Keep It Goins Foundation ‘Restored Peace’ for Low-Income Family

Editor's note: Watch the full video interview here.

When Rian Goins, co-owner of Get Goins Pest Control, Los Angeles, Calif., walked into what was initially an inspection for a family that has fought a seven-year bed bug battle, he was not prepared for the stories told that would touch his heart.

In the five-person household, the father’s room was the bed bugs’ epicenter from where they made their way into the wood paneling. Rodent issues and a severe termite infestation, which was causing roof leakage, were also damaging the home.

The father, who is 90 percent blind, is cared for by their daughter, Tanesha Clark. She provides for her parents, Lenord and Mary Vester, and niece and great-niece, on a teacher’s salary. Her parents didn’t have enough stable income to financially cover the job.

“As a low-income family, with both of my parents disabled and only receiving Social Security, I knew that fumigating and rodent proofing were services that my parents and I could not afford,” Clark said. “My parents and I were constantly on edge and paranoid while dealing with the infestation of bed bugs and other pest issues.”

Goins completed the inspection and determined a liquid pesticide treatment would be around $2,5000. After the inspection was completed, Goins walked back to his truck to reflect on the heartbreaking stories and hardships shared by the family. He quickly realized the Clark-Vester family were the first qualifying family that needed to be helped by their non-profit organization, the Keep It Goins Foundation.

Rian and his wife, Noelle Goins, started the organization last summer as a way to give back to impoverished communities suffering from severe infestations, covering costs for those who cannot afford to hire a pest control company.

“We had to talk her into a Zoom call to share our proposal and tell her the foundation was here for this very reason and she broke out in tears in gratitude,” Rian said.

Fumigation was the best course of action for this job, Noelle said, and sharing the initial Zoom call with industry colleagues and on social media was the first step in receiving donations to start the work.

“By the time we got to the job, our colleagues stepped up big time. Quality Pest Services donated the entire fumigation and people flew into the area for this,” she said. “A lot of people donated their physical services that we really needed to take care of it. We used the money for [equipment] and hosting them in an Airbnb for all five of them.”

Quality Pest Services completed the fumigation.

The Goins captured video content the day of the service to create awareness so when the next family comes on board, they don’t have to heavily rely on fundraising, Noelle said.

“We’re not the first pest control owners to do free services for people who need it, and we’re not claiming to be the first, but our initiative was to show this to our colleagues and legislative folks who never get to see these types of things,” she said. “People don’t have to give thousands of dollars. Strength can be in numbers from a collective.”

Noelle said by shining a light on pest control business owners, manufacturers and distributors coming together to give back to a community of “predominately black and brown folks who might not see this type of work often being done,” it helps reinforce the positive narrative of the work being done in the industry to protect the environment.

“We’re often viewed as competition and that’s not what this is,” she said. “When you’re giving back, it actually breaks the ice because your sole focus is on giving back. The industry has been asking for the public to look at us as people who care about the environment and not people that are destroying it.”

The following pest control companies, associations, manufacturers and distributors were involved in the project:

Jim Steed, Neighborly Pest Control; Michael Wilson, Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC) CEO; Doug Belle, Cardinal Professional Products; Lee Whitmore and Larry Perez, Quality Pest Services; Beth Mineau, TriCal; Andrea Hancock, P.E.S.T. Relief International and Mattress Safe, which donated mattress encasement covers; Jamel Sandridge and Javier Ramos, Nisus; Michael Keith, Cal Coast Pest Management; and Douglas Products donated gas for the fumigation.

Keith, owner of Cal Coast Pest Management, San Diego, Calif., did a residual treatment for bed bugs and rodent exclusion work for the exterior of the home.

“They had two crawlspaces, a couple open vents and a little gap in between the back door and I saw those needed to be closed up,” he said. “I adjusted the back door because they had a wood frame with an inch gap. She had a lot of questions, and I was able to answer all of those for her.”

Keith said when you go to houses and talk with customers, they often hide their pest problems because “they might be embarrassed by it.” By asking the right questions and showing empathy, you’ll see these types of needs a lot.

“To see them have the courage to accept support and get out of their comfort zone reminded me that it’s okay to ask for help,” he said. “To see the family happy and joyful, it reminded me of reaching out and accepting support and put a little fuel in me to continue helping.”

Lee Whitmore, Quality Pest Services (left), Jim Steed (middle) and Michael Wilson, PCOC (right).

Jim Steed, president of Neighborly Pest Management, Roseville, Calif., was on hand the day of the job to support the Goins and be an extra set of helping hands. Steed said the Goins are telling compassionate stories happening in the pest control industry in a way that might not have been told before.

“We hide and try not to draw attention to ourselves, and that’s really costed us and they’re challenging that,” he said. “I’m trying to add my experience and perspective to this work because I could never produce the [content] they do.”

Rian said watching the family get back to living a normal, pest-free life was a full circle moment for him.

“To see them walk [into the house] and ready to get back to their rooms and maybe not even knowing everything that went into taking care of their pest issues, it seemed like they were really happy to be in this house,” he said.

At first, Clark said she perceived their pest issues as shameful, “because society views people as unclean, which deters people and families dealing with these issues from asking for help.” But after receiving help from the Keep It Goins Foundation, she and her family are able to sleep peacefully every night.

“There are many families dealing with the same issues as my family was and they may be ashamed to ask for help or financially incapable of such services,” Clark said. “Foundations like Keep It Goins are vital because they help restore peace of mind while providing necessary pest control services to low-income families for their homes.”

Click here to donate and learn more about the foundation.