Laundry, Dignity, & Design: The Story of Atlanta’s Wash Bus
April 25, 2025 | Melissa Alonso - Atlanta, Georgia
On a warm Thursday morning outside Grady Hospital, a man named Marcus unzipped a duffel bag full of tightly packed clothes and started loosening them one by one.
“You don’t want them all rolled up like that,” said Nicky Crawford, founder of the nonprofit Flowing with Blessings, gently coaching from a few feet away. He paused mid-interview to help Marcus understand how to get the best wash. “Make sure they’re all loose. Not all tangled like that. Yeah, just like that. He’s new,” Crawford added with a quick smile.
Marcus was new—to the Wash Bus, to Crawford’s program, and maybe to the idea that something this thoughtful could be waiting for him on the corner of Jesse Hill Jr. and Coca-Cola Place. “This is my first time using it,” Marcus said. “But I think this is really gonna help me. I’m trying to get back on my feet. I’ve got my license now, and I’m in touch with Grady about a janitorial job. A clean shirt and a hot shower—this is a godsend.”
That moment—simple, practical, quietly profound—is exactly what Crawford had in mind when he first envisioned the Wash Bus. His nonprofit had already been offering mobile showers to Atlanta’s unhoused community. But he noticed a heartbreaking gap: “People would come out of a hot shower, clean and hopeful, only to put the same dirty clothes back on,” he said. That image stuck with him—so did the determination to solve it.
One Year Later, a Movement in Motion
Today, the Wash Bus parks weekly outside Grady Hospital, offering laundry, showers, water, and dignity to dozens of Atlantans in need. Crawford’s family helps with logistics, volunteers supply food and essentials, and each week becomes a small step forward for someone seeking stability.
And the model is growing. A second Wash Bus, based on the same Georgia Tech designs, is in development. “We’re also consulting with organizations in other cities,” Chininis said. “There’s one in Amsterdam that’s already funded and moving forward.”
The Atlanta team is scaling up, refining operations, and looking at ways to protect the intellectual work students contributed—from custom tank engineering to user flow mapping to the layout itself. “It’s not just a washer in a vehicle,” Chininis emphasized. “It’s a mobile experience designed with empathy, safety, and efficiency.”