Not just a ‘maid service,’ but a second mother

A mother’s love is said to be unlike anything else in the world, and this holds true for Theresa West, who goes by Mamma T.

West runs her own cleaning service and focuses on working for UNC students.

West only has two biological sons but she said she has many other children because of the relationships she builds through her business.

Just a few weeks ago, West added four UNC football players to her family – Aaron Crawford, Nathan Elliott, Jake Bargas and Nick Polino.

West hasn’t always had a large family of students to love. Two years ago, she was in a homeless shelter with her six-year-old son and no other family close by.

She was able to start up her own cleaning service and began cleaning students’ apartments in Shortbread Lofts. Mamma T does much more than cleaning, however. She does everything moms can’t when they send their children off to college.

“I’m not only a maid service, I’m a service that was made for moms,” she said.

Parents contact West to keep their children’s apartments clean and to watch out for their children if they ever need anything. West said she goes as far as checking on students if they’re sick, leaving them notes from their parents or even preparing them a home cooked meal.

In this case, Crawford’s mother, Robin Berry-Crawford, was the one who contacted West first.

The first time West met Crawford, West had to pick up her son Frankie Solias and bring him to work with her.

Crawford, a redshirt first-year defensive tackle, came home to find Solias sitting quietly on his apartment couch. Instead of going straight to his room to relax and unwind on his day off, he sat down beside Solias and invited him to play xBox with him.

“We were playing my favorite game on the Xbox – it was the Lego Batman,” Solias said.

West said her son couldn’t contain his excitement from having a college football player give him so much attention. She said he stayed up all night talking about it and even told his friends about it the next day at school.

Solias said it made him “really, really, really, really, really happy.”

“I wanted to do it 10,000 times,” he said.

West said it made her feel good that Crawford played with her son during his only time to relax.

“This was his only day to do something for himself, and he sat there the entire time and spent time with my child,” she said.

Elliott, a redshirt first-year quarterback, and Crawford both have younger teenage brothers, so they understand the impact they have when playing with Solias.

Crawford said Mamma T is important to them because she provides the parental love they need since they are so far from their families.

“It’s kind of just like having another mother figure down here. All of our parents are all away — we’re all out of state here — so it’s nice having someone down here to look out for us,” he said.

Between the players’ busy schedules of morning weightlifting, classes, meetings, practices, study hall and a quick meal in between, they don’t have much free time.

“We’re just really busy – all the time,” Elliott said.

West said she understands their busy schedules, which is why it makes her so happy that they took time out to spend time with her son.

“When somebody gives to somebody just a little extra attention, it means a lot,” she said.

West attributes the players’ good manners and kind attitudes to their mothers, with whom she keeps in contact often.

“When you have good mothers, you become good kids,” she said.

Mamma T said she loves her job and the opportunities it gives her to take care of these kids when their parents aren’t around.

“I love being a mom.”

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