Help in a Handbasket

Need help downsizing? organizing? cleaning up the mess? delivering a pile of things to ReUse? assembling your latest purchase? weeding the garden? getting your computer to talk to your printer? deciding if it's safe to click on a certain link in an email? preparing some meals? grooming the cat? getting to an appointment? 

Basically, all the every-day activities that I do for my father, I can also do for you or for a loved one.

I bring my own cleaning supplies (because I don't do well with perfumes and chemicals and I love my HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner).

Last year, I also started bringing my good friend Erin Caruth, whenever that was practical, to help me get all the work done. Or sometimes we go "solo" but on alternate weeks. She has also been cleaning and assisting her elders and her friends for many years. (I combine cleaning with politics, she combines cleaning with creating artwork, but otherwise we are eerily similar in a LOT of ways...) The advantage for clients is that they have a backup if one of us is sick or traveling, or if they need extra cleaning for out-of-town guests... they'll know both of us, and we'll know their house and routines. We have two other friends who are also available sometimes to help: Jenny Caldwell and Carla Madden.

All of us currently charge $40 per hour, for regular clients, although we do have hearts of mush and can be talked into about anything for a good cause.  (Also, we like barters!)  Sometimes we also do a "one off" for someone who doesn't want to sign up for a regular slot, but just needs their place cleaned now and then before guests arrive, for example.

I prefer gigs that are at least 3 hours long, because once I go to the trouble of loading my car and driving somewhere, it feels silly to reload the car and drive back an hour or two later. But, for a good cause... as I said before...

Sometimes we can fit in a one-off deep clean when someone is moving out or moving in, but we charge $50/hr for these kinds of jobs, because they typically involve extra planning, long days and intensive work on refrigerators, ovens, showers, etc. With a move-in/move-out, we don't get the option of putting off cleaning some windows or behind the fridge until the following week, because it ALL has to be done. Deep cleans lead to a lot of aching muscles at the end of the day (although they can also be fun).