Snohomish pals offer unique service to the homeless
Apr 10, 2017, 4:56 AM
Pastor DJ and his friend Eric told Ron and Don about Washed Mobile, a service that washes clothes for the homeless out of a box truck. (Dyer Oxley, MyNorthwest)
(Dyer Oxley, MyNorthwest)
Two Snohomish friends have taken their mission to help the homeless to another level — laundry. DJ and Eric spend their free time driving a specially-outfitted truck with a washer and dryer. They seek out homeless individuals on the street and wash their clothes for them.
DJ and Eric call their service “Washed Mobile.”
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“We took a 16 foot box truck and converted it into a mobile laundry mat,” said DJ, who is a pastor at The House Church in Snohomish. “Based on what we have seen out on the street doing outreach, we saw that was one of the greatest needs — getting their clothes washed.”
“Not last winter, but the winter before that, we did outreaches in two cities and after that we realized all we really did was feed them, clothe them, and did an event,” he said. “We decided we wanted to do more than that and have more of a connection with them and have more of an inroad to connect them with services.”
Doing more turned into Washed Mobile and it’s proven to be a success, the two men say.
“We’re washing their clothes so we have an hour with them,” DJ said. “This laundry truck is simply just a net. It allows us to have the conversations and ask the questions; what is your situation? If you are washing your clothes out of a 16 foot box truck, there is a greater story behind this issue.”
“This time with them gives us an opportunity to find out what is going on, and that allows us to specifically meet the needs that they have,” he said.
Since last July, DJ and Eric report helping more than a dozen people and couples get off the street with their unique outreach.
“Recently, we had a couple who we got off the street, into housing, off of alcohol, then got them licensed and bonded and set up as an electrician and formed an electric company for them,” Eric said.
