Pastor Leo Robinson II from North Flint’s Good Church in Michigan is helping his community wash their laundry by offering a service that will operate in the basement of his church, according to Flint Beat. Robinson wanted to help the people in his community who could not afford to get their clothes cleaned at the laundromat that was miles away, a trip that would also take up most of their day. The affordable laundromat will be called ‘Good Laundry’ and will help the community get their laundry done and alleviate the issues, especially for school children, that come with not having clean clothes.
Robinson’s church is not yet two years old, but he and his wife have become a significant part of their larger community. They learned about the needs of their community through the outreach they did during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were distributing food to apartment complexes. In their interactions with neighbors, the Robinson’s learned that a great need in the community was getting their clothes cleaned. Upon further inquiry into the issue, Robinson found out that the laundry circumstances were negatively impacting school attendance, which also impacted academic performance.
Knowing that a convenient and affordable laundromat would make a world of difference for community members, Robinson committed himself to making the service work. He plans on having four washing machines and four dryers at Good Laundry, which he calculates will help a little over 100 families meet their laundry needs each week. In order to manage the laundromat properly, Robinson even sought to learn more about the industry and quickly learned that his mission was unlike others. Instead of looking for profit, Robinson just wants to help people. He shared that he charges a low cost only to meet the cost of running the operation with utilities and a small staff, and only hopes to at least break even.
Robinson’s compassion for the needs of others is bringing miracles to those in his community. Recognizing that it is important to hear from one’s community about their needs as opposed to assuming them, Robinson listened and took action to help make a difference. Good Laundry at Good Church is open to all and its impact giving people clean clothes to wear will reach into every aspect of their daily lives, making them feel more confident, proud, and loved.