"We have found a way to treat others how they want to be treated"
January 26, 2016 12:23 AM Subscribe
".. after 70,000 kilos of washing ... we realised it is so much more. We can restore respect, raise health standards and be a catalyst for conversation.
Orange Sky Laundry is a world first not for profit mobile laundry service. Launched in July 2014 by this years Young Australians of The Year Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, giving the homeless an opportunity to have their clothes laundered- and perhaps more importantly, the chance to sit down and have a chat with friendly, thoughtful and compassionate volunteers.
Starting out in Brisbane, the service now operates in 6 cities around Australia- and continues to grow. Partnering with food vans and other homeless services, Orange Sky Laundry is helping to change lives, one load of washing at a time.
Orange Sky Laundry is a world first not for profit mobile laundry service. Launched in July 2014 by this years Young Australians of The Year Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, giving the homeless an opportunity to have their clothes laundered- and perhaps more importantly, the chance to sit down and have a chat with friendly, thoughtful and compassionate volunteers.
Starting out in Brisbane, the service now operates in 6 cities around Australia- and continues to grow. Partnering with food vans and other homeless services, Orange Sky Laundry is helping to change lives, one load of washing at a time.
the world is going to hell in a hand-basket
Or to heaven in a laundry basket.
posted by chavenet at 3:11 AM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Or to heaven in a laundry basket.
posted by chavenet at 3:11 AM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
"Orange Sky Laundry is a world first not for profit mobile laundry service"
A world first, but not *the* world's first.
That goes to LavaMae in San Francisco, which incorporated in 2013 and started a test program with San Francisco around March 2014.
The idea of doing it is actually an old one.
"Several others have tried to provide mobile showers for the homeless in locations dotted across the country. But all too often, they’ve met resistance from local government officials and others who clog access by trying too hard to screen participants.
Sandoval has approval from the city to tap into fire hydrants and a plan to discharge the gray water into the city’s dual storm drain and sewer system. She realizes that a lack of screening will likely result in “people who will shoot up on our buses.” But she says the staff will be trained in administering drugs such as Narcan, which is designed to counteract opiates—and will be ready to deal with problems as they crop up."
They currently own two buses, and are ramping up to full service this year. Google gave $100K to help the program, which is $10k more than the price of a completed bus, I hear.
There's also Project WeHope further down the bay, which is launching its first bus in February, and similar programs starting around the country and around the world.
posted by markkraft at 3:40 AM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
A world first, but not *the* world's first.
That goes to LavaMae in San Francisco, which incorporated in 2013 and started a test program with San Francisco around March 2014.
The idea of doing it is actually an old one.
"Several others have tried to provide mobile showers for the homeless in locations dotted across the country. But all too often, they’ve met resistance from local government officials and others who clog access by trying too hard to screen participants.
Sandoval has approval from the city to tap into fire hydrants and a plan to discharge the gray water into the city’s dual storm drain and sewer system. She realizes that a lack of screening will likely result in “people who will shoot up on our buses.” But she says the staff will be trained in administering drugs such as Narcan, which is designed to counteract opiates—and will be ready to deal with problems as they crop up."
They currently own two buses, and are ramping up to full service this year. Google gave $100K to help the program, which is $10k more than the price of a completed bus, I hear.
There's also Project WeHope further down the bay, which is launching its first bus in February, and similar programs starting around the country and around the world.
posted by markkraft at 3:40 AM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Lava Mae open sources their designs and assists people around the world, trying to start a program, btw. If you are curious about partnering with them or starting a similar program where you live, their website has information to help you get started.
posted by markkraft at 3:48 AM on January 26, 2016
posted by markkraft at 3:48 AM on January 26, 2016
The solution to homelessness is obviously helping people get into housing, but in the meantime people have practical needs, with hygiene right at the top of the list. These sound like good programs and I hope that they can be continued and extended to other places.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:21 AM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Dip Flash at 4:21 AM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
Between this and the toilets post, it's almost like the best thing we could do is build some fucking decent housing with showers and toilets and beds for people to live in.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:16 AM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:16 AM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Showers & laundry. Next to food and shelter, the basic needs. I carried my bivouac, so I always had that covered; urban camping is problematic, and requires a certain situational awareness. Getting clean, though, was tricky. Stand-up soldier's baths in some service station's bathroom, or a fast food place. Mickey D and Taco Bell always made me leave my rucksack and guitar outside. I could watch them if I wanted only to order a meal, but I was afraid to go to the restroom there (for any reason), because I must take my eyes off my gear: I had nothing to steal that I didn't need--sleeping bag, my guitar, my rucksack and what was in it. I say meal, but I mean what I can buy. French fries don't make a good meal, but they bring calories, the next best thing on a cold night. Most urban areas I cruised didn't have a ditch or creek. Anyhow I couldn't sterilize urban ditch or creek water, because it's not safe to build a fire in urban camps. I always put safety before comfort. Sleeping under bridges is more than a metaphor.
Too many of the others I met on the road were badly damaged in one way or another. They were a danger, but mostly to themselves. Some druggie burnouts, but more likely they were otherwise screwed up in some way that made living among the straights impossible for them. Survival is what they wear next to their skin, so my well-being was always in jeopardy when they felt they had to choose. You can give them a cot in a building, but for many going inside is not an option. It's not safe in there, it's too confining, too noisy, too.....just too much. After the meal it's best to take the bivouac back to the bushes beside the freeway, under the bridge.
I once saw two guys and a dog whose camp was hidden in two bushes along a chain-link fence next to the railroad tracks--the only two bushes for a hundred yards, but if you didn't see them go in, you wouldn't know they were there. Some weeks later the city had cleaned up the bushes and these guys had moved on. Too many sad icons. The guy at the on ramp sitting with his sign and his dog: this is the Norman Rockwell moment, food, at least for the dog. The dog is his partner. Do not underrate the dog. Love. Companionship. This is a terrible sort of isolation.
You may believe me if I say that most of them would rather not move on because it takes time to develop a pattern of subsistence in a new area, and it's dangerous when you are on the move. Motorists nowadays don't pick you up as much as they did when I was living on the road. You don't notice your odor until you get into the car, then you are ashamed. You cannot tell much from just looking, but a few words of conversation reveals much, but you must take into account that even a well-collected transient may not be used to having a conversation, so he will seem sort of lame. Many others don't have both their feet on the same side of the mirror with us who are grounded in the entitlements that go with dry roofs and consistent food. It's often hard for them to define the world they live in, but they always know they don't belong in yours. That fact comes down like a hammer every day.
Laundry and conversation. A place to get clean; not to have to shame myself having to look at the ground and listen to you tell me what's good for me. A moment to pause, to peek into paradise.
posted by mule98J at 12:52 PM on January 26, 2016 [9 favorites]
Too many of the others I met on the road were badly damaged in one way or another. They were a danger, but mostly to themselves. Some druggie burnouts, but more likely they were otherwise screwed up in some way that made living among the straights impossible for them. Survival is what they wear next to their skin, so my well-being was always in jeopardy when they felt they had to choose. You can give them a cot in a building, but for many going inside is not an option. It's not safe in there, it's too confining, too noisy, too.....just too much. After the meal it's best to take the bivouac back to the bushes beside the freeway, under the bridge.
I once saw two guys and a dog whose camp was hidden in two bushes along a chain-link fence next to the railroad tracks--the only two bushes for a hundred yards, but if you didn't see them go in, you wouldn't know they were there. Some weeks later the city had cleaned up the bushes and these guys had moved on. Too many sad icons. The guy at the on ramp sitting with his sign and his dog: this is the Norman Rockwell moment, food, at least for the dog. The dog is his partner. Do not underrate the dog. Love. Companionship. This is a terrible sort of isolation.
You may believe me if I say that most of them would rather not move on because it takes time to develop a pattern of subsistence in a new area, and it's dangerous when you are on the move. Motorists nowadays don't pick you up as much as they did when I was living on the road. You don't notice your odor until you get into the car, then you are ashamed. You cannot tell much from just looking, but a few words of conversation reveals much, but you must take into account that even a well-collected transient may not be used to having a conversation, so he will seem sort of lame. Many others don't have both their feet on the same side of the mirror with us who are grounded in the entitlements that go with dry roofs and consistent food. It's often hard for them to define the world they live in, but they always know they don't belong in yours. That fact comes down like a hammer every day.
Laundry and conversation. A place to get clean; not to have to shame myself having to look at the ground and listen to you tell me what's good for me. A moment to pause, to peek into paradise.
posted by mule98J at 12:52 PM on January 26, 2016 [9 favorites]
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I wish I were abler so I could do more...
posted by james33 at 3:06 AM on January 26, 2016 [4 favorites]