'Not a handout, just a hand.' New group helps women with free house cleaning

At her home in Ozark, Jennifer Newby is almost single-handedly raising four children as her husband is deployed overseas.

"I haven't really had another adult to share the responsibilities, except when people come and stay to visit or offer to help, but it's not like a spouse living in my home with me," she said.

Caring for a 6-year-old, 4-year-old, 2-year-old and 2-month-year old, Newby finds herself coming and going and sometimes falling short, especially when it comes to keeping her house clean. Fortunately, a friend from church recognized Newby's efforts and nominated her as a recipient of a new organization in Springfield, Hot Mess Express.

On Friday, five women with Springfield's Hot Mess Express chapter visited Newby's home for about three hours, decluttering, cleaning and helping her reestablish positive habits moving forward. By the end of their visit, Newby's bathroom, kitchen, living room and downstairs common area looked like completely different spaces.

A national nonprofit organization with local affiliates throughout the country, Hot Mess Express — established in 2023 — serves women with no judgment through "cleaning, organization and offering a fresh start."

Local Hot Mess Express chapter members work directly with women in their communities. Women may nominate themselves or be nominated by others as someone in need of cleaning services. If selected, the woman's home is visited by chapter members, who work on a volunteer basis for several hours to declutter, clean and organize. These visits are known as "missions" and are provided for free.

Getting started in Springfield

Daphne Boggs, a fourth-year pharmacy student at UMKC, founded the Springfield Hot Mess Express chapter in April after learning about the organization on TikTok.

"I just really have a heart for helping people, obviously with being in healthcare," Boggs said. "I'm not a mom, I don't have any kids ... but I love women empowering women and that kind of movement. It takes a village to raise children and I'm not a mother and I know that, so anything that I can do to help those people, I obviously want to do."

Not long after seeing that initial TikTok video about the organization, Boggs applied to become an affiliate through the Hot Mess Express website . Once her application was approved, Boggs underwent Hot Mess Express training and created an official chapter Facebook group, intended for member use. In hopes to promote the new chapter, Boggs made a post about it in the "Welcome To Springfield" Facebook group . To her surprise, the post gained a lot of traction. As of Monday, the "Hot Mess Express Missouri Springfield" group had 795 members.

However, Boggs said there are only about 10-15 members who regularly engage with her posts and attend missions.

Since starting the chapter in April, Boggs and her team have hosted four missions, with the fourth being at Newby's house last week. Boggs said the chapter is currently hosting one mission per month, each mission lasting no more than three hours.

Missions start with creating a "game plan," Boggs said. Members then divvy up tasks and get to work.

"A lot of things that I hear are, 'I don't like cleaning, but I'll clean someone else's home,' which is exactly how I am," Boggs said with a laugh. "My house is not clean, but I just like helping other people, so I don't mind cleaning someone else's."

Newby said she was touched when she learned that she had been nominated to benefit from Hot Mess Express.

"This was such a practical, tangible way to meet a need," Newby told the News-Leader.

Get involved as a volunteer

To get involved in the Springfield chapter, women should first join the "Hot Mess Express Missouri Springfield" Facebook group , which is where Boggs posts important information for members. Once accepted in the Facebook group, women should complete the volunteer form , which is accessible under the "Featured" tab in the group. No further steps need to be taken after the form is submitted; women are then ready to start volunteering.

Each month, Boggs hosts a Facebook Live in the Facebook group to look through new nominations and discuss which woman they will help that month. Once a mission is selected, a private Facebook event page will be created, only accessible to Hot Mess Express volunteers, with further details about the mission, including the date, time and address.

Hot Mess Express is intended for women only, but Boggs said the chapter is inclusive and open to gender-nonconforming folks, too.

If carving out time to volunteer isn't feasible, the Springfield chapter has an Amazon Wishlist with tools needed for future missions, like rubber gloves, pet hair removal brushes, stain and odor removers, paper towels, dish soap, organizer bins and trash bags, to name a few. The wish list is available online at amzn.to/3WXFeF0 . Donations can also be made to individual chapters on the Hot Mess Express website at hotmessexpress.co/support-us .

How do you nominate a woman in the community?

To submit a nomination for oneself or another woman in the community, folks should join the "Hot Mess Express Missouri Springfield" Facebook group . Once accepted in the group, folks can find the nomination form under the "Featured" tab. The nominee waiver must also be submitted, which can be found under the "Featured" tab, too.

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The nomination form asks both basic information questions, like a nominee's name and contact information, in addition to further details, like why a woman is being nominated and what tasks the chapter can help with, like laundry, dishes, clutter, yardwork and food preparation. This helps Boggs and her team learn more about a nominee and how they could better serve her.

If selected, a nominee will be contacted by the chapter to schedule a walk-through. Boggs said a walk-through serves as an opportunity for volunteer members to prepare for the upcoming mission.

As of Aug. 8, Daphne said the chapter has received 32 nominations since April.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from Ozarks history to Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@news-leader.com .

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: 'Not a handout, just a hand.' New group helps women with free house cleaning