A Fresh Start: Waymo and Phoenix Nonprofits' New Spin on Laundry Service

When residents of Native American Connections (NAC), a shelter in downtown Phoenix for people who are unhoused, see a Waymo vehicle pull into their community once a week, they get excited. 

“It's oftentimes, ‘Everybody come take a look; let's all go out and let's see them load laundry,’” shared Noelle Clough, a permanent supportive housing coordinator and project manager with NAC. 

Waymo is the delivery vehicle in a unique laundry service partnership between NAC and the mission-driven Phoenix laundromat Social Spin. Waymo donates the use of its vehicles to pick up laundry from NAC every Wednesday, take it to Social Spin, and bring it back washed, dried, and folded.

“In order to get all your physical needs met, you need housing, you need laundry, you need the community, and we need each other,” Clough said. 

In order to get all your physical needs met, you need housing, you need laundry, you need the community, and we need each other.

Noelle Clough, NAC permanent supportive housing coordinator and project manager

For shelter residents who have faced many challenges in their lives, Waymo represents more than just clean laundry, she emphasized.

“It's this vehicle coming to take their laundry and safely getting it to its destination, stopping for them at crosswalks, providing them that safety and that security that sometimes they don't get to feel,” Clough said. “Many people who we serve often feel unheard, often feel invisible, often believe that they were burned for one reason or another by agencies, by individuals, by family.”

In contrast, Clough said that Waymo represents something that NAC residents can trust.

“There was a guest that came and told me that he gets really excited seeing the Waymos downtown, and that one day he was crossing a crosswalk and the only car that stopped for him was a Waymo car,” she recalled.

Before the partnership with Waymo and Social Spin, NAC managed daily laundry for 50 shelter residents, but the mammoth task sapped time and energy from the small organization.

Since the spring of 2023 when the partnership began, Waymo has ferried close to 20,000 pounds of laundry between NAC and Social Spin and saved caseworkers over 400 hours of delivery, driving time and laundry service, time that has been able to be redirected to human services.

“What laundry has brought to them is to restore their dignity,” Clough explained. “They're able to have clean clothing for their job interview, for everyday life, for opportunities for housing, when they meet their case manager.”

Christy Moore, founder of Social Spin, said providing free and discounted laundry services to members of the community – both individuals and nonprofits such as homeless shelters – is all about providing dignity and supporting community connections.

“At Social Spin, we believe that everyone deserves access to clean clothes,” Moore said. “We're honored to be able to offer, not only free laundry service, but additional services like shower programs and hygiene items that allow our customers to step out of our space feeling clean and dignified.” 

Moore said she is grateful to nonprofit partners like NAC and others who are starting to incorporate laundry services into their programming.

“It shows us that they really value dignity, they value clean clothes,” Moore explained. “We believe that laundry is as important as providing shelter and food to participants of shelter programs.”

Moore explained that the partnership with Waymo is saving Social Spin time and freeing up resources for the nonprofit.

“It allows us to refocus our employee's energy on processing that laundry, rather than transporting the laundry,” Moore explained. “It's so simple for us to greet Waymo and unload what we need to, load what we need to, and send it off on its way, knowing that it's going to be greatly cared for.”

Like residents at NAC, customers at Social Spin are also excited to see Waymo on its delivery route.

“Oftentimes our customers aren't exposed quickly to new technology – they don't have access to it – but being able to see how Waymo is investing in them and their community is really building a bridge,” Moore emphasized. “That's a beautiful thing to see.”

Oftentimes our customers aren't exposed quickly to new technology – they don't have access to it – but being able to see how Waymo is investing in them and their community is really building a bridge. That's a beautiful thing to see.

Christy Moore, Social Spin founder

Clough said the partnership between Social Spin, NAC and Waymo is making an impact.

“We're not only exchanging laundry, but we're exchanging services and it's ultimately saving lives,” explained Clough.

In addition to providing laundry services, Social Spin hires and provides opportunities to people who face barriers to employment, including residents of some of the shelters they serve.

“That instantly creates, from an employer perspective, a super easy pipeline of hiring people who truly understand the importance of clean clothes,” Moore explained. “For the customer, it instantly builds trust in our service, because they know that their laundry is being handled with care.”

Carlos is an employee of Social Spin who resided at NAC for a short time during a difficult period of his life. Now he lives in his own apartment and enjoys working for Social Spin, helping operate laundry services for some of the largest shelters in Phoenix.

“You come to Social Spin and we will give you food, water, showers, anything you need,” Carlos explained. “Just come in, don't think there's nobody out there for you; there's companies and people out there that care.”

He credits the caring warmth of the mission-driven teams at NAC and Social Spin for helping him turn his life around.

“I’m doing work with people who are genuine, who really want to help,” Carlos shared. “They gave me a chance to get my life back together again.”