Laundry Service Helps the Homeless

On October 3, Hope’s Corner officially began offering Thursday shower guests something new – freshly cleaned clothes. They’re not new clothes. Instead, they’re our guests’ own clothes, washed in our new laundry.

The laundry, which is in the same building as the new kitchen, was built as part of the kitchen project. Although the laundry’s main purpose is to launder towels, wash cloths, and bath mats used by our shower program, it’s a natural extension to wash guests’ clothes.  

Volunteers wash the clothing of up to six guests every Thursday – and eventually Saturdays – during the hours of our shower program. For hygienic reasons, they wash only one guest’s clothes in a load with towels and other items from the shower program. Each load is washed in hot water and dried in our high-heat dryer. Once the clothes have been washed and dried, volunteers sort and hold them in the laundry room for pick-up. 

The procedures for the laundry service were arrived at and documented by Kayla Gaskill, a Girl Scout volunteer, for her Silver Award project. Kayla researched other laundry services for the homeless and used what she learned to develop procedures customized for Hope’s Corner. 

This laundry service is much appreciated by our guests. In fact, when the new service was announced, they gave a standing ovation. “It’s a great service to the homeless community, and we’re very appreciative,” said a regular shower guest. “It’s a blessing, just like food or a shower.”

If you’d like to help with the laundry program, go to http://www.hopes-corner.org/volunteer. Volunteers must be at least 14 years old (i.e., 8th grade and above). Those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult volunteer.