Mobile laundry service to offer ‘genuine human-to-human connection’ with rough sleepers in Goldfields

A free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness travelled to Kalgoorlie-Boulder this week to meet key service providers ahead of setting up in the Goldfields.

Judith Meiklejohn, remote and Indigenous program manager, and Lisa Sprlyan, community impact program manager, have had discussions with service providers in Kalgoorlie-Boulder this week, most consistently with Bega Garnbirringu Health Service.

“We have been working really hard while we’ve been here and are trying to connect with as many organisations as we can,” Ms Meiklejohn said.

“We had a good time sitting and yarning with people while they waited for their washing to finish.

“We have conversations about anything, you know sometimes it can be about the weather and the footy or it can be about more serious topics — we take our direction from people.”

Ms Meiklejohn said while the meetings with service providers were essential to understanding the layout of services in the area and building relationships with them, the best criticism and information came from the people who used the service.

“I think one of the beauties of what we do is that we are not asking for anything from people,” she said.

“We don’t need their information and they don’t have to do anything to access our service.

“It is just genuine human-to-human connection which I think is lacking these days, unfortunately.

“It has been good to learn who is providing what in the region and whether or not we would be duplicating a service.

“We have also gained some insight into how we would best fit in the community if we are needed.

“We set up alongside the Church of Christ on Tuesday to do some washing and had a few people come down and we will be there Friday morning too.”

Orange Sky was founded in a Brisbane garage by two 20-year-old mates, Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett.

In late 2014, Mr Marchesi and Mr Patchett installed a couple of washing machines and dryers in the back of their old van and visited parks across Brisbane to wash and dry clothes for free.

What started as an idea to improve hygiene standards and restore dignity to people doing it tough has evolved into something much bigger and more powerful.

From sitting down on their orange chairs and chatting with people, the two learnt that although access to laundry and shower services was important, it was the conversation and regular connection that had the biggest impact.

To date, Orange Sky has provided Australians doing it tough with more than 1.9 million kilograms of free laundry, 20,000 showers and 330,000 hours of genuine and non-judgmental conversation across 36 service locations.

“There are now 40 Orange Sky facilities across Australia and New Zealand, with eight of those in remote communities,” Ms Meiklejohn said.

“We have a small vans with washing machines and dryers in the cities, shower vans, hybrid vans with a washing machine, dryer and shower, and we now have pods that we can install in different locations so they do not have to be mobile.

“And then we have our remote vehicles with three washers and three dryers so they have the ability to wash a lot more at once.

“In the cities, we operate in groups of volunteers but for remote areas we really want to create employment opportunities.

“We know unemployment is pretty high so we are really keen to offer those employment opportunities and to partner with well-respected local organisations.

“We do have a preference for Aboriginal community controlled organisations as they already understand the community and have built trusting relationships.”

Orange Sky always partners with service providers, such as food vans or drop-in centres, and makes sure the locations they set up in are comfortable spaces.