Quarters and Conversations: Laundry Love Builds Relationships With Neighbors

By Amber Jennings

“You’re not going to hand me a Jesus pamphlet, are you?”

This was the conversation between our small volunteer team and New Life Ministries’ first Laundry Love guest back in April 2021.

Laundry Love, a nonprofit whose facilitators have served communities for over 20 years, began with a gentleman known as T-Bone (Eric) who said, “If I had clean clothes, people would treat me like a human being.”

His vulnerability sparked a nationwide movement for the worth and dignity of people. Now with over 300 locations, Laundry Love outreaches have washed the clothes and bedding of over a million people with low or no income.

New Life Ministries hosts two of these locations on the fourth Saturday of the month from January to November and on the third Saturday of December. Hundreds of guests are empowered to clean thousands of loads of laundry annually. By God’s grace, the ministry is flourishing. As we celebrate five years of Laundry Love at New Life, I chuckle thinking back on how well-intentioned and unaware I was that first day. Here’s how it started.

Built on Trust

In December 2020, a pastor at New Life invited me to propose an outreach ministry. I prayed through half a dozen possibilities and sensed the Lord leading me to propose a laundry ministry. I reached out to the owner of a laundromat within walking distance of our church in Endicott, New York. About 35 minutes into our first wash day, with plenty of people around us doing laundry and no interested guests, I wondered if I had misheard the Lord.

I unconsciously made the (pretty big) assumption that people at the laundromat would simply want to participate. Yet, more than an outreach, Laundry Love is a relationship. And relationships are built on trust. It took about six months of consistently showing up to gain the trust of the community. The most frequently asked question was: “What’s the catch?”

The growth of our outreach was exponential. Not in the colloquial sense where the focus is on inconceivably large numbers. I say exponential to emphasize conversations over time. As more and more families experienced the tangible love of Jesus and told their friends, we began to receive calls from people across town asking how they might participate. Schools, nonprofits, and other community-focused organizations in our area began reaching out to partner with us in big and small ways. We started a second Laundry Love location in Binghamton, New York, in April 2022.

“It took about six months of consistently showing up to gain the trust of the community.”

Loving People Where They Are

Each location functions a little differently. This is true even within the context of the locations led by New Life adapting to differences between the communities and the laundromats themselves. At both locations, however, our mission is the same: Love people where they are.

The messaging is dual. Where people are is the laundromat. We said from day one that if no one we served ever stepped foot in our building, that was not the goal. God calls and commands us to love our neighbors. That love is not contingent upon whether they attend our services. We do not coordinate branded church clothes, hand out tracts, or ask guests to do anything to qualify for the quarters.

We offer service on a first-come, first-served basis for all who enter. And the most amazing thing happens. People ask questions.

“Who are you?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Do you have information about your church?”

“God calls and commands us to love our neighbors. That love is not contingent upon whether they attend our services.”

We have flyers ready with wash day details and our address and service times for anyone who asks. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

We have incredible God conversations and opportunities to pray with people. We begin each wash day with prayer and invite anyone who wants to pray to join us. At the location where I serve, most do.

Where people are also may be far from God, even as He is near to them. Guests often show up to wash days carrying heavy burdens. Showing up with love and without judgment offers those who are hurting another experience of the church.

New Life sends teams of three to four volunteers to each laundromat. We orient volunteers and debrief with them about their first experience, which can be jarring to the senses. We provide the team with ongoing training as well.

Community Conversations

The tagline of New Life’s Laundry Love outreach is “Quarters and Conversations.” We had a volunteer spend most of one wash day talking with a 2-year-old so that mom could do laundry with free hands. Some of my favorite times are when all the machines are going, and we catch up with our friends. These consistent chats help keep me grounded to what is happening in our community.

Laundry Love has also been the catalyst of enlightening conversations at New Life. Those with a washer at home are often surprised by the cost of clean clothes, especially for a family. Our wash days run from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Some guests wait hours. Others sometimes come in drenched and tired after carting loads of laundry in the rain.

Wash days aren’t just about the money given or statistics of loads washed and guests served. They’re about loving and building relationships with our neighbors. My prayer at every wash day is that people experience the love of Jesus in such a way that they know something is different even if they cannot articulate why.

We’ve learned lessons (with many more to come) and navigated the good challenge of growth. The owner of the laundromats has been a supportive partner at every step. Following the ministry’s first successful leadership transition, I am blessed to serve with those who are now leading. I encourage any church or other group looking for a transformative local outreach to consider Laundry Love. The messy and beautiful picture of God’s love is manifest as what was unclean is washed white as snow.

“The messy and beautiful picture of God’s love is manifest as what was unclean is washed white as snow.”

To learn more about Laundry Love, visit laundrylove.org.
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Amber Jennings is a conference ministerial candidate at New Life Ministries in Endicott, New York. She also serves as a strategic programs manager and executive assistant at ICCM – International Child Care Ministries. Amber is passionate about going outside the buildings of church with the love and joy of Jesus. She enjoys hugs, food with friends, and temperate, sunny days.