Foundation arranges free maid service for women with cancer

When she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, Melissa Weir, a mother of three young children, thought she could keep up with household chores, even during chemotherapy and daily radiation treatments.

I thought I could handle everything, but the cleaning is really hard during treatment, when you're sick and fatigued, says Weir, 37, who underwent a mastectomy in June. Her cancer was discovered just after she had stopped nursing her youngest daughter, now 2.

Despite a positive outlook, Weir who faces more surgery in March says the pressures of managing her home in the New Homestead neighborhood of Pittsburgh left her feeling not just tired, but stressed. When she learned from a fellow chemo patient about Cleaning for a Reason, a Texas-based foundation that arranges free house cleaning for women with cancer, it seemed to be just what the doctor ordered, Weir says.

I didn't take advantage of a lot of services available to cancer patients, but this was one I definitely needed, says Weir, who contacted Cleaning for a Reason and was put in touch with Sheraden-based Mr. Maid Residential and Commercial Cleaning, one of three area companies that partner in the program.

Once a month, Mr. Maid's Amy Byard has cleaned Weir's home. The last of four visits the maximum number the program allows was in mid-October.

It's been wonderful, says Weir, whose oldest child is 5. I'll miss it tremendously.

Visits were the standard three hours, and would otherwise have cost $100, says Mr. Maid owner Jim Jones. In addition to absorbing the fee, he is required to make a monthly $15 contribution to the foundation, which handles applicant screening and referrals. Jones has handled up to three Cleaning for a Reason clients per month since he joined the program seven years ago. He says he and his staff have reaped unexpected rewards.

I first got into it because, as a new business, I wanted the publicity, but we never pursued that aspect, because we found that being in the program was rewarding enough, Jones says. We've had people cry when we call to schedule appointments. They'll say, I can't believe you're doing this.'

Byard calls the program's clients amazing. They're always asking if they can get me something, like a cold drink, says the Carrick resident. They'll tell me, You don't know how much this means.' It's a little heartbreaking when you know there are only four sessions, and you want to do so much more.

Founded in 2006 by Debbie Sardone, owner of a maid service in Lewisville, Texas, Cleaning for a Reason partners with 1,100 cleaning companies in the United States and Canada, which, so far, have provided $4.5 million worth of free cleaning to cancer survivors, according to the foundation's website.

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Foundation arranges free maid service for women with cancer