Sharon Benninger and Chinu Mehdi founded Uplift All Foundation to inspire and empower the homeless in the community. They were volunteering at St. Mary’s Dining Room in Stockton when they saw a woman carrying all of of her things on a walker.
Realizing that the homeless have limited access to laundry services due to cost, transportation and social stigma, they came up with the idea of a free mobile laundromat. Through community fundraising they were able to buy and equip a van with washers and dryers.
It was ready last spring but with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic they had to delay its deployment. “But now with things settling down, we’re ready to go” Benninger said.
The van held its grand opening on Thursday in the St. John’s Church parking lot downtown Stockton. The van will be at that location every Wednesday. “We hope it will be serving people at least 4 days a week” Benninger said. “This is our first location but were going to other places in the community.”
The Mercedes-Benz van is equipped with four washer/dryer units and is operated by volunteers. While it can hook up to an existing 110 power source, it has its own generator and propane tank. All it needs from the outside is a water source.
A person wanting to wash their clothes places their laundry in a basket and given a number that corresponds to the basket. An attendant then washes and dries the clothes. The garments are sometimes folded, depending on how busy they are. An average wash takes 33 minutes while drying takes about 45 minutes, so those having their clothes washed can wait, go do something else or use the Downtown Stockton Alliance’s portable showers located in the same parking lot.
Volunteer Ron Amador said that a woman came up to him with tears in her eyes saying she was so happy that the van was there. She told him that she previously had to either throw away her dirty clothes or trade them with another person because of the lack of places to wash them.
Chaney River, 34, was the first to use the mobile facility.
“It’s a relief for me because I deal with anxiety and I don’t like the shelters because of all the crowds. Something like this is close and personal” he said. “I like to look presentable and the only way I can do it is to have clean clothes. Every Wednesday I will be here.”
Record photographer Clifford Oto has photographed Stockton and San Joaquin County for more than 36 years. He can be reached at coto@recordnet.com or on Instagram @Recordnet. Follow his blog at recordnet.com/otoblog. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
The Link LonkFebruary 18, 2021 at 09:11AM
https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/local/2021/02/18/loads-hope-brings-laundry-services-homeless-stockton/6790826002/
Loads of Hope brings laundry services to Stockton homeless - Stockton Record
https://news.google.com/search?q=Laundry&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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