I have spent a good part of my early career hammering away at a typewriter with ribbons and no autocorrect, then on various devices with word-processor technology, and, in the past few years, behind a camera and a microphone.

All of it has been focused on one thing: Telling stories and highlighting what can help organizations, companies, and the people within them in the cleaning and facility solutions industry.

And occasionally, a conversation lands somewhere important. This year has seen several great examples of critical themes on the various platforms that make up ISSA Media. Two interviews have stuck with me since I put down the microphone.

Both were about Cleaning for a Reason, the ISSA charity that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Since 2006, the program and its partners have donated more than US$23 million in free home cleanings to people undergoing cancer treatment, helping more than 65,000 patients across the United States and Canada, with more than 1,400 residential cleaning companies participating. ISSA Charities adopted the program in 2017.

Those are the numbers. The two women I talked with are why the numbers matter. You can see the interviews at issa.com/charity-videos.

The nurse who became the patient

Karen Leaton spent her life taking care of other people. She served as a United States Navy officer and an oncology nurse, with early work alongside the National Institutes of Health (NIH), caring for some of the sickest patients in the country. When she stepped back to raise her kids, she didn’t stop. In 2005, she opened HeavenlyScent Cleaning in Buckner, Kentucky, and almost immediately signed on with Cleaning for a Reason. Over the next decade, she gave free cleanings to women fighting cancer.

“It was in her DNA,” her husband, Richard Leaton, told me. “It was her passion.”

After selling the business in 2015, Karen went back to nursing, earned a master’s degree, and worked her way up to running a 25-bed cancer unit. By September of last year, she was leading that floor. By October, she was a patient on one.

The diagnosis was Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), also known as lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, with secondary AL amyloidosis—two aggressive blood cancers. It moved fast. “We went out for Mexican food on a Friday night,” Richard said. “She started not feeling well. We went to the emergency room and found out she had cancer. Two weeks later, she’s in a wheelchair. Three months later, she’s dead. You don’t know what’s going to happen.” Karen died on January 24, 2026. She was 58.

Here is the part that I hold onto. While Karen was sick, a Cleaning for a Reason partner—Minit Maids of Charlotte, North Carolina—showed up every week. The same program Karen had given to for 10 years was now caring for her own family. Richard was running on four hours of sleep, managing wound care, medications, and appointments. A clean home was the last thing he could think about, and the one thing Karen still wanted.

“The housekeeper who kept coming came in right after she passed and just gave me a hug,” Richard said. “She had known Karen for maybe three weeks. But they had just connected.”

I asked Richard what Karen might say to cleaning pros who haven’t gotten involved yet. He didn’t pause. “You never know what the future holds for you,” he said. “Pay it forward.”

She told them no, but they came anyway

The second conversation was with Stacey Schwinghammer, who now runs administration and bookkeeping for Cleaning for a Reason. She knows the program from the inside out because she was once on the other end of it.

Stacey was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and has been through three occurrences since. In 2013, during treatment, she was dancing in a Zumba class in Flower Mound, Texas, next to Debbie Sardone, the founder of Cleaning for a Reason.

When Sardone heard Stacey was heading into more surgery, she didn’t ask. She announced a crew was coming.

“No, no, no,” Stacey told her. “They’ve got other families.”

Sardone’s answer: “You can open the door, or you cannot open the door. But they’re going to be there.”

Stacey opened the door. She had two kids at home, one in high school and one in first grade, and every bit of energy she had was spoken for. Walking into a clean house, she told me, gave her something back. “It gives you hope,” she said. “One thing off your list.” Cancer patients need rest, she pointed out, and there is rarely time for it.

Years later, Sardone offered her a part-time job with the organization and hired her on the spot. Today, Stacey is the person who fields patient applications and answers late-night emails because she remembers waiting on answers herself. She is also the one who explains to a cleaning company why a patient canceled at the last minute. “It’s not because they don’t appreciate it,” she said. “It’s because their fever spiked, and the doctor said to get to the emergency room.”

One call has stayed with her. A dying woman took the time she didn’t have to phone and say thank you. “I am dying,” the woman told her, “But having a clean home during this end, I can’t thank you enough.” Stacey’s young daughter was nearby.

“We can’t cure her,” Stacey remembered thinking. “But we made an impact.”

The ask

I went into both interviews as a reporter. I came out of them feeling like I needed to do something. Cheryl Cleavenger, a partner manager for the program, summed it up in one line when she explained why companies sign up. “It becomes more than just a job.”

Twenty years in, the math is staggering, and the stories are personal. Karen gave for a decade and then, at the end of her life, received. Stacey said no at the door and has spent the years since opening it for thousands of other people. This matters, and it is easy to be part of.

Most of us know a family, friend, neighbor, or colleague whose life has been touched by cancer. If someone in your community is currently undergoing treatment and could benefit from the gift of a clean, healthy home, encourage them to apply for services.

So here is the ask. If you own or work for a residential cleaning company, investigate becoming a partner. If you are reading this article and do not own or work for a residential cleaning company, donate to the cause. Every dollar and every donated cleaning goes to a family in the hardest stretch of its life. You can do it all at cleaningforareason.org.