Addition Of 2nd Laundry Truck Provides More Options For Clean Clothes
DENVER (CBS4)- Now there are even more options for people living in Denver to have clean clothes thanks to the addition of another laundry truck.
Bayaud Enterprises, along with public and private partners, celebrated their second Laundry Truck on Thursday ready to serve the homeless across the city.
"It's a barrier to getting a job, to getting housing, to getting medical service, to attending college," said Scott Kerr, the director of the employment and opportunities center for Bayaud.
On any given day passing by the public library in downtown Denver or Civic Center Park, you can see many people suffering from homelessness living on the street. Kerr says the truck provides an important service for those trying to improve their situation.
"The most motivated individuals in this city are often times individuals that are experiencing homelessness," he said.
Bayaud Enterprises helped to launch the first truck last year with the help of donations from private corporations and community organizations. They determined that laundry was one of the most important resources the homeless. The team operating this new truck plans to be at the park and by the library often.
"We want to go to where people are already at, where they're already congregating," said Kerr. "Many times already asking for help and receiving services."
The new truck can do 45 loads at once filling up two tanks with used water coming from a set of six washers and dryers on board. That is more laundry than the previous truck, which already averages more than a ton of laundry each month. Denver Water provides the clean water to run all those loads on the trucks.
"A lot of times people need to go to jobs, they need clean clothes, got to go to an interview, they need clean clothes," said Ray Lyall with Denver Homeless Out Loud and one of the operators for the trucks.
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Lyall says he spent six years on the street and knows what it is like for the people using this service. He believes this can help them get to their ultimate goal of finding a place to live.
"Most of the folks I know are trying to get out of the situation, they're in," he said. "Most of them are trying to get housing."
LINK: The Laundry Truck
Shawn Chitnis reports for CBS4 News at 10 on weekends and CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. throughout the week. Email him story ideas at smchitnis@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.