How New West not-for-profit Laundry Love uses washers and dryers to change lives

It’s probably one of the last things we sit and think about: doing laundry. For many, laundry is a regular part of life. For some, it is one of the easiest ways to slash costs if things are getting too expensive.

Enter Laundry Love: a group in New Westminster that’s working to ensure people don’t lose access to a washer and dryer; as the not-for-profit puts it, it brightens lives through ‘love, dignity and detergent.’ Laundry Love is partnering with the New Westminster Homelessness Coalition Society to make the initiative happen.

“[Humans] have such a stigma against folks and hygiene. It’s one of the first things that we will actually judge about somebody,” notes Kent Chan-Kusalik, who helps to run the program.

“It's mostly single folks that are coming in that have a big barrier to being able to do their linens. Maybe their landlord won't allow them to do their linens, they're on a fixed income. Sadly, there hasn't been a raise in those rates.”

Chan-Kusalik says it’s often common for folks to perhaps have to make a choice between towels and linens, or – if money is really stretched thin – their clothing.

“[Those accessing the program are] folks that are on fixed income and [there are] also families, especially because…if you've got multiple folks living in your family, you're producing quite a lot of laundry,” says Chan-Kusalik.

The New Westminster version of Laundry Love is based on a model from California. Stateside, the initiative tends to be run through congregations. In New West, the funding comes from the Federal Reaching Home Grant, meant to provide money for local solutions to homelessness. The group has also been tracking usage numbers that will be used to figure out whether this is a program that will benefit other communities – right now Chan-Kusalik says the numbers point to an ongoing need.

Laundry Love also received additional funding through Vancity, with that money going to costs like laundry soap, outreach, and postering.

While there are some laundromats that regularly offer their space, Chan-Kusalik still needs a permanent home for Laundry Love. “We've had Bluebird Coin Laundry and New Venture Coin Laundry. One is in Uptown, the other one's in Brow of the Hill and it's been wonderful,” Chan-Kusalik says.

Right now, the project is in a pilot phase, so Chan-Kusalik says permanence at a laundromat is key to continuing to spread the word and let people know Laundry Love can help, especially since many of these spots have what Chan-Kusalik calls mega load machines.

“We had one client come in and she had a lot of laundry,” says Chan-Kusalik. The client was actually a regular at one of the laundromats, but had been prioritizing what to wash. When she realized the event was happening, she went home, and returned with more of her laundry to wash and dry. “The amount of money that would have saved her was about $36.”

Another memorable experience with a client included one man who hadn’t been able to wash a coat for a long time.

“It was a very delicate kind of material, but they were able to get it washed and he was so happy. He was like, ‘this is so clean!’ Just over the moon over something so simple: access to a washer and dryer.”

To learn more about Laundry Love, or volunteer with the organization, visit their Facebook page. They’re also holding a fundraising campaign – every dollar donated goes towards their work.