A Lawrence-based cleaning company has joined forces with a nationwide nonprofit to help people undergoing cancer treatment maintain a clean home.
Clean of Hearts owner Meghan Rangel signed up with Cleaning for a Reason about a month ago, and said she’s already helped two people with cancer who needed some help.
Rangel said she had never heard of the organization until she saw an article about it in a Southern Living magazine.
“I like to do vision boards, so I’ll peruse magazines — I don’t really read the magazines. I just do it for the art — but I saw a blurb about something having to do with cleaning and it caught my eye,” she said. “I read the article and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is the philanthropy I’ve been looking for.’”
Rangel said she’s always advocated for volunteering.
“I very much want to give back and want to be involved,” she said. “Utilizing my skills was one of those things that I was like, ‘Yeah, other people who can’t afford this need it just as much as the people who can afford it.’”
Rangel first got into the cleaning business soon after college. She experienced some health problems, she said, and needed a job with flexible hours. She worked for an established company for about two years but then needed a break. When she left, she signed a non-compete agreement that prohibited her from starting her own cleaning business for at least one year.
After the year was up and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rangel used her individual economic impact funds payment to start her own business, which opened in August 2020.
“And now here I am, almost four years later, just running my own business living my best life as my own boss,” she said.
While Rangel still has some health concerns to battle, she said cleaning keeps her sane. And, as someone who has dealt with health problems, she can relate on some level to people who are dealing with cancer treatment.
“I understand what it’s like to want or need or have things to be done and you do not have the energy to do them,” she said. “People who are going through chemo — if they feel like this is something that they want, go to Cleaning for a Reason website and fill out the paperwork.”
For more about Cleaning for a Reason, visit cleaningforareason.org/patients.
For more about Rangel’s business, visit thecleanofhearts.com.
