Caring in Action: Naperville-area cleaning service teams up with nonprofit to help cancer patients
Cancer treatments and cleaning don't go hand-in-hand.
Dealing with chemotherapy or radiation, patients often lack the energy, strength or mobility to sanitize a kitchen or bend down and scrub a tub.
One Naperville business, through a national nonprofit organization, has found a way to help.
Two Maids & A Mop Naperville started its volunteer work with Cleaning for a Reason on the same day Dan Brosseau of Naperville opened the business three years ago. Cleaning a cancer patient's home for free now has become part of normal operations for the franchise, which has ramped up to help at least two patient households every month.
Brosseau said the effort has reached more than 50 cancer patients total and opened his eyes to the needs he can help fill, simply by providing a shiny floor, a dust-free ceiling fan.
The workers who give a couple hours of their time each month are met with gratitude, Brosseau said. They've cleaned for one household with two residents battling cancer at the same time and another where the patient was a child.
“There's been many people who are sincerely thankful,” Brosseau said. “They cry when we leave.”
Sometimes, the cleaning service expands outside of the norm into things like folding clothes.
“We'll go in there and do whatever they need for help,” Brosseau said.
Cancer patients in the franchise's service area of Naperville, Aurora, Lisle, Woodridge, Bolingbrook, Oswego and Romeoville can sign up through Cleaning for a Reason, at cleaningforareason.org to see if they qualify for free cleaning. The nonprofit so far has helped 40,731 cancer patients since 2005 by providing them with $13.9 million with of free housecleaning services.
The concern over COVID-19 hasn't changed the availability of services. While the spread of the new coronavirus has made some patients wary of having another person enter their home, Brosseau said, others have become even more appreciative of a professional deep cleaning.
“They know that that's just going to help them live a little healthier,” he said.