Help provide free laundry service for the unhoused
Tax deductible
Dear Friends,
After spending over a decade owning a fashion brand in downtown Los Angeles, I started searching for ways that I could begin to make a positive & meaningful impact in the world.
At the end of 2016, I was at an event in West Hollywood, at a fashion salon, surrounded by glittery runway and red carpet looks. As I left the party, I walked down the stairs and right into a woman and her makeshift bed in the vestibule. She startled me, I startled her; and not knowing what else to do, I gave her whatever money I had in my pocket before she unfortunately ran off. I left that night thinking about this woman and how I could have handled that situation differently. Because of Dolan, I have spent years in studios and factories dotted along Skid Row and other densely populated “homeless” areas. It had become normal. I was very numb to it and, frankly, didn’t think of the issue as my problem at all - until I literally walked right into somebody’s bed and started to open my eyes.
After this incident, some of the Dolan team and I found our way to Skid Row volunteering on weeknights. From there, I got involved with The Shower of Hope, an organization offering free showers to our homeless community all around Los Angeles. Spending time with the mobile shower and down on Skid Row allowed me to see the issues firsthand and look through a new lens for ways I could help. It was there that I realized a simple need - those taking showers often still didn't have the resources for clean clothes. This community would have a hot shower, feel the beauty and the dignity of being clean only to put their dirty clothes back on. It was there that the idea of providing clean laundry for the homeless was born.
Because a laundry truck was a brand new concept, there was a lot of work, research, calls, and definitely a lot of trial and error in the process. I am so thankful for all the help and support from my friends, family and team. I surely couldn’t have done it without them! We persevered through it all and, after one and a half years, finally, The Laundry Truck LA came to life - a trailer with 5 washers and 5 dryers that services the downtown LA and surrounding areas providing free laundry services to the unhoused communities.
By washing, drying, and folding their clothes, we've been able to directly serve people who are often forsaken and invisible in our society, and yet, exist in the very heart of LA. By bringing this much needed service to the community, we've helped restore a bit of dignity to our neighbors in need.
We are mobile which is a premium service with a premium cost. The unhoused usually don’t have any extra resources for transportation (or laundry) so we need to go to them. By being mobile, we can also "pop up" with additional auxiliary services in each neighborhood (such as showers, barbers, medical support, clothing donations, warm meals & case workers), customizing & providing a holistic approach to triage any of the number of issues somebody might have. Additionally, because of the Truck's mobility, we anticipate being able to affect the lives of 4,000-6000 people, at least, per year.
We are fundraising for the rest of 2019 with two major goals:
1. Ongoing support of operations which includes transportation costs (our trailer is an 8800 lb. trailer that needs a professional driver to tow it each morning and evening after service), staff, insurance & maintenance
2. Swapping out our standard stackable washers / dryers to commercial grade. We have already swapped out one set and it's amazing!! It does the wash and dry in half the time, allowing us to help more people with more loads of laundry
Thank you so very much for taking the time to learn about what we are doing. We are filled with gratitude at the possibility of your generous support. Your financial contribution means helping those in the most vulnerable time of their life to get a little dignity back, and it directly impacts marginalized communities, children, elderly and everyone in between. It also helps those that need just a little bit of extra support while they work to secure housing and employment. Furthermore, clean laundry for the unhoused also helps to contribute to our community as a whole by supporting cleanliness, preventing disease from spreading, and offering better quality of life for all.
We always welcome volunteers! Please contact us through our site if you are interested. Lastly, please help us to get the word out by sharing our GoFundMe link to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, or via email. My hope is that we can encourage many more people to also jump in and get involved in making a difference in our society!
With much love and gratitude,
Jodie
https://www.facebook.com/thelaundrytruckla/
https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/2574018492629363/
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1159860136090972162
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1041885262688502
https://www.facebook.com/TheNikiaPhoenix/videos/2037773239865293/?v=2037773239865293
After spending over a decade owning a fashion brand in downtown Los Angeles, I started searching for ways that I could begin to make a positive & meaningful impact in the world.
At the end of 2016, I was at an event in West Hollywood, at a fashion salon, surrounded by glittery runway and red carpet looks. As I left the party, I walked down the stairs and right into a woman and her makeshift bed in the vestibule. She startled me, I startled her; and not knowing what else to do, I gave her whatever money I had in my pocket before she unfortunately ran off. I left that night thinking about this woman and how I could have handled that situation differently. Because of Dolan, I have spent years in studios and factories dotted along Skid Row and other densely populated “homeless” areas. It had become normal. I was very numb to it and, frankly, didn’t think of the issue as my problem at all - until I literally walked right into somebody’s bed and started to open my eyes.
After this incident, some of the Dolan team and I found our way to Skid Row volunteering on weeknights. From there, I got involved with The Shower of Hope, an organization offering free showers to our homeless community all around Los Angeles. Spending time with the mobile shower and down on Skid Row allowed me to see the issues firsthand and look through a new lens for ways I could help. It was there that I realized a simple need - those taking showers often still didn't have the resources for clean clothes. This community would have a hot shower, feel the beauty and the dignity of being clean only to put their dirty clothes back on. It was there that the idea of providing clean laundry for the homeless was born.
Because a laundry truck was a brand new concept, there was a lot of work, research, calls, and definitely a lot of trial and error in the process. I am so thankful for all the help and support from my friends, family and team. I surely couldn’t have done it without them! We persevered through it all and, after one and a half years, finally, The Laundry Truck LA came to life - a trailer with 5 washers and 5 dryers that services the downtown LA and surrounding areas providing free laundry services to the unhoused communities.
By washing, drying, and folding their clothes, we've been able to directly serve people who are often forsaken and invisible in our society, and yet, exist in the very heart of LA. By bringing this much needed service to the community, we've helped restore a bit of dignity to our neighbors in need.
We are mobile which is a premium service with a premium cost. The unhoused usually don’t have any extra resources for transportation (or laundry) so we need to go to them. By being mobile, we can also "pop up" with additional auxiliary services in each neighborhood (such as showers, barbers, medical support, clothing donations, warm meals & case workers), customizing & providing a holistic approach to triage any of the number of issues somebody might have. Additionally, because of the Truck's mobility, we anticipate being able to affect the lives of 4,000-6000 people, at least, per year.
We are fundraising for the rest of 2019 with two major goals:
1. Ongoing support of operations which includes transportation costs (our trailer is an 8800 lb. trailer that needs a professional driver to tow it each morning and evening after service), staff, insurance & maintenance
2. Swapping out our standard stackable washers / dryers to commercial grade. We have already swapped out one set and it's amazing!! It does the wash and dry in half the time, allowing us to help more people with more loads of laundry
Thank you so very much for taking the time to learn about what we are doing. We are filled with gratitude at the possibility of your generous support. Your financial contribution means helping those in the most vulnerable time of their life to get a little dignity back, and it directly impacts marginalized communities, children, elderly and everyone in between. It also helps those that need just a little bit of extra support while they work to secure housing and employment. Furthermore, clean laundry for the unhoused also helps to contribute to our community as a whole by supporting cleanliness, preventing disease from spreading, and offering better quality of life for all.
We always welcome volunteers! Please contact us through our site if you are interested. Lastly, please help us to get the word out by sharing our GoFundMe link to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, or via email. My hope is that we can encourage many more people to also jump in and get involved in making a difference in our society!
With much love and gratitude,
Jodie
https://www.facebook.com/thelaundrytruckla/
https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/2574018492629363/
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1159860136090972162
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1041885262688502
https://www.facebook.com/TheNikiaPhoenix/videos/2037773239865293/?v=2037773239865293
Organizer
Jodie Dolan
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
The Laundry Truck LA (The Laundry Truck LA (501c3))
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
