At least two small businesses are offering free laundry options in Gary on Friday and Saturday, while the American Red Cross clarified that city residents can use the free laundry trailer at Hudson Campbell Fitness Center.
Premier Laundromat, 1201 W. Ridge Road in Gary, is offering a free laundry starting at noon Friday — until it runs out.
“We just felt that it was the right thing to do,” said Owner David Gramke. “We always believe that without all the community, we wouldn’t have a business.”
Residents are limited to one three-load washer and dryer, he said later via text. They must show an Indiana identification card.
His business is also offering one free dry load through the end of the month. Over 2,000 people have redeemed it, he said.
He added his businesses were out of power for 9-10 days. Partnering with nonprofit Triumphant Transitions, they organized some free laundry events last week not long after they reopened.
NIPSCO’s power outage map showed more than 100 Gary residents still without power on Thursday afternoon, of 281 residents in Northwest Indiana.
“People have been set back, regardless of your income level,” said LaTrice Edwards, founder of Triumphant Transitions. “There is still a need to recover.”
She was out of town when the Aug. 11 storm hit and led by faith, she looked for a way to give back once she returned. She was inquiring at Gramke’s Griffith location when he happened to walk in, she said.
During the free laundry events, they did 2,500 pounds of laundry at their Griffith store and 4,000 pounds at their Gary location, Gramke said. They set up a GoFundMe to help with some of the costs, along with donations from other groups.
Gramke said he recently sold laundry cards for Gary schools and he donated to that effort.
Gary Community School Corp. spokeswoman Chelsea Whittington said in a text that “our educational Partners BEABLE” bought 20 laundry cards worth $20 each. Gramke donated another five laundry cards, she said.
“The community is coming together,” Gramke said. “There’s probably a lot of businesses (reaching out to help that) don’t get a spotlight.”
DeAndra Gathings, owner of Rinse Cycle Valet in Chicago, said she thought she might be able to help “maybe five or ten” families after seeing a couple of TikToks from Gary.
Her effort quickly got noticed online — since then at least 60 people have reached out on social media, she said.
“I didn’t know it was going to blow up,” she said, later adding, “I didn’t want to charge somebody for something when they are already going through a lot.”
She is organizing a free laundry pickup and delivery at 200 W. 5th Ave., on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Residents are limited to three laundry bags. Gathings said she will take the laundry to an Illinois laundromat then return to Gary the next day for pickup.
The response has been “overwhelming, in a good way,” she said.
She is also looking for more volunteers. She has set up an Amazon wish list for donations and a GoFundMe that has raised $45,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
The city of Gary also announced a free mobile laundry unit at Hudson Campbell Fitness Center, 455 Massachusetts Ave., open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
However, multiple people appeared to post on social media that they were turned away, saying services were for folks at the shelter. A city spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for clarification.
A media representative from GE Appliances said in an email they provide the equipment, but the American Red Cross makes “deployment decisions.”
Red Cross’ Regional Communications Director Isis Chaverri said there was a miscommunication – clarifying Thursday that city residents can use the laundry trailer.
When they first moved the shelter from the YWCA to Hudson Campbell, they wanted to prioritize folks at the shelter, because they hadn’t had access to laundry. But, she said that all Gary residents can use the laundry trailer, stop by for a hot meal, or to charge their phones.
Elsewhere, Gary Councilwoman Lori Latham, D-1st, posted on Facebook she was hosting a free laundry event from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at Blast Laundromat, 877 S. Lake St. Online pre-registration is required.
A woman who answered the phone at the laundromat said she believed it was going on, but the city was the contact. Latham was not immediately available for comment.