Nicky Crawford is on a mission to serve Atlanta’s unhoused community, and his most recent venture — the Wash Bus, a mobile laundry service — is powered by the ingenuity of students from Georgia Tech’s School of Industrial Design.
It was years ago when Crawford, 72, who is retired from a decades-long career in construction, was up late reading and came across a story about a man who handed out toiletries to homeless people. The man realized those people had nowhere to shower and use those toiletries, so he purchased an RV with a shower and solved the problem.
“It was a few years later when God brought that story back to my attention,” said Crawford of Stone Mountain. “I tried to figure out how I could do it, how I could provide showers for unhoused people. Could I get a big truck? Could Marta give me a bus? Finally, in 2021, I found a church out in California that had built a trailer of showers out of a car hauler.”
Crawford reached out to the pastor of that church, who invited him to see how they operated their shower trailer. Around the same time, Crawford found a trailer for sale that had been converted with three three-piece bathroom stalls — a sink, shower and toilet in each. He purchased the trailer with his own money on Feb. 2, 2022, and decided to pursue Flowing with Blessings, a nonprofit that would encourage proper hygiene, restore dignity, and offer fresh hope through hot showers.
He didn’t know where he’d serve or who would help him, but trusted he’d figure it out.
About a week after purchasing the trailer, a friend of a friend, a doctor who works at Grady Memorial Hospital, reached out to Crawford and invited him to set up the trailer in the hospital’s parking lot for a trial run.
“We had four people that first day before we even publicized it,” said Crawford. “We had 17 people a day at the end of four weeks and now it’s about 50 people twice a week. We also have an overflow list in case we can accommodate extras. I asked Grady if we need to meet to discuss the trial, but they said no, keep going. That was 2 1/2 years ago.”
Flowing with Blessings is a first-come, first-serve operation. There’s always a line of regulars waiting when Crawford pulls up in his silver Silverado, hauling the shower trailer.
Showers are offered from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays beneath the covered area that connects the parking deck and the emergency room building. Around a dozen volunteers are led by Crawford’s daughter and chief of operations, Christina Moss. The volunteers clean the bathroom stalls after each use and provide people with toiletries, underwear, socks, and a change of clothes, if needed. One volunteer often brings pans of home-cooked delights like fried chicken and vegetables, enough to feed the crowd.
In early 2023, a young woman stepped out of the shower truck still bearing a strong odor. Crawford realized that, though she’d just showered, she was back in the filthy clothes she’d been wearing before.
“I had to figure out how to wash their clothes,” said Crawford. “Thus, the bus.”
Crawford purchased a smaller school bus in 2023, as well as seven washers and dryers. An e-mail was sent to Georgia Tech to inquire if anyone could help with the installation.
“I saw that e-mail and immediately thought ‘yes, this is a great project for my students,’” said Stephen Chininis, professor of practice at the College of Design for the School of Industrial Design. “Nicky had an idea and didn’t know where to start — that’s the perfect project for industrial design. We don’t mind if there are a lot of questions to be figured out. Industrial design is exactly that, the architecture of a product.”
Chininis is always looking for projects for his students. He gives them five to six to choose from and then they work on the project for a semester and receive a grade at the end.
“It’s hard to find a really good impact design project, something that affects the community and the world,” said Chininis. “I have plenty of students who are more motivated by that than making money at corporate design. When Nicky brought the bus over, the students were immediately excited, talking about all their ideas. There were five students involved and they were completely self-motivated. In fact, one student hadn’t been attending school much. He’d been having a tough time, but the project brought him back. I think this project gave the students more meaning.”
The students had to figure out the layout of the bus, how to transport water, how to get rid of water, workflow, and even came up with graphics and promotional pieces for the Wash Bus.
“Nicky immediately took the plan and started to build everything,” said Chininis. “Some of our students stayed involved beyond the actual assignment. One graduated and still volunteers with the project. You can’t help but want to help these folks.”
Crawford and Moss said the showers and clean clothes lead to other good things for the people they serve. Not only does cleanliness help with preventive health care, but it also makes people more presentable for job interviews and to attain housing.
“They come out of that shower and they’re like new people,” said Crawford. “They’re just like you and me. They want someone they can laugh and talk with, someone who shows concern for them. Christina will help them with housing, medical situations, banking. They inundate her with all kinds of things, and she does all she can. When they’re out on the streets they have to be so tough, but when they’re with us they’re our guests, like friends in our home. We get them to soften up and let them know they’re OK. We look for them, often find them asleep on the ground. We wake them, tell them we’re here, and it’s their turn.”
Chininis — who gave his students an A for the Wash Bus project — said industrial design folks refer to ideas like Crawford’s as insight. Crawford said it was simply obedience.
“God’s hand is all over this. I know what I heard. I’m just doing what I was told.”
To learn more about or to make a donation to Flowing with Blessings, visit www.flowingwithblessings.org.
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