Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

ALBEMARLE — The Hope Tank — a mobile shower, laundry and hygiene support truck — is making a series of stops in Stanly County this summer.

Founded in Charlotte in 2017, the 501c3 nonprofit organization Hope Vibes has teamed up with Albemarle’s community church The Gathering to host the organization’s shower and laundry vehicle on June 12, July 10 and Aug. 14.

The truck will be stationed at the parking lot of the church’s location at 175 North First Street on each of those dates from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., offering free services and inspirational ideas that target the needs of the area’s homeless population.

Hope Vibes is operated by the husband-and-wife team of Emmanuel and Adrienne Threatt, who began the non-profit with the goal of addressing the homeless epidemic in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region with exit strategies through “direct relief, research, innovation, advocacy and systemic disruption,” according to the organization’s mission statement.

By 2018, the nonprofit was distributing thousands of hygiene packs and hundreds of winter items to homeless neighbors in need.

“People that maybe live in a vehicle or live in a tent community, they’re not different from us,” Emmanuel Threatt said in an informational video sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte. “They’re just in a different situation than us. What we do is not detached from the people that we serve.”

The Threatts were originally inspired to make a difference through community outreach when they came across a video of a homeless woman on her menstrual cycle who had no access to feminine hygiene products.

That lack of a basic service was a stark reminder of what can be taken for granted.

While some outreach groups offer meals and temporary housing for those in need, Hope Vibes aims to give assistance and dignity through their unique, vehicular approach that provides a refreshing shower, clean clothing and various hygiene products.

“The Hope Tank is our mobile laundry and shower vehicle, and it has two full restrooms with a shower, sink and toilet in there,” Adrienne Threatt said. “And in the back is a full laundry center that has four sets of washers and dryers.”

Envisioning the creation of a Hope Tank to take the nonprofit’s assistance efforts to the next level, the organization spent almost two years raising the money needed to make that concept a reality.

“We knew we wanted to not only provide hygiene products, but we wanted to provide hope to people and this positive energy when we go out to interact with people,” Adrienne Threatt said. “Somehow that translated into a vibe, and it needed to be a hopeful vibe.”

Volunteers can sign up at hopevibes.galaxydigital.com to help facilitate Albemarle’s trio of scheduled Hope Vibes Serve Days at The Gathering; hygiene product donations are also welcomed.