Frederick, Maryland — On this November day, 45-year-old Wade Milyard of Frederick, Maryland, is driving around his washing machines in his bus, stopping where needed and doing the laundry of homeless people.

"This is just something that they don't have, you know?" Milyard told CBS News. 

Before retiring, Milyard worked as a canine officer for the Frederick Police Department. While he was done with policing, he didn't want to stop helping people.

"I wanted to serve," Milyard said.

It was about 18 months ago, while he was still working as an officer, that he found what form his service would take in retirement.

In the spring of 2024, Milyard responded to a domestic dispute at a homeless camp. As he was wrapping things up with the couple, he says he heard a voice "out of nowhere." He was not sure where it came from. He believes it was God. And the voice said, "Ask them about their laundry."

So he did ask, and the couple responded that they did their laundry in a nearby creek.

"And I just kind of took it from there," Milyard said.

So, using his own money and donations, he built out a bus and started Fresh Step Laundry — a free fluff and fold service. Today he does dozens of loads a week for people like Chris Washington.  

"If you're clean, you just feel better," Washington said. "You feel a little bit more proud of yourself."

"That's the thing – you're doing it to maybe give them a little bit of boost," Milyard said.

Milyard has willfully taken on a very unpleasant and humbling task. But he says that when you feel a calling like that, there's not a sour smell in the world that can steal that sweet sense of purpose.

"If having clean clothes can help them just a little bit, then my mission is fulfilled," Milyard said.