A celebration was in progress at Loads of Blessings, a ministry providing laundry services and holistic care to the homeless and underserved in the heart of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Clad in a taffy-pink t-shirt, volunteer Robyn Reynolds was recognizing a client for having reached a “one-year sober” milestone. Slices of cake were distributed, For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow was sung, and the honoree returned home with a bow-trimmed hot-cocoa kit and a full heart. 

Such scenes are not infrequent at the Loads of Blessings ministry, where each personal victory is a chance to affirm an individual’s God-given dignity.

“Loads of Blessings communicates the message that all people, regardless of their circumstances, are precious in God’s sight,” said co-founder Haya (Jacqui) Howells. “The overarching attitude of the ministry is one of love and compassion.” 

Indeed, it was while Howells was serving at a soup kitchen that the seed of the ministry was planted. A community member mentioned the need for clean clothing, and, soon after, Howells and her husband Richard founded a laundry ministry called Laundry on Linden. The ministry has since changed its name to Loads of Blessings and has been designated a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

“Nurse Jacqui,” as Howells is fondly known in the community, is a parish nurse, that is, a registered nurse who looks after both the physical and spiritual health of patients. 

“We started Loads of Blessings to meet practical needs while sharing Christ’s love,” she said.

“The people [we serve] are not just broken; they are shattered in a thousand pieces. We want them to see Jesus in us. We want to be the hands and feet of our Savior.”

Every Tuesday evening at Allentown’s Family Wash Day Laundromat, the ministry provides spiritual conversation, prayer and laundry services to the disadvantaged and to those who are homeless or living in transitional situations. Collaborating agencies set up shop weekly, offering free medical care and connecting clients with social-service resources. 

Partnering with Loads of Blessings are the St. Luke’s Medical Van, Bloom for Women outreach to sex-trafficking victims and its BRACE program for children, Bright Hope Pregnancy Center, 12 Wicker Baskets food ministry, and Treatment Trends, an organization that assists individuals struggling with substance abuse. 

Marie Hendricks, who is herself in long-term recovery, is a Treatment Trends CRS (Certified Recovery Specialist). She spends her time “out in the community, meeting the people where they are.”

Hendricks observed, “In this role, you need a lot of patience with people. They’re covering up with drugs and so on, but still, everyone needs love. Sometimes they have trouble accepting love, and you need to just keep offering. I’ve been there, so I have the compassion. 

“God is using my past for the future.” 

While approximately 60 families per week will come to Loads of Blessings to do their laundry, many people will come for meals and other services, or simply to enjoy a sense of community. On any given Tuesday evening, the laundromat will be bustling with well over 100 clients. 

“I have a love for the people here,” said Abhishek Somenhalli, a second-year medical student.

“They’re just people at the end of the day, and they sometimes are people who need help. There’s always something we can do to get them back up on their feet.”

Through his involvement with the ministry, Somenhalli has “learned that there are different resources I can provide my patients that are outside of the clinical.”

John Santare is a fourth-year medical student who has been involved with Loads of Blessings since his first year of medical school. 

“We have upwards of 10 medical students every Tuesday,” Santare said. “It's not just about providing laundry services; we provide medical care as well. A few weeks ago, I was helping dress a wound on someone’s foot, so what we do is comprehensive.” 

“We talk to people. We get to know them,” he added. “In a population like the homeless and financially insecure, it’s a humongous deal to bridge the gap between patient and doctor and let them know there are people who actually care about them.”

In mid-December, the medical students will be coordinating their second-annual toy drive for disadvantaged kids. On Dec. 24, a Christmas ham dinner will be served at the Loads of Blessings laundry facility during the ministry’s usual Tuesday hours. Foods will be provided by 12 Wicker Baskets. Approximately 100 guests are expected to attend.

Heather Schweizer, a street outreach care coordinator, assists Howells in her weekly ministrations. Schweizer is always eager to acquaint others with the laundry community. Recently, she introduced Msgr. James Reichert to the laundry clients, whom she lovingly calls “my people.”  

A retired priest of the Allentown Diocese, Msgr. Reichert said that his experience at Loads of Blessings “brought to mind what Mother Teresa of Calcutta wrote in my breviary when I was a young priest, and that is, ‘Love Jesus with an undivided love.’ When I look at every one of these people, regardless of their condition, I am reminded of what she challenged me to do.”

Laughed Schweizer, “Monsignor never asks me about my life anymore. All he wants to know about is my people. I absolutely love it!” 

Schweizer is a Catholic convert who, while praying one day in adoration, felt inspired to make and distribute rosaries at no charge. Since then, she has made and given away hundreds of “addiction rosaries” that have the serenity prayer stamped on the crucifix. 

“I want my people to have something to hold on to during times of hardship,” Schweizer said, “something that reminds them that they are not alone and that they are very much loved by me — and most especially by God.”

“Praying the Rosary gives me hope that, even if my people’s lives never turn around, someday at that banquet in heaven, God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Observing that “we all possess weaknesses that we are constantly struggling to overcome,” Richard Howells acknowledged that “not everyone is successful.”

Still, Loads of Blessings is credited with many triumphant turnarounds. One of them is Kiki’s. 

“I am a survivor of not only domestic violence, but also of identity theft and labor trafficking,” Kiki said. “I was living in a storage unit; no electricity, no water.”

At the time, the COVID shutdown was in effect. But a phone call to a local pastor started the wheels turning, and Kiki eventually made her way to Loads of Blessings.

Today, Kiki is in a stable living situation. She is taking an entrepreneurship course at community college, and on Sundays, she attends Mass.

“I do have some mobility issues, so I sometimes can’t make it to church. But when that happens, I watch the Mass online and make a spiritual communion.”

“I tell people not to give up,” she added. “Don’t lose hope. God loves you. He doesn’t want you to lead a mediocre life.”

As Tuesday drew to a close and the laundry clients dispersed, Reynolds reflected on a recent experience.

“I was approached by a young man that I had not seen in years. He recounted a story of drugs, alcohol and an out-of-control night where, in the midst of a physical restraint, [he heard me] whisper into his ear, ‘Is this truly what you want from the life you have been given?’ He began his road to recovery right then and there and was still sober some four years later.

“Here at Loads of Blessings, people experience what it is to love and to be loved unconditionally and without judgment.

“We are so very blessed.”

LEARN MORE

Visit LoadsofBlessings.org.