Matt McIntosh wasn't there on the first day, almost 10 years ago, when Clean Start opened.

"But I was there the next day, the second day," he said.

McIntosh has gone from being homeless with an addiction to being clean for six years and being able to afford a place to stay.

The clean in Clean Start isn't about drugs, although sometimes that's a by-product.

It's a hygiene program, offering showers and washing machines to the homeless and others who may not have running water or electricity.

James Lomax who, like McIntosh, became a volunteer after using Clean Start's services, came out with his friend to help clean a giant mess.

Every year the charity makes its biggest mess of the year at the Scoop Some Soup fundraiser, its only fundraiser.

Ladle by ladle, volunteers dollop 45 gallons of chili and another 45 gallons of soup, paired with tubs worth of brownies and cornbread.

It takes about a dozen roasters and large pots to warm the food, which is delivered to businesses and schools.

People also pour into the doors, walk-ins during the lunch hour.

Cars lined Townsend Street and a nearby parking lot as the small building filled up with people at tables and volunteers in a garage warming and serving the food.

Daryl Iverson walked in and refused to accept change after paying for his $7 meal. He also slipped his business card to longtime volunteer Maria Parker.

"If you need any help, give me a call," said Iverson, who is also a board member at Family Promise.

He thought he had just ordered a cup of chili, and was surprised as Parker handed him a cup of tea and told him there was a brownie, cornbread and crackers in his bag.

Iverson said the two organizations, Family Promise and Clean Start, share a kindred spirit, as both work to help the homeless and less fortunate break a cycle.

Cleaning up gives people a sense of pride, he said.

And the other services at Clean Start, including getting mail delivered to the building and having a phone number, are just the kind of things needed for job seekers, Iverson said.

The center is open from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There is enough time to run several loads of laundry in the donated commercial-grade machines.

"It's a place where we can help the homeless, welcome them in," said Pati Brosche, a Clean Start board member. "If it wasn't for the people and the churches in Anderson, Williamston and Belton we wouldn't be able to run this."

After cleaning some of the soup pots, Lomax and McIntosh talked about how their lives have changed.

McIntosh said he heard about it from a friend who went the first day the organization opened its doors, Sept. 20, 2006.

"He told me it was for people to shower, shave, wash their clothes and get some coffee," he said.

It wasn't a magic wand, instantly washing away addiction and legal problems.

But after a few years, some hard advice from the volunteers at the center and a few chances, McIntosh said he was able to become clean for real.

"It's been six years," he said.

And it all began with a shower, one of the four showers in the building.

"When you're dirty," McIntosh said, "You think there's nothing out there and you don't care. You just wash up and you're feeling like it's the best thing ever."

After everything was clean, McIntosh said, he would probably get some lunch.

"I'm going to try to get soup and chili," he said.

Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM

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