Support the Laundry Cafe

Support The Laundry Café, an initiative to serve the 5th Ward and bring community together.

Evanston’s 5th Ward is a historic landmark in the eyes of many, but unfortunately it is under-served like never before.

Tosha Wilson and her cousin Jacqui White grew up at the confluence of the 2nd and 5th Wards. They have a vision to bring a much needed business to the 5th Ward – a laundromat – that includes a community center/gathering place element that brings a café feel. They call it The Laundry Café.

The Laundry Cafe aligns perfectly with UCE’s goal of supporting anti-racism efforts. The disinvestment in the 5th ward (and 8th ward) is the result of structural racism in Evanston, plain and simple. There are no grocery stores, no school, no bank, and no laundromat in the neighborhood with a higher density of renters than most of our town.

Tosha is an Evanston police officers and Jacqui is also in law enforcement. Their Evanston roots run deep. In addition to their own project, they are working hard to support other black-owned business through their Boosting Black Business FB group. In their flagship month, they raised over $20,000 for Chi-Fresh Kitchen, a food service contractor with social justice aims. Now it’s The Laundry Café’s turn!

It’s an important ask of the community to support the nascent Black business, and it’s easy to do. Below are links to the Facebook groups and the GoFundMe page for The Laundry Café.