It's all in the bathrooms.

At the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter beneath the University Lutheran church on Winthrop Street, they're new and clean.

That, according to Rev. Thomas Chittick, co-pastor of the church, is a good reflection of how far the shelter has come.

"Look at yourself in the mirror and think about how you put yourself together in the morning. Then consider what these people lacked for 16 years."

He spoke Wednesday morning, as the shelter celebrated its re-opening with a who's-who of Harvard and Cambridge big-wigs.

Harvard money provided the foundation to renovate the ailing aid shelter.

The rehabilitation is one of several projects made possible by the University's 20/20/2000 plan, which pledges $20 million in loans over 20 years for affordable housing in Boston and Cambridge. Announced in November 1999, the loans are administered by three intermediaries, including the Boston Community Loan Fund, which lent $385,000 to the church for the renovation.

According to Provost Harvey Fineberg '67, who was on hand for the re-opening, "the fund is set up in such a creative way that it actually cycles around and amplifies the value of funds provided."