Do What You Know

Thousands of sets of sheets, towels and blankets are needed to furnish sleeping programs and housing-first apartments that bring people off the streets and into a home. The cost for quality materials can be substantial. Sourcing these materials for charities is the specialty of Mike Phalen, who supplies sheets, towels, work clothing, furniture and so much more for charities in the Spokane area. All materials are donated and the work is all on his own time.
Mike Phalen spent his career in logistics; in retirement, he is putting his expertise to the work of sourcing and distributing supplies for those in need. He started in 2016 when he offered his services to help Catholic Charities furnish the Buder Haven apartments and the Volunteers of America’s Marilee Apartments. As the hunt began for the Buder Haven and the Marilee, Mike headed out to local businesses with a two-page “wish list.” He also sought parishes’ help in completing the furnishings for the apartments. Throughout this process, he met with ALSCO’s (American Linen Service Company) Spokane branch general manager, who offered products that no longer met their strict re-rental quality control process. ALSCO rents sheets, blankets, coveralls and many other products to a variety of businesses. The materials Mike was offered were often shrunk slightly too far, hems beginning to come unsewn, or small, yet persistent stains. This offer has bloomed into a full-fledged weekly program coordinated by Mike and supported by a handful of regular volunteers.
Reflecting on this initial effort to collect resources for Buder Haven and Marilee apartments, Mike noted, “Spokane is an extraordinarily generous community.” A generosity that he continues to witness as his work continues.
A weekly routine for Mike now consists of collecting a van-load of linens from ALSCO every Thurs-day morning. The donation from ALSCO is substantial each week — usually three large cart loads, enough to take most of the day for his team to sort. Occasionally, the donation can be almost double the usual amount. He meets his crew at Sacred Heart Parish, in the church hall, to begin sorting the week’s donation. On a weekly basis, Donna Bridenbock and Mary Lee Tony help him through the process.
Some of the blankets that are too worn are set aside for the team of volunteer quilt makers at Catholic Charities to use as fill for quilts; linens that are similarly worn out are given to a local sewing school to use as scrap fabric by students. Mike and his team aim to not waste one item. Mike was quick to point out that “nothing is rags.” The blankets and linens that don’t make the cut simply have minor defects, such as moderate-sized stubborn stains or a hem in need of repair.
The amount of materials that this Thursday crew processes is truly staggering. They were proud to point out that if they didn’t take the donations, they would end up in a dumpster. “From my perspective,” Mike said, “we are not only helping people; we are helping the environment.”
Besides the blankets, sheets and towels, Mike also receives chef jackets, coveralls and machine shop clothes from ALSCO that can no longer be rented. To reuse these, the team simply has to remove
the name tags and company logo patches. The clothing goes to charitable work programs, vocational training schools and to other nonprofits that have a need for high quality clothing.
After the blankets and sheets are sorted by size — including for the unique, custom-size mattresses at the House of Charity — Mike and his team load the sheets up into the van to be distributed at their regular haunts: the House of Charity, Hope House and rapid rehousing programs. The rest go to his “warehouse” — a few large rooms in a Catholic Charities’ residential program.
One of the biggest problems in Mike’s growing operation is that he often has more than enough to go around. He has begun a word-of-mouth exchange program between local charities. If one program has an excess of bathing towels donated, but are in need of double-size sheets, Mike happily sets up a swap. This element of the informal, albeit expertly run program Mike has created, is an area he is looking to grow. He stated, “Right now, it is by word of mouth, but we want to systematize the exchange.”
If you ask Mike where he has distributed his materials and he lists off what seems to be the entirety of the charitable institutions in the Spokane area who work with poverty reduction, homeless services and homelessness prevention. Materials have been given to Transitions, New Leaf, Our Place, Mission Community Outreach, City Gate, Volunteers of America, Union Gospel Mission Men’s and Women’s Shelters, the Guatemala Mission, St. Aloysius’ sister parish program, Family Promise, Women and Children’s Free Restaurant and others.
Even with the wide distribution of materials and his exchange pro-gram, Mike hopes to continue expanding. He spoke about the need that exists in rural communities, and his desire to get his materials into those areas that have great needs, but few formal resources. One step Mike has taken is to begin looking for partners in Pasco and Walla Walla, while also working to pass the word along to rural pastors that he has an abundance of linens for home use. Mike has only two firm requirements for an organization to receive materials from his warehouse: that they fit with, or at least not oppose, Catholic principles on social and ethical issues; and that they are a charitable organization.
One of his more recent partnerships has been with the Hilton Garden Inn near the Spokane International Airport. They have donated many high-quality goods from linens to shower curtains, when they update rooms. Recent-ly, the Hilton agreed to donate 120 overstuffed arm chairs and ottomans. This generous donation has sparked a new need for Mike: additional warehouse space. He is on the hunt for a new location to store the inventory. The chairs that he received will eventually be placed in soon to be built Catholic Charities apartments.
When asked what inspired him to undertake and continues this project, Mike quite humbly says he is retired and has the time and skills. He pointed out how, as a retired person, he can bring to bear the skills he built up in his career to help others now. “I think that it is worthwhile helping people, and this is one way I can do it. I have more than 50 years of experience in logistics, so this is a way I can help.” Besides the practicality of helping in this way, Mike also stressed that this is a way he lives out his call to love as a Christian. He pointed out that in the Gospel of John, Christ commanded us not only to love God, but one another as well. “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another.” (Jn 13:34) He noted this is the intensity with which we can and should live our life as Christians, and that this is his way of doing so.