JACKSONVILLE, Fla — It’s a choice some families are having to make, buying groceries or spending money to wash clothes. With many on the First Coast struggling financially, the non-profit Current Initiatives is providing free laundry services to low-income families and hospitality workers currently out of work due to the coronavirus. This free service will take place on Thursday in Jacksonville as part of the Laundry Project's COVID-19 Relief Effort.
“We’re dealing soap and hope,” Jason Sowell, Founder of Current Initiatives Laundry Project said. “We see hope as a present, right now thing. Hope comes in many forms. Hope can be as simple as putting quarters in a you know laundry machine for people, and it provides a little bit of stress relief for them right now.”
The Laundry Project works with laundromats in largely lower-income communities across 11 states.
“We basically turn the laundromat into a community center for a few hours. We pay for people's laundry," Sowell said. "We provide all the soap supplies that families need, and it's all an effort to help alleviate that financial burden that families struggle with just on a regular basis."
The average family he says spends anywhere from $30 to $40 each trip to the laundromat.
“Laundry is a luxury,” Sowell said. “Laundry is one of those things that brings a lot of dignity for us. It’s empowering to us. It changes our attitude about ourselves, how other people view us, how we carry ourselves in the world. So that on a regular basis is a big thing a lot of people take for granted.”
Due to the pandemic, the need now is even greater. In a typical year, Sowell said his group helps about 10,000 families do around 20,000 loads of laundry.
“So, for context, we typically do about 80 Laundry Projects a year,” Sowell said. “Just in the past 16 weeks, we've done 48 projects. We've washed over 10,000 loads of laundry. Our numbers are definitely way up from our normal yearly average.”
On Thursday, July 16, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The Laundry Project will be providing free laundry services at Discount Coin Laundry located at 26 E 9th St, Jacksonville, FL 32206. To make an appointment text (727) 537-9082 or contact The Laundry Project on Facebook @engagecurrent.
If you’re able to help, they’re collecting monetary donations and supplies like detergent, quarters (rolls of $10), garbage bags, coloring books, crayons, fabric softener and laundry baskets.
“Just having people look at them and say, ‘We love you.’ We care about something as small as you having clean clothes and clean sheets and clean towels and no strings attached. We're just trying to help meet this small burden for you,” Sowell said. “Small acts go a long way for people and gives them a little bit of hope.”