‘All For Moms’ missions bring fresh start for Kansas City area moms
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A quick walk through Melanie Douglas’ apartment gave a hint to what the last few weeks and months have been like for her.
Children’s toys, boxes, clothes and much more were scattered on almost every surface through the living room and kitchen. One bedroom had a mattress turned on its side because there was soo much on the floor for it to lie flat.
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“I’ve been kind of struggling keeping my housework up and then a few months ago, I ended up with a few heart issues and I was in the hospital for almost a week,” Douglas said.
Douglas was already doing double duty at home, being mom to two children and grandma to two grandkids.
“Being tired and overwhelmed, everything got completely out of control,” Douglas said.
That’s where All For Moms Foundation can step in.
“We know moms are stressed and there’s this pressure from society to have your house all together and we all feel that burden,” said All For Moms Co-Founder Allie Lohman. “We are moms ourselves.”
So, her nonprofit links up with moms through government agency referrals or a growing list of applications, giving the moms weeks of help and training. It teaches them new organizational skills and how to keep their living space looking great before an army of volunteers descend on messy rooms and closets, cleaning them all out.
By the end of a four-hour window, the volunteers clean up cluttered rooms, wipe down surfaces, and bring in donated décor, furniture, and organizational tools to help the family stay organized.
The family also gets free therapy and follow up appointments with professional organizers to help stay on track.
“The home is just an area where you wake up every day and it really dictates how you feel,” said Lohman. “Not having to worry about that and being able to maintain it going forward is just such a relief to the moms.”
The effect can be generational.
Medical experts say a child’s mental health is often heavily influenced by their parents’ mental health.
Lohman says about 80% of the moms All For Moms works with have some kind of mental health diagnosis that plays into why their living space might need some help.
“That’s why when we work with a mom, we’re very gentle,” Lohman said. “But we also bring in real tools to say, ‘We understand you’ve had a hard life and there’s trauma involved here. Let’s build you up to where you can move forward and be better.”
All For Moms Co-Founder Katie Warner has been working with Douglas for weeks before the volunteers moved in, building a sense of trust.
“[Melanie] knew that that was a bother for her and she wanted to provide better but she needed some help getting those things under control, back together, so she called us and we’re here to make that happen,” Warner said.
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All For Moms is also starting a new program in the fall that will help retrofit homes for families with kids who have physical disabilities.
We have more information about all the work All For Moms does here.
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