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Wearing clean clothing every day is not something to be taken for granted. This is why Pastor Leo Robinson II founded Good Laundry, a laundromat service for his North Fint, Michigan community and the surrounding neighborhoods, to combat hygiene poverty, Flint Beat reports. The laundry will be servicing around 100 families and helping them have access to clean clothes on a regular basis, at an affordable price. For these families, taking home a big pile of clean laundry is about much more than just hygiene, it can have a positive influence on many aspects of their lives.
Doing laundry is a challenge
Robinson’s church members rely on public transportation, which is highly inconvenient when carrying lots of dirty laundry. Their closest laundry facility is 3.5 miles away, reports Next City, which is a long distance and a big time waster if you think about the bus routes and three to four hours of waiting time while the laundry gets clean. It can take most of someone’s day.
The Robinson founded the Good Church around two years ago, and it is already an integral part of the community. Robinson realized pretty quickly that doing laundry was a challenge and that people needed an easy and affordable way to clean their clothes, and decided to get down to business.
Robinson started the nonprofit laundry that operates out of the church’s basement and will be a huge help to people who sometimes have to choose between buying food or laundry detergent. It is the pastor's hope to just break even and cover the cost of the operation. Unlike other laundromats, he is not in it to make money.
Added benefits of having clean laundry
Wearing clean clothing feels good and promotes healthy habits and good hygiene, as it helps remove dirt, and any bacteria, explains Housing for Health. But beyond that, there are many other benefits to having access to clean clothes.
In 2015, Whirlpool conducted a study that suggests that children with clean laundry have higher attendance in school compared to children who don't. They even launched a program called Care Counts that provides schools with washing machines and allows students access to them. The program showed a direct correlation between not only the higher attendance but also increased motivation in class, increased likelihood of participation in extracurricular activities and higher grades.
Robinson understood that having clean clothing is a basic human need and in providing people access to a laundromat he has in turn inspired people to take better care of themselves and have increased self respect and dignity.
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