HOLLYWOOD— The Laundry Truck LA (TLTLA) has teamed up with many sponsors to work on a project where they will be offering free laundry services to the homeless in Los Angeles.
TLTLA calls themselves a “free mobile laundry service that provides many unhoused families, men, women, and children in the downtown and greater los angeles area with clean clothes.” They have stated that their mission is to give “accessible personal care services, like laundry, [in hopes to] truly impact lives and… make the difference in securing employment or housing.” They hope to “restore a bit of dignity and hope to [the] local homeless communities through free laundry service.”
Their supporters include Dolan, Southern California Gas. Co, Clorox, Gil Cedillo, Maytag, Buchalter, Landirenzo, and Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.
In January 2019, they started with “5 sets of washers & dryers, a folding station, a water heater, and propane tanks on a 16′ trailer. Initially operating 2x per week, it’s estimated [they] did 3,000-4,000 loads of laundry for those in need in 2019. As of January 2020, [they] now provide laundry service 7 days a week with a motivated team who runs the day-to-day operations and expect to do roughly 8,000-9,000+ loads of laundry this year!”
Jodie Dolan runs TLTLA as well as Dolan, a fashion brand she started. She has graduated from UC Santa Barbara (1999) and was also a board member in Showers of Hope and a volunteer for Monday Night Mission.
She parks the trailer in a different area everyday, helping many in need. She has said that “the connection between clothing and laundry is about dignity and self worth. It’s about trying to lift people up and helping them to not feel invisible.”
One homeless man in particular, Larry Carter has said, “This is the best help [he] had… People look[ed] at [him] differently.”
Miguel Albanez, the operations manager for TLTLA, has said that their goal is “to do between 40-50 loads a day.”
To support TLTLA, they have a link in their instagram (@thelaundrytruckla) for any of those interested in donating.
