‘I Felt a Divine Calling’: How Retired Cop Wade Milyard, 55, Is Changing Lives 1 Load of Laundry at a Time
Wade Milyard transformed an old bus into a mobile laundry room for those in need
Key Takeaways
- Retired Maryland police officer Wade Milyard, 55, launched a mobile laundry nonprofit.
- The 'Fresh Step Laundry' bus provides free washing, drying, and folding for those in need.
- Clean clothes are restoring dignity and helping unhoused individuals secure employment.
As a police officer, Wade Milyard had responded to plenty of calls, but on one spring afternoon he felt a divine calling. Now, he’s changing lives one laundry load at a time! Here, he shares his story with Woman’s World.
“What’s going on here?” Frederick, Maryland, police officer Wade Milyard asked, hoping to diffuse the heated situation with a smile.
Wade had been called to the homeless camp where a couple was loudly arguing.
Wade was able to calm them down, and he felt confident it was safe to move on.
But as Wade walked away, an unfamiliar voice, clear as day, filled his thoughts.
Ask them about laundry!
Wade spun around. The message was unmistakable, as if it were straight from God.
Wade returned to the couple and said, “Where do you do your laundry?”
The woman shrugged. “Mostly in the creek. Why?”
“I was just wondering,” Wade replied, and the thought stayed with him.
Over the next few weeks, when he’d meet other unhoused people, he would ask them the same question.
“A laundromat would cost $20, and that’s money I need for food,” one man told him.
“I don’t even bother anymore,” said another. “No one’s going to hire me anyway.”
Wade felt a tug on his heart. He was nearing retirement — maybe he could use his free time to find a way to help.
That’s when Wade remembered the old shuttle bus behind the stationhouse.
“I have a plan,” he told his captain, and the department decided to donate the bus to help.
Soon, Wade enlisted friends to give the bus a makeover by removing seats. He bought three washers and dryers and installed them inside, along with a tank to hold the greywater. Wade connected with shelters to use their hoses and began spreading the word.
“Bring your laundry and we’ll wash, dry and fold it for you!”
The first day, Wade and his volunteers did 10 laundry loads. But word quickly spread, and soon they were doing up to 20 loads every Tuesday and Thursday.
The thank-yous poured in.
“If you’re clean, you just feel better,” one woman said.
Wade set up a nonprofit and named it Fresh Step Laundry because that’s what he hoped it would provide.
Recently, laundry regular Tom began including uniforms in his laundry.
“I wore my clean clothes to an interview and got a job as a security guard,” he said.
Wade is now hoping to fund a second bus so he can do laundry for unhoused school kids.
“I feel like I was called to do this,” he says. “It’s a small thing, but giving someone a ‘fresh step’ makes me feel like I’m truly making a difference.”
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