Funds to Feed Grantee: Social Spin Laundromat

Once a week, Social Spin Laundromat makes its machines free, provides a free hot meal to customers, and welcomes community partners to connect people to resources. These Wash With Care Wednesday events are just one of the many ways in which Social Spin is rethinking how people can connect with social services. 

As a purpose-driven laundromat, building trust and treating customers with dignity is top of mind for Social Spin. Many Wash With Care Wednesday customers are unsheltered and word of mouth has spread that Social Spin is a safe place to access resources. Customers can jot down the services they’re interested in on a large chalkboard with the prompt: “I want to talk about…” This direct input has led Social Spin to partner with over 100 nonprofits, helping customers get free haircuts, sign up for public assistance, join an AA meeting, and learn more about vaccines from health professionals. 

Social Spin began six years ago when its founder, Christy Moore, had a disappointing experience at a laundromat. As a social worker, Christy knew that people receive dignity through things like clean clothes. She wanted to create a vibrant, welcoming space where people could do laundry while connecting with neighbors and needed resources. Social Spin now offers services at three locations in Mesa, Glendale, and Phoenix.

The Funds to Feed grants have helped Social Spin to provide about 150 hot meals per week in Phoenix during Wash With Care Wednesdays since 2020. Customers receive meals from food trucks—mostly locally- and woman-owned—while they do their laundry. In 2023, Funds to Feed helped Social Spin provide over 9,000 meals. For folks who don’t always have options, being able to choose their hot meal from a food truck and customize it to their dietary preferences is another way that Social Spin is injecting dignity into its services. 

“For people who do have access to food and food resources, we take for granted the joy, experience, and nutrition that comes from food autonomy,” Christy emphasizes. “People just want to enjoy good, quality food.”

Social Spin’s food truck model supports the small business community as well. Social Spin pays each food vendor per meal; with 100-250 meals served weekly, Social Spin has at times been the businesses’ biggest customer. These partnerships helped sustain some of the food trucks during the height of COVID-19 when there were fewer opportunities. In return, food truck vendors have donated meals back to Social Spin, allowing it to provide more hot meals at Wash With Care Wednesdays. 

This collaborative spirit extends to Funds to Feed. Christy highlights cross-collaboration as one of the program’s best practices: “There was this sense of problem-solving—that we’re all in this together working on systemic issues.” In the future, Social Spin would love to support other purpose-driven laundromats looking to replicate its model and bring together like-minded business owners to share best practices.