Last night was laundry night! We arrived at 5:40 and our neighbors were already gathering outside. One gentleman held the door while we brought in supplies and another neighbor jumped right in to help unpack the snacks and organize resource table items.
A regular attendee showed up with a smile on her face despite the heat and the fact that her last set of clean clothes was long pants and a long sleeve shirt.
We met a new neighbor who stopped by on his bike to check out the resource table. We were able to help him with some toiletry items, tell him about our free laundry events and invite him back to do laundry.
B & J had good news to report: They will be moving into housing soon and B just completed training for a full-time job.
D & S shared that they were homeless for three years due to a car accident that made one of them unable to work and they were unable to maintain housing on one income. They are now housed and told us how much having clean laundry meant to them while they were homeless. They can’t wait to be able to come back and volunteer with us.
After several months of temporarily being housed in a motel while her apartment was treated for significant mold issues, J and her kiddos are back!
Our amazing friend Dan from Oregon City Grocery Outlet generously donated a full bag of deodorant which was a “hot” item on the 90 degree day. Almost every neighbor in attendance stopped by to grab a stick. Razors and toothbrushes were also popular items. Dan also donated three cases of water, which allowed us to offer our neighbors ice cold water and snacks while they waited for their laundry.
Thanks to everyone pitching in, our August event served 20 families and did just over 1,120 pounds of laundry.
*Note from OC Coordinators Tom & Brandi: We just want to say how thankful we are for our volunteers who stepped up and ran last night’s event without batting an eye when we could not be there. They set up, served our neighbors, listened, loved, and created a safe space to build community. You all rock!
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