A ribbon cutting for an apartment laundry facility might not sound like a big deal, but when you hear what Mary Johnson has put up with for years, we bet you'll think it's pretty cool.
LaSalle Park Homes was built in 1969 on South Bend's West Side. Ever since low-income families without cars have had to find a way to load up their clothes and get to a laundromat or a friend's home with a washer and dryer. Now, thanks to some hard work, their quality of life is about to improve.
"It was hard for me because I don't have a car," says Johnson. "I had to go to Family Dollar, got one of their push carts to push my clothes to the Laundromat and that's a strain especially in the winter time when it snows."
Johnson was one of many residents who spent years working with the Housing Authority, the management company, the city and HUD to secure funding to finally bring a laundry facility to LaSalle Park Homes.
"Sooner or later I knew it was going to happen," Johnson says. She fought and she fought and that's why the ribbon cutting was so sweet.
It may seem like a small thing, but for Johnson the new facility will mean less carting laundry through the snow. "I'm not a young lady," she says. "I'm up in age now, so this is really beautiful. I really like this. God let me live to see it. That's a blessing. It is really a blessing."
