"A year ago, everything changed for us, and now we’re on the verge of changing again. Laundry Love went from a dance party with pizza at the laundromat to one or two households coming in at a time, with a $20 voucher each month to use for the machines. Now we’re beginning to think about how we might reopen the Laundry Love nights. How many volunteers will we need? How many people can we have in the space at once? Can we have children present?

Similar questions are facing us at the storefront. We closed down completely for a few months, then moved to passing out snacks and socks and hygiene supplies from our cars. When infections went down during the summer, we gave people necessary items from the front door, passing out ice pops and cold water as well as food. Then, as numbers climbed again, we were back to our cars, fanning out across the neighborhood with survival kits of warm hats and hand warmers, food and gloves.

Now that at least some of our folks are vaccinated (and many of our volunteers and staff as well), we are beginning to reopen. We have chairs spaced six feet apart, and require masks...."