Having clean clothes is a simple thing people take for granted, but for those who are homeless or can barely pay the bills, doing laundry is a luxury.
Ericka Drayton, owner of the Waimanalo Laundry Services, has seen how much a program called Laundry Love has helped her neighbors. First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu approached her in 2015, asking if her laundromat would host a monthly program providing free laundry service to the needy. She immediately agreed.
“This is a way to make a big impact rather than just giving someone your change at a stoplight,” Drayton said.
First Presbyterian finances the program with donations, totaling more than $38,000 the last three years. Church volunteers help process the laundry, as well as providing meals and other services on laundry day, the last Saturday of each month.
Drayton is not a member of the church, nor particularly religious, but said she knew what a benefit the program could be. When she explains why she’s so committed, her eyes tear up and for a few moments she is unable to speak. After a deep breath, she says, “They live with sand in their laundry for 30 days. It’s wet, and it never gets fully dry. Think of it as if you went camping for 30 days, and you only had a limited amount of clothing you didn’t wash for a while; and you’re wearing that over and over again.”
Local business owners donate time and money to help homeless
The owners of Grace in Growlers, a craft-beer tasting room in Kailua, introduced a Laundry Love program more than three years ago after they moved from San Diego to Oahu. Holly and Tim Veling run the service out of the Kaneohe Laundromat behind Windward Mall, serving about 25 people twice a month at a cost of $500 to $600 per session, funded by their business. The couple saw the program as in keeping with their Christian beliefs. “We’ve always been really passionate about helping homeless people,” said Holly Veling. She sends out mass texts on her cellphone the day before each session to those who have government-issued phones, and they spread the word to others about time and place. The regulars are “just like family to us,” Veling said. Laundromat owner Marie Goings — “she’s super-kind” — is always there to assist, and Grace in Growlers’ five employees also volunteer as they are able. She notes that the recipients always lend a hand to one another, particularly helping the disabled. No matter how tired she and her husband are, laundry day lifts their spirits. “Once you get there, it brings joy to your heart. I think we get more out of it that they do. They’re amazing people.” The Velings have also formed the ONEninetynine Initiative Inc. to expand their outreach by opening a transitional residence for the homeless in the area. The Velings are the only members of the nonprofit, which also relies on profits from their business. The name is based on a biblical teaching in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15, which maintains that there’s more joy in heaven over one rescued life than over 99 good people in no need of rescue. Find them on Instagram @graceingrowlers.
Drayton added, “These people are just down and out and just need a helping hand. They’re not druggie crackheads. Lots have family in Waimanalo, but don’t want to burden them.”
Laundry Love was formed nationally in 2003 in response to a basic need for human dignity. Co-founder Greg Russinger had asked a homeless man how he could help in a practical way, and the man answered, “If I had clean clothes, I think people would treat me like a human being.”
Three years ago First Presbyterian Church became one of the first to sponsor a program on Oahu, a few months after All Saints’ Episcopal Church & Preschool on Kauai first brought the program to Hawaii. A Mililani church ran a laundry service for a while, but now the only other program on Oahu is in Kaneohe.
“Our goal is to come and love on the Waimanalo community,” said Gill Berger, a church volunteer at the Waimanalo laundromat. “We hope this is a vehicle — between the laundry, the food and fellowship — to get them into housing, which has worked for at least three families; and (to get them) on their feet socially and economically.”
He and his wife, Laurelyn, are among many who bring hot meals for people to eat while waiting for their laundry to be done. Often, donated toiletries and other necessities are available, and representatives of aid agencies are present.
Almost 20 volunteers move clothes from washers to dryers and folding tables. They’re careful to help people as much or as little as they prefer. “There’s a dignity in doing your own laundry,” said Laura Kay Rand, coordinator of the program.
In three years, Rand said, they have washed 8,680 single loads of laundry, equivalent to 156,236 pounds. An average 40 to 50 families show up each month, and each can do up to three extra-large loads.
Rand said people come from as far as Nanakuli, and the line gets quite long — it usually takes four or five hours to get everyone through.
The volunteers wear nametags and so do their customers, so they all get to know each other. The volunteers don’t regard their customers as “just the homeless,” Rand said. “They’re our friends and they consider us their friends.”
She is quick to correct any misconceptions about the homeless: Many hold jobs, but their budgets just can’t stretch to cover laundry; and they bathe at the nearby beach park, so cleanliness matters to them.
“We’ve seen these people getting together, getting married, having kids. We’ve watched these families grow and change, and been able to be part of them; we’ve been invited to barbecues,” she said. The relationships are valuable because “this population does not trust easily. They’ve been burned, they know that they’ve been stereotyped.”
Tammy Keaulana, who has been living out of her car with her dog, Baby, learned about Laundry Love mostly through flyers. “I come all the time. They know us well. … We always get a good meal.”
“Laundry Love helps a lot. I have clean clothes and I don’t have to throw them away all the time. It’s hard to wash. Some of the clothes get ruined cuz they get soaking wet. You can’t wash them cuz you don’t have any money to wash ’em, so it gets mildewed.” She also washes the blankets and pillows she sleeps on — “I got a lumpy bed, but it’s OK.”
Alice Flores used to be homeless but now has shelter through the state’s Housing First program, thanks to a social service agency staffer she met at Laundry Love.
Flores still uses the service to wash clothes for herself and her brother and his wife. It helps make ends meet.“They’re very good, these guys, they made me feel welcome, they always come by and talk; we consider them friends.”
Drayton acknowledged that Laundry Love benefits her business. “This is a dream to have every machine cranking for five or six hours. I benefit, but mostly the recipients benefit.”
She said the people who use the service always respond with overwhelming gratitude. “They come up to you at the end and tell you thank you, and they call you by your first name. We have become their Laundry Love family.”
Rand said Drayton’s willingness to help — which includes donating food — reflects a shared sense of duty. “It’s everyone’s responsibility; we’re all one community.”
