In the article, a man had been distributing hotel soaps and shampoos to people experiencing homelessness. About an hour later, one of the recipients returned the items. He appreciated the kindness—but he had nowhere to shower, so the supplies were useless.
The story lingered in Crawford’s mind. After spending decades working in construction, he was now retired and living in Stone Mountain. He had time, resources, and a growing sense that he should do something to help. “I thought, ‘Do I buy them food or give them money?’” Crawford later said. “I just wanted to do something to help others.”
In 2021, he began forming a plan. On February 2, 2022, he used his own money to purchase a three-stall mobile shower trailer. The next challenge was finding a place to operate it.
In Atlanta, 2,000 people sleep on the streets at night, according to the Atlanta Mission. Georgia's capital city is home to over a quarter of the state's homeless population of nearly 10,000, according to the organization.
Within a week, a friend connected him with Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, which agreed to let him test the idea outside its emergency department. On the first day, four people stopped by for showers.
By the following week, attendance had doubled. Word spread quickly, and the hospital eventually allowed the service to remain there permanently.
“At first I thought if we ever reached 30 showers a day, that would be huge,” Crawford said. “At one point, we were doing about 60.”
That effort became a nonprofit called Flowing with Blessings.
The “Wash Bus,” launched in June 2024, came from a realization. Many people would shower, only to put the same dirty clothes back on afterward.
“What we're trying to do is get them clothes they can have for the week so they can change clothes,” Crawford explained. “Because a lot of times it's not them that smell, it's the clothes.”
He bought the school bus but needed help designing it. So he reached out to Georgia Institute of Technology. A group of industrial design students took on the challenge, figuring out how to fit multiple washers and dryers into the bus to create a functioning laundromat on wheels. Crawford brought the vision; the students helped turn it into reality.
Today, Flowing with Blessings typically serves 50 to 60 people each time it operates and has assisted more than 4,500 individuals since it began. Beyond showers and laundry, volunteers also provide towels, socks, undergarments, haircuts, hot meals, and clean clothing. The program works alongside churches, hospitals, police departments, and thrift stores, and every shower stall is sanitized after each use.
Much of the day-to-day work is now managed by Crawford’s daughter, Christina Moss. She hadn’t originally planned to be involved—she was focused on a career in real estate after leaving her father’s construction business. “I just came in one day and I’ve been coming back ever since,” she said. “It opened up a passion that I didn’t know I had.”
The organization now includes about ten volunteers, many of them young adults. Some people who once relied on the service have since gotten back on their feet and still stop by just to say hello.
Crawford remembers one older man who broke down in tears after Moss addressed him as “Mr.” He said he couldn’t remember the last time someone had shown him that level of respect.
“They are my validation that what I heard God tell me to do was right,” Crawford said. “They don’t have to tell me ‘Thank you.’ I can tell them, ‘Thank you.’”
When people ask why a retired man would wake up at 4:30 every morning to set up showers outside a hospital, Crawford keeps his answer simple.
“I have always had a love for people who were less fortunate because, other than the grace of God, this could be me.”
He adds: “I don’t know them at first. I learn their names over time because they come back. But it doesn’t matter. They’re still human.”
Atlanta is home to more than a quarter of Georgia’s homeless population—nearly 10,000 people statewide—and the city’s unhoused population has grown significantly in recent years. Crawford knows his effort alone cannot solve the crisis.
But he can make sure that when someone leaves his trailer on a Tuesday morning, they walk away with a clean load of laundry, a warm shower, and a chance to feel like they matter.
Within a week, a friend connected him with Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, which agreed to let him test the idea outside its emergency department. On the first day, four people stopped by for showers.
By the following week, attendance had doubled. Word spread quickly, and the hospital eventually allowed the service to remain there permanently.
“At first I thought if we ever reached 30 showers a day, that would be huge,” Crawford said. “At one point, we were doing about 60.”
That effort became a nonprofit called Flowing with Blessings.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Crawford and his volunteers wake up around 4:30 a.m. and drive to Grady with their mobile setup: the shower trailer equipped with sinks, toilets, and private bathing stalls. Later, they added something new—a converted yellow school bus designed as a mobile laundromat.
The “Wash Bus,” launched in June 2024, came from a realization. Many people would shower, only to put the same dirty clothes back on afterward.
“What we're trying to do is get them clothes they can have for the week so they can change clothes,” Crawford explained. “Because a lot of times it's not them that smell, it's the clothes.”
He bought the school bus but needed help designing it. So he reached out to Georgia Institute of Technology. A group of industrial design students took on the challenge, figuring out how to fit multiple washers and dryers into the bus to create a functioning laundromat on wheels. Crawford brought the vision; the students helped turn it into reality.
Today, Flowing with Blessings typically serves 50 to 60 people each time it operates and has assisted more than 4,500 individuals since it began. Beyond showers and laundry, volunteers also provide towels, socks, undergarments, haircuts, hot meals, and clean clothing. The program works alongside churches, hospitals, police departments, and thrift stores, and every shower stall is sanitized after each use.
Much of the day-to-day work is now managed by Crawford’s daughter, Christina Moss. She hadn’t originally planned to be involved—she was focused on a career in real estate after leaving her father’s construction business. “I just came in one day and I’ve been coming back ever since,” she said. “It opened up a passion that I didn’t know I had.”
The organization now includes about ten volunteers, many of them young adults. Some people who once relied on the service have since gotten back on their feet and still stop by just to say hello.
Crawford remembers one older man who broke down in tears after Moss addressed him as “Mr.” He said he couldn’t remember the last time someone had shown him that level of respect.
“They are my validation that what I heard God tell me to do was right,” Crawford said. “They don’t have to tell me ‘Thank you.’ I can tell them, ‘Thank you.’”
When people ask why a retired man would wake up at 4:30 every morning to set up showers outside a hospital, Crawford keeps his answer simple.
“I have always had a love for people who were less fortunate because, other than the grace of God, this could be me.”
He adds: “I don’t know them at first. I learn their names over time because they come back. But it doesn’t matter. They’re still human.”
Atlanta is home to more than a quarter of Georgia’s homeless population—nearly 10,000 people statewide—and the city’s unhoused population has grown significantly in recent years. Crawford knows his effort alone cannot solve the crisis.
But he can make sure that when someone leaves his trailer on a Tuesday morning, they walk away with a clean load of laundry, a warm shower, and a chance to feel like they matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment