BY ALISON GRANITO
Staff Writer
WOODBRIDGE — According to Jackie Donovan, no job is too messy for her firm to tackle.
Donovan, the owner and operator of YCC Maid Service — which stands for Your Choice Cleaning — said her 11-year-old firm is ready, willing and able to take on the jobs the big cleaning chains refuse to touch.
"We specialize in residential maintenance, but we also cater to people with special needs. We have quite a few clients who are physically or medically challenged and need our help," said Donovan, who lives in Carteret.
YCC, which serves all of Middlesex County and parts of Monmouth and Union counties, has a solid base of clients that the cleaning teams service on a weekly and biweekly basis.
"Our thing that we really focus on is consistency and customer service," Donovan said. "We like to send the same teams to the same homes all the time. With other maid services, we’ve had customers tell us that they’ve had different people every time. With us, they get to know who is in their home.
"Even though we’re a service, [customers] are getting the same kind of feeling as if they had a private housekeeper. When you are sending someone into people’s homes, they need to know they are protected," she added.
That feeling of security is especially important for her special needs clients.
"We tackle the tough jobs. There is nothing we don’t do," Donovan said.
Among the toughest challenges ever faced by YCC was a call Donovan fielded from a woman in Pennsylvania who needed a cleaning service for the apartment of a relative who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
"When we got to his apartment, debris was piled all the way from the door to the kitchen — literally floor to ceiling. It was so bad he had dragged his mattress into the closet and was sleeping in there," Donovan said.
Several YCC employees spent almost two days sorting through mounds of debris and discovered many of the man’s important papers — including documents detailing investments and savings bonds, according to Donovan.
"As a result of [YCC’s efforts], the woman found out about $20,000 worth of income that may not have been found otherwise," she said.
"More importantly, we helped this man get his quality of life back. We referred him to care management services and people who could help him with food, clothing and other basic needs," she added.
Although the firm is willing to take on the big jobs, Donovan said, "No job is too small.
"If people call and ask us to come and clean one bathroom, we’ll do it," she said.
"We don’t bill on an hourly basis — all our services are on a per job basis so people pay what the job is worth," Donovan said.
"We guarantee all our work for 24 hours. If it isn’t right, we’ll send somebody back out," she added.
In addition to standard residential maintenance, YCC cleans carpets, and offers sorting, packing and debris removal service to residents and businesses.
Donovan said the firm’s devotion to training and customer service has paid off over time.
"We’re expanding. We’ve almost outgrown our current office space," she said.
YCC Maid Service is located at 851 Rahway Ave. For a list of services and prices, check the firm’s Web site at www.yccmaidserviceinc.com, or call (732) 634-9500.