About Us

It started in the woods.

Before Skoolie Foundation was a fleet of buses — 

before the thousands of meals, the showers, the haircuts, and the campuses we're dreaming of —

 there was a kid, his family, and a tent in the woods.

Our founder, Brandon Simmons, didn't read about homelessness in a report. He lived it. 

As a child, Brandon and his family found themselves without a home, surviving in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. 

As someone of Native American heritage, he came to understand something the systems around him often missed: 

that survival and dignity are not the same thing — 

and that people don't just need to be housed, they need to be seen.

That experience never left him. Brandon grew up, served his country as a United States Marine, and built a life. 

He'd been converting decommissioned school buses — "skoolies" — into homes for private clients

 and travelers who wanted freedom on the open road. But the work started to feel hollow. 

He had the skills to turn an empty bus into a warm, livable home. 

What if he turned them toward families like the one he grew up in?

That question became Skoolie Foundation in October 2023.

Our mission

To restore hope, nurture dignity, and create pathways for lasting change in our community.

We meet people where they are. Our work begins with the immediate needs —

 a hot shower, a haircut, a bag of groceries, a safe night's sleep — 

and continues into the longer journey toward housing, employment, recovery, and stability.

A vision the community believed in.

Brandon didn't wait for permission. 

He took his vision door to door — joining every civic group, every networking circle, 

every community table that would have him — and told his story. 

And the community rallied: neighbors, businesses, tradespeople, churches, tribes,

 counties, and donors who saw something real in a man who had stood where the

 people he serves are standing now.

Through careful stewardship of every dollar entrusted to us and the hard work of a small but relentless team, 

Skoolie Foundation grew fast. In 2025, our community raised more than $273,681 in support — 

and together we distributed over 12,000 Bags of Hope, reached 5,000+ families with food,

 provided 1,000+ showers and 500+ haircuts, and stood beside our neighbors at the hardest points in their lives.

A story from the year: Steven

Steven came to us from the streets. He walked up to our Mobile Shower Bus one morning looking for a hot shower —

 like so many others. What happened next changed our Foundation.

Steven didn't just take a shower and move on. He stayed. He helped.

 He asked about the buses, the build-outs, the next project.

 Within weeks he was the most dedicated volunteer in our organization

 — first to arrive, last to leave. As it turned out, he had a construction background, 

and suddenly the Foundation had a builder who knew exactly what we needed.

 His fingerprints are on the spaces we built and the work that carried us into 2026.

A man arrived needing a shower, became part of our family, and helped build the very work that lifted him up. 

He never asked for credit.

In late 2025, Steven was diagnosed with cancer. 

As we write this, he is in treatment — and he is one of us. 

We carry his story forward because he gave it to us, and because it captures everything we believe:

Dignity restored is not a charity transaction. It is a person reclaiming what was always theirs.

Where we're headed.

We're just getting started. In the year ahead we're launching our Laundry Bus, 

expanding Safe Night Parking, developing a Mobile Medical Unit,

 and integrating Nurture Hope into other counties, the Thurston County shower program we acquired in 2025. 

And our longer vision is bold: a Skoolie campus in communities across Washington and beyond —

 each carrying the same proven programs and the same community-powered model that built this one.

It's ambitious. So was building a foundation out of a tent in the woods.

Be part of the story. Donate -  Volunteer - Become a Bus Pass Member 

Skoolie Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 93-3429328).