Florida’s Rising Tide Car Wash Is Changing Lives One Wash At A Time
By Paul Rutledge | Extended Reach USA
There is a car wash in South Florida doing something truly different.
At Rising Tide Car Wash, the mission is not only to leave cars shining. It is to create real employment, confidence, and long-term opportunity for adults with autism.
Founded around the vision of John D’Eri and inspired by his son Andrew, Rising Tide has become a working example of what happens when a business is designed around people’s strengths instead of their limitations. The company has built a team where professionals with autism are not hidden in the background. They are the heart of the operation.
The result is more than a clean car. It is a model of dignity, purpose, and community.
Rising Tide Car Wash currently operates three South Florida locations in Parkland, Margate, and Coral Springs, and the company is already preparing to expand again with a new Pompano Beach location planned for late 2026.
That growth matters. This is not just a one-location feel-good story or a viral internet moment. It is a working business model that is expanding across Broward County while continuing to center its mission around meaningful employment for adults with autism.
For customers, each location offers a car wash. For families and workers, Rising Tide represents something much larger: proof that when a company builds around structure, dignity, consistency, and human potential, inclusion can become more than a slogan. It can become a scalable Florida business.
“The learning curve was getting out of my shell. I had to learn to not be as socially shy as I was. I got confident. Learning through mistakes really helped me.”
— Edward Cruz, Rising Tide Team Member
Cruz’s words capture why Rising Tide has become more than a workplace. It is a place where work becomes practice, mistakes become learning, and confidence becomes part of the job.
For many adults with autism, the transition into the workforce can be difficult. Opportunities are often limited, misunderstood, or built without the right structure for people to succeed. Rising Tide takes a different approach. It recognizes that consistency, clear systems, and meaningful support can turn a job into a path forward.
The company says about 80% of its staff are professionals with autism, with more than 90 employees with autism and more than 250 careers launched. Those numbers tell a story larger than any single location. They show what can happen when a business chooses to build around ability.
That is what makes Rising Tide Car Wash this week’s Extended Reach USA highlight. It is a Florida business proving that inclusion is not charity. It is good business. It is good community. And for many families, it is hope made visible.
In a world where many adults with autism still struggle to find meaningful work, Rising Tide shows what can happen when someone decides to build the opportunity instead of waiting for it to appear.
Sometimes the most powerful stories in America are not found in boardrooms or stadiums. Sometimes they are found in a car wash bay, under the Florida sun, where a team is proving every day that different is not less.
In Florida, between love bugs, sea salt, sun, sudden rain, and long stretches of road travel, keeping a car clean is more than vanity. It is part of taking care of what carries us through daily life.
But where we choose to spend our money can also say something about the kind of community we want to build. Rising Tide Car Wash gives customers more than a clean vehicle. It gives them a simple way to support a business that is doing better — not only for the cars that pull in, but for the people and families who help keep it running.
Sometimes the right choice is not just where to get the car washed. It is choosing a place where every wash helps lift the tide for someone else.
