Stephanie and Mia move into a homeless shelter where Mia takes her very first steps.

Caseworker Julie explains the strict rules of transitional housing, including curfews, drug tests, and income reporting.

Stephanie discovers she is pregnant with Jamie's child despite using birth control and decides to keep the baby.

Jamie becomes verbally and emotionally abusive after learning of Stephanie's pregnancy, blaming her for the situation.

Jamie punches a hole in the window when Stephanie tries to leave, and police help her escape safely.

Stephanie moves onto Travis's farm after meeting him through online dating and beginning a relationship with him.

Stephanie leaves Jenny's disorganized cleaning company and is hired by the more professional Classic Clean.

Travis tells Stephanie their relationship is over and gives her just one month to find new housing.

Stephanie and Mia move into a small, mold-ridden studio apartment in Mount Vernon for $550 a month.

Mia develops serious respiratory problems from the black mold in their apartment and requires surgery.

A car rams into Stephanie's vehicle on the highway after Mia accidentally drops her doll out the window.

A lawyer determines Stephanie was not at fault in the accident and covers her damages, funding a new car.

Stephanie receives a large tax return and begins seriously planning her long-held dream of moving to Missoula.

On Stephanie's last cleaning day at his house, Henry tells her she is one of the hardest workers he has ever seen.

Stephanie and Mia move to Missoula and hike to a mountain peak overlooking their new city and life.

Maid opens with Stephanie Land and her daughter Mia already living in an emergency homeless shelter after fleeing an abusive partner named Jamie, who turned violent when Stephanie chose to continue her unplanned pregnancy. After moving to transitional housing under strict government rules, Stephanie eventually begins cleaning houses professionally and enters a new relationship with a farmer named Travis. When Travis ends their relationship abruptly, Stephanie and Mia are forced into a mold-infested studio apartment, where health crises, a terrifying highway car accident, and relentless financial pressure push Stephanie to her breaking point. A legal settlement from the accident and a significant tax return finally give her the means to pursue her lifelong dream of moving to Montana. The memoir closes triumphantly with Stephanie and Mia hiking a mountain peak in Missoula, a symbol of everything they have climbed together to reach a better life.

The core journey from homelessness to Missoula.

Stephanie's mother and her European boyfriend William arrive to help Stephanie move from the shelter to transitional housing.

When Stephanie reveals she has only $10 in her bank account, William calls her entitled and refuses to cover her meal.

At the start of their relationship, Stephanie moves into Jamie's cheap trailer so they can split rent and save money.

Stephanie tears up her college application, realizing she must defer her dreams of becoming a writer to raise her child.

To survive, Stephanie enrolls in seven different government aid programs, including food stamps, Medicaid, and a housing voucher.

Stephanie begins working for Jenny's small cleaning company but is quickly ostracized because of its social politics.

Classic Clean owner Pam and HR manager Lonnie train Stephanie personally inside their own homes with precise, caring instruction.

After completing an exhausting move-out clean, Stephanie is unfairly asked to return and reclean without pay for her time or gas.

Henry cooks two lobsters for Stephanie to take home as a treat after she confides her troubles with Travis.

Desperate for more income, Stephanie posts a Craigslist ad declaring that her cleaning wages are not enough to pay the bills.

Cleaning the Cigarette Lady's home, Stephanie discovers dark hidden habits including vomit near the toilet and dozens of frozen cigarette cartons.

A customer waiting behind Stephanie at the grocery store tells her 'you're welcome' after her food stamp transaction is delayed.

Stephanie begins volunteering as a receptionist at a domestic violence nonprofit to build her resume and gain new experience.

Alice fires Stephanie from their work-trade rent arrangement; Kurt privately reveals the real reason is Alice losing her own job.

Stephanie visits Missoula for the first time and immediately falls in love with its mountains and warm atmosphere.

Pool 2 traces the secondary events that frame Stephanie Land's daily battle with poverty, beginning with her earliest choices alongside Jamie and the moment she abandons her college ambitions. Moving through her encounters with government aid systems, the social politics of low-wage cleaning work, and the small indignities heaped on those perceived as poor, these events reveal the daily texture of life beneath the poverty line. Key moments include her training at Classic Clean, the exploitation she faces on a nightmarish move-out clean, and the poignant act of posting a Craigslist ad about wages that simply aren't enough. The pool also captures the prejudice Stephanie encounters from clients and strangers alike, contrasted with rare moments of genuine human connection and kindness. It closes with two pivotal late-story beats — the collapse of her rent-trade living arrangement and her first electrifying visit to Missoula — that together propel her toward a new life.

The supporting struggles and small battles of poverty.

Stephanie witnesses her father have a breakdown and become physically abusive toward his long-term partner Charlotte.

Stephanie's father tells family members she fabricated both his abuse of Charlotte and her earlier account of Jamie's abuse.

Overwhelmed by loneliness and isolation, Stephanie creates an online dating profile and begins a relationship with farmer Travis.

Stephanie begins assigning nicknames to her clients' homes based on the intimate objects she discovers while cleaning.

Travis is emotionally distant when Stephanie brings home the lobsters, confirming to her that their relationship is truly failing.

After moving out of Travis's farm, Mia struggles deeply with the loss of her home and a father figure she had bonded with.

Stephanie forms a close friendship with cancer patient Wendy, who passes away shortly after canceling her regular cleans.

Cleaning wealthy clients' large homes, Stephanie realizes that affluence and material possessions do not seem to make people happier.

Stephanie argues with Jamie on the phone while cleaning the Porn House, and the house permanently triggers those painful memories afterward.

The accumulated stress of poverty and single parenting causes Stephanie to suffer a panic attack in Lori's bathroom.

After the highway accident, Jamie screams at Stephanie for being stupid, and she fears he will use the incident to take Mia.

While cleaning the Clown House, Stephanie breaks down crying, unable to stop replaying images of the accident that nearly killed Mia.

When Mia's black mold symptoms return, the doctor tells Stephanie she needs to do better as a mother.

After Stephanie shares her dream of moving to Missoula, Henry gives her a map of Montana and a set of guidebooks.

Jamie manipulates Mia into resisting the move to Montana, but Stephanie's promise of pink cowboy boots changes Mia's mind.

This pool focuses on the emotional shifts and discoveries that quietly reshape Stephanie Land throughout her memoir, beginning with the devastating moment she witnesses her father's abuse and loses her family support network. From her decision to seek companionship through online dating to her gradual recognition of Travis's emotional coldness, these events map the internal costs of poverty and isolation. Significant revelations include her realization that the wealthy clients she cleans for are not necessarily happy, and the way specific rooms — a bathroom in Lori's house, a clown-filled home — become permanent triggers for her accumulated anxiety and grief. The pool moves through her escalating fears about losing custody after the car accident and the crushing judgment of a doctor who tells her to do better as a mother. It ends with Jamie's attempt to manipulate Mia against the Montana move, a final obstacle Stephanie overcomes with unwavering love and a pair of pink cowboy boots.