It was easy to see the camaraderie between Lisco Scott and Dakota Clark as they loaded clothes from a washer to a dryer at the new Laundry Day.
They chatted about their job, noting they share the same birthday years in common, and kept each other on task when measuring out laundry detergent, putting the machines on the correct settings and transferring the heaps of clothes to the dryers.
After piling a big load of laundry into the the machine, Scott, 23, was considering whether to add one cup of detergent. His instructor, Angela Nieto, stepped in, suggesting he add three cups.
For Scott, the laundry lessons are a step toward his future.
“I want to get more skills for my career,” he said. “I want to take care of myself and my own family.”
Scott and Clark are participants in Laundry Day, a new business in Ramona that gives adults with disabilities job and life skills training while also providing a fluff and fold service to the community.
The Individual Training Services program is being run by Marcie Laws-Hayes, who owns the STEM Studio science and math education training program for children, Generations Day Care facility for adults with disabilities, and Generations JADE Garden, which provides adults with disabilities with gardening and animal care training.
The laundromat service near Pinto Thai restaurant at 2330 Main St. is her latest venture. Six adults with disabilities are going through the program, which Lawes-Hayes hopes will expand to a group of 20. The program is funded by San Diego Regional Center, an agency that pays for a variety of services for adults with disabilities throughout the state.
In the 18- to 24-month program, participants will be taught to wash, dry and fold laundry as well as cook at the VFW in Ramona and clean during the first of three modules, Laws-Hayes said. Then they’ll progress to the second module next door at the Generations JADE Garden, where they will care for plants and animals such as chickens and rabbits. In the third module, participants will work on communication skills, resume writing and job interview skills.
“It’s a hands-on education program,” Laws-Hayes said. “We’re trying to give them transferable job skills and also life skills for them to become more independent.”
Once participants complete the training, they can work at Laundry Day through a paid internship program or seek outside employment. They could find a job at a different laundromat, become a hotel housekeeper or work at a garden center at a store such as Home Depot or Tractor Supply Co., she said.
Scott of Lakeside and Clark of El Cajon, who both have intellectual and developmental disabilities, said they signed up for the program because they’d like to get job skills in the short term, but have longer range plans to live on their own and a family.
In addition to learning how to do laundry, Scott said he’s getting training in grocery shopping and making change when buying groceries at Laundry Day’s miniature store. And at Generations JADE Garden he’s learned more hands-on skills.
“I fed the chickens, watered the plants and I was sweeping outside,” said Scott, who previously participated in a film and media program run by Options for All in Kearny Mesa before the coronavirus started. “I want to get more skills for my career and I want to learn life lessons.”
Clark, 24, said he aspires to get a job doing laundry or working with electronics. He’s helped out at JADE Garden, caring for the chickens and watering the plants.
“JADE Garden staff helped me move one of the chickens so she didn’t peck me so I could get one of her eggs,” he said. “It’s fun. I like being around animals. I used to have animals. I had dogs with my parents before I moved into a group home.”
Laundry Day will also employ teenage moms or other young mothers who can’t afford child care while working a traditional job, Laws-Hayes said. A separate nursery room is set up so babies can stay on site.
“Another benefit is that a lot of times the disabled adults don’t have a lot of interaction with babies or young kids,” Laws-Hayes said.
She said she wants to remove barriers to employment for these two groups because they have the most challenging time finding jobs.
The mothers and hired part-time employees will help ensure the laundry is completed and delivered on time while the disabled adults complete classroom work or other activities required of the program, she said.
Ramona resident Kari Knudsen, 28, is looking forward to participating in the program.
Knudsen, who has Down syndrome, has been in a full-time day program in El Cajon for several years. When the opportunity arose to get job training and independent living skills at Laundry Day, her family leapt at the chance, in part because Knudsen could stay in Ramona, said her mother, Kris Knudsen.
Kari Knudsen is excited to see friends she knew from high school in the program, her mother said.
“The big thing is being in our own community and possibly working within our own community, which is great,” Kris Knudsen said. “Overall independence is what we’re striving for and Marcie has a lot to offer in the way of working toward independence as much as possible.”
With a goal of living independently and getting a job, Knudsen said her daughter may venture into gardening, but would also be willing to help out in an office.
Nicole Morgan, 19, who has cerebral palsy, has been receiving services at Generations Day a mile from Laundry Day since October 2020, said her sister, Melissa Sargent. She has learned to run the cash and sort books by genres at the Bookworm Bookstore at Generations Day and to care for plants and animals at Generations JADE Garden.
The next step will be checking in at Generations Day and getting a regular job with set hours at Laundry Day. Doing physical tasks such as washing, drying and folding laundry will allow Morgan to exercise and move, which might help her cerebral palsy, Sargent said, and she’ll get paid as an employee.
“She’s learning how to use public transportation and how to have a job, not just be at home,” said Sargent, noting Morgan wants to go to college and work full time in the community. “To us it doesn’t seem like a hard thing, but for them it’s challenging and it will be good.”
Key to making the Laundry Day program work is bringing in the public to use its services, Laws-Hayes said. The fee is $1.75 per pound of laundry for next-day laundry service or $2.25 per pound for same-day service, which amounts to roughly $20 for a full laundry basket of clothes. With four triple-capacity washers and dryers, the service can also wash bulky items such as comforters, pillows and other bedding.
“I want people to use the laundry service,” she said, noting that laundry service gift certificates are available as gifts for new moms, teachers, working parents and seniors. “They can do a one-time drop-off or sign up for a monthly program.”
Barnett Elementary School kindergarten teacher Jill Dillon has been selected to receive one year of free laundry service.
Kim Buckley of Century 21 Real Estate in Ramona and Laws-Hayes are sponsoring the contest to provide the free service to teachers who have experienced extraordinary challenges due to COVID-19 for more than a year. The duo asked the community to nominate a teacher to receive the free service, then selected Dillon from 30 responses.
“Jill Dillon had several nominations and they all spoke about what a caring and dedicated teacher she is,” Laws-Hayes said. “I have known Jill since we were babies and I agreed with the sentiments. What an amazing teacher she is and what an impact she has on kids.”
For more information about Laundry Day or to enroll a participant in the program, call Laws-Hayes at 858-208-3678.
