Off-Road: The story of Orange Sky Laundry

It’s not just the security of a home and the assurance of a warm meal that people experiencing homelessness are forced to live without; there’s also the dignity and comfort that comes with knowing you can take a shower and drop your clothes in a washing machine anytime you need.

Back in 2014, Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, two mates from Brisbane, identified that this was a problem they could help solve for their local homeless community, as a way to help.

“We were up in Brisbane and wanted to find a way to help homeless friends in our hometown,” Nic told us over the phone recently. “We had the crazy idea of putting two washing machines and two dryers into the back of a van and driving around to wash and dry our homeless friends’ clothes for free. That’s all we wanted to do: improve the hygiene standards of the homeless.”

Take a second-hand van and add a few trips to the hardware store, plus a bit of trial and error, and Nic and Lucas were ready to give their prototype a spin in what they called Orange Sky Laundry, named after a song by Alexi Murdoch that’s all about lending a helping hand to brothers and sisters in need.

“We took the van down to a park, and after a few trials and tribulations we got it working,” Nic recalled. It was on that first day out that the guys met Jordan. He was the same age as Lucas; they both went to a nearby school and got into the same engineering degree at university. The similarities in their lives – and the differences between where they ended up – really opened Nic’s, and Lucas’s, eyes. “When the machine’s going there’s nothing to do but sit down and have a chat, so we got to know Jordan as his load of washing was in the machine. The most important thing about Orange Sky is not the washer and dryer, but the chairs we sit on that foster really great conversations.”

These conversations, Nic says, are a way to restore respect with a community of people who are often displaced or marginalised. That act of restoring respect is one of the three main goals of Orange Sky Laundry, along with raising health and hygiene standards and reducing strain on resources.

From that first day, Orange Sky only grew. The guys have fitted out 14 more vans and have also designed three shower vans, which are operating in almost every state and territory. It takes about a day to transform a second-hand van into a mobile laundry. First, the outside gets skinned and the interior fittings are assembled and painted orange, and then it’s just time for the requisite plumbing and wiring before clothes can be loaded in.

Orange Sky’s service is free to use for their homeless friends, and those eager to help out can donate money (a $6 donation buys one wash and dry), buy a t-shirt (each sale buys three loads of washing or six hot showers) or volunteer their time – there are around 850 volunteers across Australia, lending a hand and having a chat. Nic and Lucas were named the 2016 Young Australians of the Year for their work on Orange Sky, but they’re the first to admit they’re not doing the work alone.

Before letting him get back to work, we asked Nic what the last few years have taught him, and he had some wise words to impart. First, that there are around 105,000 people in Australia who are experiencing homelessness, and the simple act of having a conversation with them can mean more than we might think. Secondly: “It’s taught me that when you have ideas, you should give them a go,” he says. “We’re really lucky that what we thought of has resonated with people.”

To find out more about the Orange Sky team, visit their website orangeskylaundry.com.au

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