Pontiac school's Whirlpool partnership hopes to keep students in school more often with clean clothes

PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - There is a new program which aims to keep kids from missing school - and it all starts with clean clothes.

Kids who are chronically absent from school or miss more than 15 days have a significant risk of falling behind according to the US Department of Education. One Pontiac school's new program is giving a confidence boost to students who need it.

Being able to go to school with clean clothes is so important and that’s why Irene Castro volunteers her time to help wash clothes for kids and families in her Pontiac community.

"I was one of them, we lived just around the corner from here, and my kids (and) I would have loved to have an opportunity for something like this," she said. "I try to help as much as I can."

Irene is able to do this because  Walt Whitman Elementary School is one of two schools in Michigan that has a washer and dryer at school through the Care Counts laundry program through Whirlpool.

It adds laundry services to schools that need them to help keep kids in school and tackle chronic absenteeism.

What the principal here found when her team looked at attendance, was: "Students being absent because they didn’t have clean clothes or mom didn’t get a chance to go to the laundromat," said Dr. Letha Hopkins-Powell, Walt Whitman Elementary principal.

Through the program Whirlpool provides a washer and dyer, a year’s worth of laundry supplies, and $10,000.

"It can be a barrier," Powell said. "And you know how kids are, they’ll pick on each other. It's truly been a blessing for our school, as well as the community."

"We can launder the students’ clothes, not only the uniforms that they are required to wear, but also specifically to help families that are in need," said Debra Thompson, Family Independence Specialist DHS. "It also takes off a stigma that sometimes surrounds kids that aren’t able to be cared for- not through any fault of their own but also to deal with some of the things that they’re not able to get on a regular basis."

And every child deserves to live with dignity. Whirlpool has some ambitious goals. By 2028 it wants to double the number of participating schools and expand this program to all 50 states.