Volunteer group Hot Mess Express helps women get back on track

The year 2024 was a tough one for 30-year-old Nevedha (who asked that her last name not be used).

“I am a cancer survivor, and last year I also went through a divorce,” she recalled. “It was really difficult for me, and everything just kind of compounded and became overwhelming.”

After her divorce, Nevedha and her 5-year-old daughter, Surina, moved from their three-bedroom home into a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate. As life changed, Nevedha said, she had a hard time adjusting, and tasks like cleaning and organizing her home took a backseat. Then, a friend told her about Hot Mess Express.

“My friend joined her local chapter and was talking about how it’s a lot of moms and other women helping each other out. I thought it was really empowering and I wanted to join as a volunteer, but I also am struggling myself.”

So Nevedha let a group of volunteers with Hot Mess Express into her home. Hot Mess Express is a nonprofit with a mission to “serve the women in our community with no judgment through cleaning, organizing and offering a fresh start.” The women-led organization was founded by Jen Hamilton, a nurse and married mom of two who recognized the overwhelming need mothers have for a support system. The organization started in North Carolina in 2021 and has since grown across the United States.

Heather Hembree (left), an Affiliate Coordinator for the Tampa Bay chapter of Hot Mess Express, discusses which items will be kept and which will be donated with nominee Nevedha. Hembree and a group of volunteers spent hours cleaning Nevedha’s home Jan. 19. Photo by Ashley Morales.

Heather Hembree, one of two Affiliate Coordinators in Tampa Bay, said the local chapter started in 2023 after one of Hamilton’s videos went viral on social media. Hembree, who has a background in nonprofit work, asked Affiliate Coordinator Cristy Hartsell Lott if she could help manage the Tampa Bay affiliate.

Progress was slow at first, but has recently exploded from just a few dozen volunteers to 1,500 and growing.

“I’m very passionate about community,” Hembree said. “Hundreds of years ago, we were in villages together, helping raise children and sharing food. Now, the way our society is set up, we’re just so segregated from each other and we’re not able to have that community, and more is expected of us as women. So I have had this passion of just bringing women together and showing them that they’re not alone; we are the community that they’re wanting and yearning for.”

When a woman is nominated for a Hot Mess Express “mission,” Hembree and her team will evaluate the woman’s situation and make sure the scope of the mission is in their wheelhouse. Hot Mess Express isn’t qualified to tackle hoarding situations or recovery cleanups after a storm or fire, but they do help give women a fresh start by cleaning, organizing and doing dishes and laundry. 

“We did a mission for a very close friend of mine, and being on the other end of it, I saw how life-changing it was,” Hembree said. “She’s able to have family over and now her son is able to have friends over. That’s the biggest impact, when the kids come in and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve been looking for this toy forever! Look, I can see the floor!’ When we do a mission, we come in and snap our fingers and literally change their lives.”

Cleaning Nevedha’s apartment helped free up enough space that she could create a bedroom for her 5-year-old daughter in an area off the living room. Photo: Heather Hembree.

Hembree said the volunteers spend anywhere from three to seven hours cleaning and organizing a nominee’s home. While the nonprofit does accept in-kind donations of cleaning supplies through its Amazon Wish List, it’s primarily supported by volunteers donating their time.

As the group of women cleared out and put away items at Nevedha’s apartment, a new area at the front of the living room began to take shape; a bedroom for Surina.

“My daughter is just now getting a room for herself. I think it’s going to be so helpful for her just to have her own space, and to feel like the house it put together and livable,” Nevedha said.

“It’s uncomfortable to have people come into your house and feel embarrassed about how your space has gotten, but getting this help is going to move us into the next phase of our lives. These women have no investment in me other than just being kind individuals and giving back. I believe in the goodness in people and I’m just so incredibly grateful.”

Those interested in volunteering or nominating a woman for a mission can do so online at hotmessexpresstampa.com.

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