Indianapolis organization Laundry & More celebrates third anniversary

INDIANAPOLIS — A community-focused organization that thought it would only be open on the east side for six months is now celebrating three years of helping Hoosiers.

Laundry & More provides free laundry services and connects neighbors, often who are in poverty, to community resources with the goal of providing hope.

Director Abby Vesga says everyone, even those who come in from the street, are given a meal and organizations such as Community Hospital come in to provide services. Laundry & More has nearly 200 partners across the community.

"The biggest thing that I'm really proud of though is to say that we've done over 30,000 loads of laundry and we have worked with over 2,000 people," Vesga said.

Vesga said since Laundry & More opened in 2019, they've seen change not only in the lives of their clients but also the atmosphere inside the laundromat.

"It's become a very loud place to visit on Tuesdays because everybody is talking to each other. I can tell you I've never been to a laundry mat where it was loud - never. You can usually hear the dryers running," she said.

One man who had lived in his car for two years is about to get an apartment, and other visitors to Laundry & More have had their licenses expunged.

"It’s not just about doing something for the community. I’ve moved 80 times, I've been homeless four times. I am a survivor of domestic violence ... I've had every kind of situation that is in this community," Vesga said. "So for me, it's not about just coming in and doing a nice thing for the community - it's about giving hope and showing others that you don't have to go through this anymore, there are people who know and understand. We're in this together, and that's why I do it."

During a visit Monday, Mayor Joe Hogsett called it "community at its finest."

"This laundromat serves as a gathering place for this community to obtain the types of services that help lift them out of impoverishment and back on the road to productive living," Hogsett said.

Laundry & More is located at 4212 North Post Road.

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