Tampa leaders are working to inform and empower people one load of laundry at a time.
The city recently held a free laundry day at Riverside Laundromat to provide more than just clean clothes.
The mission of the first event of a new program called “Suds and Solutions” is to connect community members directly with valuable city information and resources through meaningful relationship building.
“The whole goal of this event is to bring city resources into the communities we serve,” said Janelle McGregor, director of community engagement and partnerships for Tampa. “While residents are learning about housing, careers and public safety, they’re also being treated to a free laundry service.”
By hosting the events at local laundromats, the city is hoping to foster stronger ties to the people it aims to serve.
“Where better of a place to provide those resources than right at the laundromat, where folks are already gathering?” McGregor said.
A nonprofit partnership
The city’s partnership with nonprofit Current Initiatives was a key part of organizing the event, which began through work with the Tampa Police Department a few years prior.
Jason Sowell, the president and founder of Current Initiatives and the Laundry Project, said that the partnership’s goals are multifold.
“(The first goal is) helping alleviate the financial burden that that families are dealing with (when) choosing between buying groceries or washing their clothes,” Sowell said. “We want to remove that choice; we want people to not have to make that choice.”
“Secondly, the hope is that while they’re in this space, they get connected to services that may not be readily available to them all the time,” Sowell added.
These services range from human rights concerns to housing and career programs, which may not be easily accessible to those who are not able to travel to downtown Tampa.
Looking beyond the laundry
Laundromats have historically been places known for bringing people together; an extension of the home with access to amenities that weren’t always readily available.
“Laundromats are natural community spaces. People that use them, they know each other, they look out for each other,” Sowell said. “Anytime we can foster that and bring more hope and dignity into a space like that, for families, that's always the hope on a long-term scale.”
Ultimately, these events open a dialogue where citizens can express their needs to city officials directly within their communities.
This is especially important as issues like affordable housing continue to be a pressing issue for many across the greater Tampa Bay region.
“Anything that we can do to help bridge someone in the community, to be able to tell their story to the people in charge that are making those decisions,” Sowell said. “And help balance those scales for those families to be able to have more affordable housing. To me, that raises the whole community all the way around; it’s best for everyone.”
