Clean laundry is a luxury for people living on the streets. Thanks to a small but consistent ministry at St. Mary of the Lake and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 4220 N. Sheridan Road, young people who are homeless can get their laundry done.
The ministry — which costs the parish just $200 a month — began five years ago, when former pastor Father Manuel Dorantes asked parishioner Ron Schnorbus to help him find a way the parish could reach out to the LGBTQ+ community in the neighborhood.
Schnorbus asked friends who work at Center on Halsted, a community health, wellness and cultural organization for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and they mentioned needing help doing laundry for young people who are homeless and who visit the center. Schnorbus previously volunteered with the laundry efforts at Franciscan Outreach, a homeless shelter in the city, and knew the benefits.
So a small band of volunteers began picking up bags of laundry once a week at the Center on Halsted, taking them to a local laundromat and washing and drying the clothes. They fold the laundry and return it with a bag of candy inside each bag.
A year after the parish began the ministry, in 2021, a parishioner connected the volunteers with people living at Town Hall Apartments, a Chicago Housing Authority high-rise for LGBTQ+ seniors, who also could benefit from their efforts.
“They are seniors in need, but don’t meet the qualifications for getting a home health aide,” or laundry help, Schnorbus explained.
The ministry has adjusted to the needs of those they serve and now they do laundry twice a month instead of every week. During the holidays, they give clients gifts such as new towels or underwear.
For a time, they also picked up laundry for two men living in tents off of
DuSable Lake Shore Drive, not far from the church.
Along the way, the volunteers have done other things for their clients, especially the young people, when extra help was needed. For example, the volunteers have chaperoned events for them and cook a dinner once a week at the center.
“We have gotten to know some of our clients. We see them in the lobby of Town Hall and the center, and they’ll say thank you for doing their laundry,” he said.
Jinx Romero, youth program manager at Center on Halsted, said the laundry ministry is a big help.
“There are so many youth out here that are experiencing being displaced or being unhoused,” Romero said. “It’s especially a struggle for those that are LGBTQ.”
The ability to wash their laundry or have it washed for them is not something that is frequently available to them, Romero said.
“People forget that laundry is a necessity,” Romero said.
The parish’s laundry ministry pairs well with the center’s clothes closet, where young people can choose gently used clothes for themselves. The closet also has business clothes they can take or borrow for job interviews.
“A lot of the youth that come by here do not have the resources, of course, but, more so, the care that we have here,” which includes trusted adults reminding them or teaching them about washing their laundry.
“They forget that laundry is even a thing. They forget that they have to change their clothes. They forget that they have to mend things,” Romero said. “Having this laundry ministry just removes that barrier entirely.”
Sometimes the volunteers receive thank you notes from those they help.
“Hello All, thank you for helping me help myself,” one youth wrote. “Your help doing my laundry is a real blessing, on so many levels,” another young person wrote.
Parishioner Heather Hendrickson joined the ministry with her daughter, who was in high school at the time. It is a small task with a big impact, she said.
“At the time we thought the kids who needed something as basic as their laundry done would make their life that much easier,” she said.
Her daughter is now in college, but she continues to volunteer.
“We talk about how it’s such a small thing when you say it, but we get notes from people who say what a huge impact it is,” Hendrickson said. “As we hear about in church all of the time — going beyond the doors of the church to our community — this is something that’s more unique. I think it’s just the type of thing that we’ve been asked to do for the community.”