprofit to provide better toilet access for those that need to go, but don’t always have a place available to go.
Toilet Equity was founded in 2022 by local physician Paul Padyk after he had encountered a number of different toilet situations through traveling and felt that toilet access was a need for the Grand Junction community that wasn’t fully being met.
“When you need a toilet, you need privacy, safety, dignity,” Toilet Equity CEO Kaitlin Pettit said. “We want to be able to bring that to people who don’t have it. So, we are building compost toilets around town.”
Pettit said the organization finds local hosts that want to partner to bring toilet access to the people in their community. That includes First Christian Church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Homeward-Bound’s Resource Center on Ute Avenue. This week the group installed its fourth toilet at the new Resource Center site.
Pettit said the majority of the users of the toilets are unhoused people. She said for those with homes and work access to toilets is usually assured. When out you can use a store’s restroom even if you have to make a purchase to do so.
For unhoused people the situation is more complicated. Many stores aren’t open at night and even when they are, the unhoused population may not have the resources to make a purchase every time they need to use a restroom, she said.
“We’ve heard of people in the unhoused community in our user base who, before having access to our toilets 24/7, have had to schedule when they eat or when they drink something so they know when this passes through their body they will have an opportunity to go to the bathroom,” Pettit said.
While many of the users of these toilets are members of the Grand Valley’s unhoused community, Pettit said the toilets are available for anyone who needs them.
“I have gotten emails from people who have irritable bowel syndrome and are very grateful for what we are doing because they didn’t have toilet access when they needed it,” Pettit said.
In order to provide the restrooms, Toilet Equity relies on grants and donors to pay for them then volunteers to help construct and service them. The toilets are basic with amenities similar to a porta- potty. There are three versions that are made of different materials and of different sizes, though all use composting toilets.
Pettit said the group is looking for more volunteers to help clean and service the toilets. Volunteers will check the receptacle to see if it is full. They clean the toilets and make sure they are stocked with things like hand sanitizer and toilet paper on a daily basis.
See TOILETS, page 3A ➤
Toilet Equity has now installed four compost toilets at the Homeward Bounce Resource Center, with locations also at the First Christian Church and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Grand Junction.The group, started by local physician Paul Padyk, aims to give unhoused people in the Grand Valley a free place to use the bathroom, when they otherwise might not have access. Padyk has personally heard of people experiencing homeless planning specifically when to eat, to be able to use an available bathroom.
LARRY ROBINSON / The Daily Sentinel
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“We want hands on our toilets every day to make sure they are clean, safe and fully stocked for our users,” Pettit said.
Ultimately, Pettit said Toilet Equity would like to expand to more areas like Salt Lake City in the future. She said this is an opportunity for people to help with a problem that is not often talked about due to the private nature of the subject.
“Not only is this a great way to give back to the community and serve an often overlooked portion of the community, both in terms of the group of people we serve, but also the topic,” Pettit said. “You don’t think about needing a toilet until you need a toilet.”
To learn more about volunteer opportunities visit toiletequity.org.
