Once the doors to Post Road Laundry open on Tuesday mornings, the eastside laundromat comes alive with the sounds of children playing; people chatting in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole; and, of course, the steady hum of washing machines.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, the nonprofit Laundry & More will pay for people to clean up to three loads of clothes and bedding. Volunteers put coins in machines for people each week. The service has become so vital, that while the Lawrence laundromat opens at 8 a.m., some show up early to be first in line.
“People start lining up at the door at 6 o’clock, 7 o’clock in the morning,” said Abby Vesga, founder of Laundry & More. “We don’t even start until 10, technically, but the doors open at 8.”
In addition to paying for washers and dryers, the nonprofit also provides detergent, dryer sheets and trash bags for people to carry clean laundry home. It can be a long morning, so sandwiches, snacks and water are available while folks wait.
Vesga, who lives on the east side, founded Laundry & More in 2019 and left the nonprofit last August. She said she started it because not everyone has a washer and dryer at home, and going to a laundromat can be expensive.
Eastside resident Kevvin Yancey doesn’t come to the laundromat every week, just when he needs to. He is a single father of a 13-year-old son and brought their laundry last week.
“Sometimes with rent and everything else, sometimes it’s not enough money to wash clothes,” Yancey said. “So here, they wash our clothes for free. And I really appreciate that.”
Eastside resident Kevvin Yancey loads his laundry. Credit: Jennifer Wilson Bibbs for Mirror Indy 
Washing machines at Post Road Laundry. Credit: Jennifer Wilson Bibbs for Mirror Indy 
Lunch and supplies are offered to residents. Credit: Jennifer Wilson Bibbs for Mirror Indy 
Resource literature sits on a table. Credit: Jennifer Wilson Bibbs for Mirror Indy 
Landry sits folded on a table. Credit: Jennifer Wilson Bibbs for Mirror Indy 
Resource literature in three languages. Credit: Jennifer Wilson Bibbs for Mirror Indy
More than free laundry
As the name implies, the nonprofit does more than just wash clothes.
The Marion County Public Health Department, Gleaners, the mayor’s office and other organizations and agencies offer services and resources while people do their laundry. That includes testing for sexually transmitted infections, food distribution and referrals for housing assistance.
If you go
Laundry & More helps families with laundry from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday at Post Road Laundry, 4212 N. Post Road.
“We want to bring those resources to them, instead of us waiting for them to come to our office, because we understand the struggles that they are facing,” said Sergio Roldan, the natural helpers and immigrant support manager at Immigrant Welcome Center. “More importantly we want them to feel that they can count on someone here, so they don’t feel alone.”
Many of the neighbors seeking assistance at Laundry & More don’t speak English, so staff members from the Immigrant Welcome Center are able to translate. The area is home to many Haitian Creole and Spanish-speaking immigrants.
[With an increase in Haitian students, translators bridge gaps]
Many people come hoping to find information about jobs.
“It’s really difficult to find employment for everyone,” Roldan said. “Imagine for an immigrant who doesn’t know the culture or where to find those jobs, or where to even start?”
Kathy Bender has volunteered with Laundry & More since its start. On a Tuesday morning in August, she was handing out sandwiches to neighbors.
“Everybody knows what it’s like if you don’t have clean underwear,” Bender said. “And with children, they can be very cruel sitting next to someone who doesn’t smell clean, and they can make fun of them.”
She said the same thing can be applied to adults.
She remembers one man who came to Laundry & More a few months ago who was searching for a job.
“When I talked to him, he sat here and he cried because he was going for a job interview and he had no clean clothing, and we washed his clothing so that the next day he could go on that job interview, and he just couldn’t get over that we did it.”
Getting people what they need
Vesga says the nonprofit has grown in the five years since she first founded Laundry & More. She estimates about 50 families come each week.
“It’s a safe place for them,” Vesga said. “We don’t want it to be just something that people see on a Tuesday. It’s about being present in people’s lives and meeting them where they are to help them get what they need.”
Vesga said one neighbor was having issues with his heart. A nurse was able to make a referral for him to be seen by a doctor right away.
“That was on a Tuesday, and on Friday he was in surgery, because he was on the verge of having a heart attack,” Vesga said. “They saved his life.”
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has even offered expungement services a few times.
“We’ve seen people be able to get jobs that they weren’t able to get before because they’ve had a record that goes back 20, 25 years, and they had no way to get rid of that,” Vesga said.
Vesga said her motive behind Laundry & More comes from personal experience. She can relate to many of the people she sees each week.
“I have been homeless several times,” Vesga said. “I come from a background of violence, poor housing conditions. I’ve gone to bed hungry more times than I can count. I want other people to have opportunities that weren’t given to people like me 20 years ago.”
Corrections & Clarifications: Laundry & More founder Abby Vesga left the nonprofit in August 2023. Participants can do three loads of laundry for free.
Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian.
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