Moms started the ‘Hot Mess Express’ to help other moms who feel overwhelmed

The Hot Mess Express is a nonprofit organization with a simple mission: Moms helping other moms.

What do they help with? If you’ve been a mom — or even just know one — you can probably imagine a few things. Amid the constant meal prep, cleaning, laundry, teaching, nursing, reading, singing, sibling refereeing and meeting dozens of other needs, life can feel exhausting. And some moms end up feeling like a hot mess.

On top of this, many women feel like they should be joining the crowd of moms who are constantly posting content on their social media feeds. And seeing those perfect photos in others’ posts can be demoralizing.

“I think our generation doesn’t give ourselves enough credit for how incredibly hard it is to silently combat social media and all these expectations to be a perfect parent,” a young mother named Laura Harrison recently told The Washington Post.

The Hot Mess Express was the brainchild of a popular TikToker named Jen Hamilton from North Carolina, who explains the group’s origin story in the video below. She saw a Facebook post in her local mom’s group from a woman who’d just had her second baby and was asking for a cleaning company to help her in her overwhelmed state. Instead of offering recommendations as others were doing, she organized a group to come help her for free.

“And that was the first ever Hot Mess Express mission,” Hamilton says in the video.

MORE: It’s Official: Kids Are A Million Times Worse When Their Moms Are Around

Over the next two years, the Hot Mess Express turned into an organization with over 50 chapters nationwide. Hamilton eventually handed over the leadership of the organization to her friend Brittinie Tran, the host of the Girl, Same podcast.

And Tran, who’s now the president of the organization, is overseeing its growth throughout the country.

“I would love to see enough Hot Mess Express chapters that we are accessible to as many women as possible,” Tran told Scary Mommy. “There are so many women who don’t know our group exists, suffering in silence thinking they are alone. That’s why we work so hard to normalize the struggles of motherhood and normalize asking for help.”

She posted the following video about the group’s success:

MORE: These moms booked a hotel room to get away and wrap gifts

According to the website, Hot Mess Express teams, led by a Chaos Coordinator, help with dishes, laundry, basic cleaning, organizing, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, friendship, bad dance moves while cleaning, singing loudly and giving mom a break.

You can go to the website to find out if there’s a chapter near you. Hot Mess Express also has Facebook groups both for the main organization and local chapters. In these groups, you can find out how to volunteer or nominate someone for help. You can also learn how to start your own chapter.

This is one Hot Mess Express we’re happy to hop onboard!