By Mike Hazlip—
Laundry Love Citrus Heights is striving to help those in-need and build community one wash at a time, and although the pandemic has hampered the effort somewhat — the laundry is still spinning.
The nonprofit is marking their fifth year since forming, and treasurer Steve Roberts says the effort is bringing people together. Roberts started Laundry Love with Michael Holbrook and Ron Bauer in 2016, as a way to help serve homeless and low-income residents
The program operates the second Tuesday of each month at Paradise Coin Wash at 7345 Greenback Ln. from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Those who come in each month are provided with funds by Laundry Love to pay for washer and dryer use. Guests then load the machines on their own.
“There’s two parts: one is doing people’s laundry, the second part is building community,” Roberts said. “We try and bring something to bring people together and just talk. What do you do when you’re waiting for laundry? You talk to people and you get to know them and try to build a relationship.”
Roberts said everyone is welcome, and the organization relies on the honor system. No one is asked to provide proof of income or identity.
Operations Manager Ron Bauer estimated the organization spent about $800 to $900 on a typical Saturday morning before the pandemic. Although laundromats were listed as essential services, Bauer said they saw a decline in participation during the shutdown.
Bauer said the organization served about 32 families and individuals each month before the pandemic, while the most recent Saturday effort served about 22 families and individuals. In November, there were 25 names signed up.
A woman waiting for her laundry at the December event said Laundry Love’s efforts help her and her family. With three boys, she said the dirty clothes pile up quickly.
“It helps. I usually come here about twice each week,” she said. “I have three kids, so it adds up.”
Laundry Love Citrus Heights co-founder Michael Holbrook said other changes brought on by the pandemic have been moving a coffee and snack table outside, and a new card system that works like a club card that individuals can use at the washing and drying machines. The cards are reusable and the organization can reload them when individuals need to use them again, he said.
Holbrook said he’d like to see more Laundry Love programs start up in other areas and said they are relatively simple to start and there is support through a national Laundry Love organization.
“What we’d like to see is somebody else to pick up in another part of the community,” he said. “That’s really what we would like is somebody who can put together a small leadership team.”
See prior story: Laundry Love: new local ministry serves homeless, poor by washing clothes
Although the Love Laundry model requires minimal effort, one of the biggest challenges the trio faced early on was finding a laundromat owner who was willing to partner with the group and allow them to essentially “take over” for three hours on a Saturday morning. Some owners were reluctant just because it was a new idea with some unknowns involved, while another laundromat’s facility didn’t have the necessary plumbing to run several dozen washers and dryers at full capacity for three hours.
Aside from the difficulty in finding a laundromat to partner with, the group says finding enough volunteers isn’t a big concern.
“You don’t need a ton of people, because they do all their own laundry,” said Bauer in a prior interview. “What we do is just provide the funds.”
