Ground has been broken on the New Heights Laundry Hub in the heart of Benton Heights. The project has been years in the making, starting out when the First Church of God of Benton Heights noticed a need for a laundry facility in the area. From there, the idea grew into establishing a community center that could host human and social services, in addition to washers and dryers. Several partners came together to raise the $1.2 million needed, and they were on hand at Thursday’s groundbreaking. Whirlpool’s Stephannnie Harvey-Vandenberg said the project appealed to the group right away.
“It gave us an opportunity to be proud of and excited about the innovative way that our products can be used to really bridge the gap and be the connector for human and social services for the community,” Harvey-Vandenberg said.
New Heights CCDA Director Chris Britton told us the new facility will help and underserved area.
“The great human and social services that are available in our community at large weren’t necessarily reaching the population out here,” Britton said. “So, we found that intersection of meeting that practical, felt need of laundry, but then also creating capacity for human and social service agencies to deliver their services here directly to the community.”
The nearest laundromat is nearly five miles away. Among the partners that have made the New Heights Laundry Hub possible are the Whirlpool Foundation, the First Church of God, the Frederick S. Upton Foundation, the Corewell Health Foundation, and the AEP Foundation. The new facility at 2121 Red Arrow Highway is expected to be open in the fall.
