Free laundry services offered to homeless in LA area
(Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - Southern California Gas Co. and The Laundry Truck LA teamed up to unveil the nonprofit organization's newest trailer to provide free mobile laundry services to homeless people in the Greater Los Angeles area.
The trailer, the nonprofit's second, has five sets of washers and dryers, a folding station and a water heater. It offer service seven days a week, including night shifts, to unhoused people throughout Los Angeles County's parks, recreation centers and specialized locations.
The group was one of the first mobile laundry services in the United States to serve people experiencing homelessness and facilitated an estimated
3,000 to 4,000 loads of laundry last year, with more than 10,000 loads of
laundry expected to be done by the end of this year, officials said.
SoCalGas donated $25,000 to the organization earlier this year to support rising demands for personal care and laundry services.
"People experiencing homelessness in LA have been hit hard by the pandemic, and the demand for our free mobile laundry services has never been higher,'' said Jodie Dolan, The Laundry Truck LA's founder. "This new truck enables us to expand our reach and provide our services to those who need them most.''
Earlier this year, Landi Renzo USA donated a converted CNG Ford F-250
pickup truck equipped with the company's compressed natural gas system to help with the organization's efforts. The truck will help the organization to expand its reach to more people in need while reducing the environmental impact and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, officials said.
"As an early supporter of The Laundry Truck LA, we have been gratified to watch this organization grow, and reach more people experiencing homelessness in our community. Clean clothing is something so many of us take for granted, but it is truly a human right and need for us all,'' said City
Councilman Gil Cedillo, who added that it provides a "great service to the
homeless'' in his district.
County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis -- who said she supported the organization with a grant of just over $90,000 -- said that "access to laundry services is a simple way to give our unhoused neighbors self-confidence and a sense of dignity.''