After Markiewicz’s visit to the organization’s efforts up north, he took notes and brought his experience back to Fort Lauderdale to share with his church.

“When I came back, I talked with Rev. Hague and she was very supportive of the idea,” he said. “I told her I would figure it out, including funding, the laundry facility and so on. People at the church were also very supportive. There were a lot of practical questions about how to fund it and so on, but everybody was happy at the end, which was great. The church then granted a small amount of seed money and we went forward from there.”

Markiewicz said within a couple of days after he announced it to the parish, the money started flowing in from the congregation and they embraced the project. He also said he realized that, to make this effort successful, he would have to bring in a partner.

“We started working with the Jubilee Center in Hollywood,” he said. “They have their own clients and community. We talked with people there. We also had large posters made and we started out by handing out flyers there.”

The national movement

Hague said the national Laundry Love organization started in Ventura, California.

“It was really a man known as ‘T-Bone’, a houseless person, who was asked by a church how they could walk this life journey with him,” she said. “He said quite simply that he felt like if he had clean clothes, that people would treat him more like a human being.”

She said the church in California ended up developing their own ministry to address the need. They decided to partner, along with secular organizations, with a laundromat to make it happen. She said that is what All Saints decided to do here in Broward.

“Rather than getting expensive appliances for a homeless shelter like the Jubilee Center, we went out and found a laundromat who would collaborate with us in our effort,” she said. “In this case, we have been incredibly blessed to partner with the Laundry Spot in Hollywood.”

The monthly event

Hague said that once a month, they have volunteers at the laundromat along with supplies and money for the loads.

“We don’t do the laundry for the clients,” she said. “They have to do that themselves. But volunteers help them choose what size machines they need, then we handle the payments. A part of the empowerment is that they get to do their own laundry. We will help with seniors or people who are impaired, but generally they do their own loads.”

Hague said the church and volunteers don’t have questionnaires or prerequisites for those who come to the monthly event.

“For three hours once a month, people walk in the door,” she said. “We don’t ask them anything other than their first name. We don’t ask if they are working, or whether they have a home. It’s not just the homeless who are often treated badly because they smell… Often, it’s the working poor who have uniforms, or their kids need clean clothes for school and they’re trying to budget laundry in with everything else.”

Grant Einhorn owns The Laundry Spot in Hollywood.

“The Laundry Spot Hollywood is proud to support the Laundry Love initiative. Our customers are working class and many struggle to make ends meet. With rising costs everywhere, we understand that it might be hard to stay afloat, but it’s terrible to think families have to worry about whether or not they can afford to have clean clothes for work and school,” he said. “We want to help alleviate that burden for local families and do our part to make the community a better place.”

Hague’s wife, Katie Casteel, has been volunteering with Laundry Love since it was started three years ago.

“There was a time in my own life when I was younger and my parents either didn’t have a washer and dryer in our house, or sometimes something broke and then you couldn’t get it fixed, because it’s expensive to do laundry,” she said. “Since everybody needs clean clothes, it’s a great way to give back to the community.”

Residents Neil Bruteig and Vivan Toro are beneficiaries of the Laundry Love program.

“I live in this area. This has been a godsend, with what they’ve done for the last three years. It’s very helpful having this once a month,” Bruteig said. “It’s helped me so much, especially after I lost my job during the pandemic. Thank God for them. I appreciate what they’re doing for others. I’ve gotten to know these people very well.”

Toro is “grateful for these guys coming in here, because like they say, a clean home is a happy home. When you’ve got clean clothes, that’s a happy body and person. Nobody else in Hollywood really does something like this. It’s just a great program that everybody needs.”

Help from Laundry Love is available from 4 to 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at The Laundry Spot, 1410 N. Federal Highway, in Hollywood.

Visit allsaintsfl.org/laundry-of-love and laundrylove.org/donate.