Pasco County nonprofits partner to give jobs to homeless and blind community
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Laundry may be a chore for some, but for two Pasco County nonprofits it’s a way to return dignity and jobs to groups that are overlooked.
Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind in New Port Richey is teaming up with the Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County to start a laundry project that hopes to give jobs to those experiencing homelessness and to the blind and visually impaired.
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At the Lighthouse, CEO Stephanie Pontlitz said residents of Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties learn new skills to reclaim their independence. But she said society has trouble seeing what she does, which is capable people who want to work.
"It’s about a 70 percent unemployment rate for someone who is visually impaired not because they are incapable of doing the work but because it’s very difficult for someone to want to give them the chance," explained Pontlitz.
Lighthouse plans to set up a washer and dryer in the warehouse.
There’s a different type of vision taking shape, thanks to an accelerator class for nonprofits from Saint Leo University. Lighthouse and the homeless coalition are working together to start a laundry project to create jobs for low or no vision people and for those experiencing homelessness.
"They face a lot of discrimination and a lot of heartache that they've been through in their life," explained Jennifer Watts, the interim CEO at Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County. "A lot of them are on Social Security or disability. That's a fixed income that is not livable."
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The plan is to set up a commercial washer and dryer in this part of the Lighthouse’s warehouse where they already have a system in place.
"We have two folks that work back here, one that is almost blind and one that is completely blind, and they work back here with a supervisor," shared Pontlitz.
They hope to get contracts to wash and fold linens from homeless shelters, family shelters, hospitals and short-term rentals, and the homeless coalition will bring the drivers for picking up and dropping off the orders.
Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County partnered with Lighthouse.
"If it can create jobs, and employment and give somebody that leg up and make them feel valuable in our community, why wouldn’t we want to continue to try to do that?" said Pontlitz.
It’s still in the early stages, and like all businesses they are looking for startup funding.
"Once we have that, we’ll be able to start the purchasing of equipment, getting the warehouse built out with the vents," shared Pontlitz.
Then the possibilities will grow.
"It's a very small step, especially starting at such a small scale. But I think the impact in the community is what's going to be the greatest," said Watts.