INDIANAPOLIS — Every Tuesday, people begin lining up at the Post Road Laundromat.
“It’s sort of turned into something I was not expecting,” Abby Vesga said.
In 2019, WRTV covered Vesga’s new organization called Laundry and More. Once a week, the organization pays for people to wash and dry their laundry. In 2020, they helped over 1,000 families.
“They provide the money for you to put in the washing machines they provide the soap the fabric softener,” JoAnn Reese said.
Reese lives in the area near the Post Road Laundromat at 42nd and Post Road. She’s currently on long term disability after major back surgery in August.
“The money is really tight,” Reese said. “This helps me so much.”
For Vesga, it’s about much more than just doing laundry.
“It's also about being part of the community,” she said. “It took a while, but I think we've earned our seat at the table. We are finally being seen as a group that is making a difference.”
Each week there is a focus on connecting those who need their laundry done to resources in the community.
“We had a woman who had come into the laundry mat and had a lot of tooth pain," Vesga said. "The dental facility was there and had her in the chair the next day."
“This is a high crime area," Reese said. “It's a lot of killings and murders over here. They give people knowledge and hope. They pray with us. Whatever we need they go out and they look for resources for us.”
On Tuesday, Laundry and More celebrated how far they’ve come the last two years, but Vesga is already planning for year three.
The big goals she hopes to accomplish right away are connecting people with transportation to get the COVID-19 vaccine and connecting them to mental health resources.
“People are miserable," Vesga said. "They are depressed, they are sad. We've got angry kids out here and I know that it's everywhere, but in our area, we just don't have the same resources."
She is also working with a law professor at IU School of Law.
“We want to start getting lawyers out there to start helping people with their licenses and getting records expunged,” Vesga said.
She wants to provide her community with new opportunities so people can work and succeed in areas of life they haven’t been able to in the past.
Laundry and More also has a need for laundry detergent donations. You can drop off your donations every Tuesday from 10-1 p.m. at the Post Road Laundromat.
