One of the Humanity House projects that we felt did the most good for people in our community came to a close this past week. Laundry Love was and is a terrific community project. Laundry Love provided access to soap and laundry facilities for those who may not have washers and dryers, those whose washer or dryer is broken and their funds are going into getting them repaired, or to the elderly who cannot afford the utilities that it costs to run their own washers and dryers. It also provided for people who have isolated themselves a time to come together with others and visit and make friendships. It provided a time of community. Laundry Love holds a special place in my heart because one of the most important things that it did was allow little children to go to school in clean clothes, sleep in clean bedding, and feel just as good about themselves as other kids in school.
Coats were washed so kids have clean coats to wear to school. They have clean socks and underwear. Nothing feels better than to climb into bed with freshly laundered bedding. With Laundry Love up and running, no child should have been made fun of for being dirty or smelling bad.
There was no grant money for Laundry Love. Those funds came from private donations made to Humanity House. Our plan was and still is to have a building that has its own bank of washers and dryers for people to do their laundry in, and while the laundry is going, they will be able to apply for jobs online, learn some new budgeting techniques, learn a new way to stretch a food dollar, and work on other Humanity House projects. Our hope was to have that up and running before the funds ran out. We are close, very close, but not quite there.
One more thing that Laundry Love does is that it puts money into Iola’s economy. In fact, all of the Humanity House projects, with the exception of our food bank, pump funds right back into our city’s coffers. So it is a win for the community all around.
It was a tremendously hard decision to suspend Laundry Love for the time being. We understand what it meant to so many folks in our county. We know that once we have a building of our own we can provide this service again.
This past summer Humanity House staff and volunteers remodeled a home that was donated to us by Cindy Kress. The sale of that home will provide us with the funds to purchase a building where all of our goals for Allen County can come to fruition. Until that time, we hope funds will come in that will allow Laundry Love to continue for the next month or two.
If you feel like Laundry Love is something that you would like to donate to, please contact our office. Or if you think this is a project that your church might help with, talk to your minister. By helping members of our community with this very basic need, we show them that we care, no matter their religion, race, age or income. And that is what compassion is all about. Kindness matters!
