Kate and Randy Safford
Kate and Randy Safford pictured with CSL Board Member Sue Goldsmith (left).
Kate and Randy Safford have been supporting Corner Shower & Laundry for many years, and they got to visit for the first time while attending the St. Peter’s Open House in the fall of 2023.
Together, Kate and Randy have a blended family of five children and ten grandchildren ages 5-15. When I asked Kate what inspired her to donate to CSL, she said, “Having grandchildren has made us more keenly aware of what our legacy will be.” Kate and Randy make a point to lead by example – not only talking to their children about the issues of homelessness and mental health, but also showing them what they can do to change these issues.
Kate and Randy have supported other social services in Detroit, including Corktown’s Southwest Solutions, and Kate is aware of the unique and important services that Corner Shower & Laundry offers. “It is perhaps one of the smallest gestures with such a huge positive personal outcome, for someone to just get clean and put on clean clothes.”
For those of us who have never been homeless, there may be many aspects of living on the streets that we can never understand. But Kate reminds us that every single one of us can relate to the experience of needing a shower. “Maybe you’ve worked in the garden all day, or you worked out, or you put in a fence, or you went kayaking… You personally know what it feels like to get a shower and put on some clean clothes. It’s such a small but huge gift for someone.”
Kate herself recalls a time when, recovering from a surgery, she lay in a hospital bed for ten days unable to shower. When the doctor finally told her she could shower, she thought to herself, “This is the best thing in the whole world.”
As a society, Kate says, “We can get too busy talking about what we don’t like rather than getting in and thinking about what we can do to help.” Kate and Randy are glad to know that Corner Shower & Laundry is offering the vital services that it is, and hope others will do what they can to support its work and mission.
