Chicken soup? Check. Birthday balloons? Delivered. Laundry? Don’t even think about it.
In Alabama, Carrie Eckhardt spends hours lovingly simmering chicken soup for a college student with the sniffles, taking occasional breaks to wash and fold laundry.
In St. Louis, Mindy Horwitz is on balloon-and-birthday-card duty, making a dorm-room delivery for a student whose big day might otherwise go uncelebrated.
But neither parent is tending to her own child. They’re on the payroll of parents who may have waved goodbye at the dorm but aren’t quite ready to retire from mothering.
Welcome to the world of the “Rent-A-Mom,” where helicopter parenting goes long-distance — and someone else gets paid thousands to hover.
“Rent-a-Mom” services are booming in college towns across the country. What began with local women offering advice on Facebook or giving students rides has evolved into homespun businesses catering to undergrads living thousands of miles from home.
College is often a young person’s first taste of freedom. But these “proxy moms” are building businesses around students’ need for a safety net — and pushing back against critics who say they’re coddling Gen Z.
The women insist they’re not spies reporting back to parents at home, but a local support network for students navigating life on their own.
UnitedHealthcare released data earlier this year that 69% of college students said they experienced a mental or behavioral health concern in the past year. College students also reported higher overall incidences of mental and behavioral health concerns compared to their peers not enrolled in college.
Rent-A-Moms are there to alleviate stress on college newcomers who are on their own for the first time. Navigating a new campus and college workload is tough enough – why not pay someone to pick up medicine when you’re sick?
Eckhardt — dubbed the “Bama Mama” — is a former Uber driver near the University of Alabama who turned chauffeuring students into a thriving full-time business.
Eckhardt told The Post she got the idea for her business while Ubering students and saw they were swamped by Greek life obligations and heavy coursework. She decided to start offering services in January 2026 to help lighten their load.
She offers multi-tiered packages ranging from the “Peace of Mind” plan for $1,295 per semester to the premium “Mama’s Got You!” tier for $2,495. The first package comes with laundry services, a monthly check-in (paired with a hug and gift box) and a “Finals Week Survival Kit” packed with treats.
The “Mama’s Got You!” tier adds monthly dorm cleaning for up to three rooms and a comforter wash once a semester. She also adds complimentary dry-cleaning pickup and return and monthly in-person check-ins.
Eckhardt insists she isn’t a spy and only updates parents on a strict need-to-know basis, including illnesses or emergencies. “However, I have had ex-girlfriends try and hire me for (spying)” she joked.
She even offers an à la carte “menu” featuring pampering options like massages and facials, sick-care soup delivery and airport drives for students visiting home. Parents can pick and choose different “menu items” to create their own semester package.
“There are families working full time and taking care of kids and they hire people to come and help out around the house or have their groceries delivered; it’s the same thing,” Eckhardt told The Post. “Everyone has services in their life to make things easier and more efficient.”
Delivering words of encouragement and affection from parents is another pillar of her work. Her check-in packages include a sweet treat, a hug and a selfie sent to parents, so they know their child is well.
“There are kids that are doing great and killing it and made for college, but there are a lot who are struggling,” Eckhardt told The Post. “Some were on top of the world at home and a big fish in a little school and now they’re a little fish in a big school. They may not be doing as well here as they were back home.”
Birthday celebrations are her most requested service. She works within a parent’s budget and handles floral arrangements and cupcakes to custom balloon displays. And local businesses share in the profit, as she sources supplies from neighborhood florists and laundromats.
As a foster and adoptive mother of 12 children of her own, Eckhardt said caring for young people is her lifelong calling. When she delivers soup and a hug to a student, she told The Post she finds herself worried about them and checking in again days later.
“It’s not coddling and it’s not taking away independence,” Eckhardt defended. “I don’t think these kids don’t know how to do (chores), they just don’t have time to do it.”
Meanwhile in St. Louis, Mindy Horwitz founded the parent concierge service “Mindy Knows” for students at Washington University. What began as her solo effort has expanded into a network of proxy mothers across eight campuses, including Penn State and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Horwitz got the idea when her oldest son enrolled at Washington University in 2018. As a local St. Louis resident, she frequently answered questions on parent Facebook groups for out-of-town moms and naturally became the go-to resource for out-of-town families to message.
Horwitz views her model as a “campus concierge service” rather than a parenting operation. She described herself as a “regional navigator,” connecting students with local physicians and trusted mechanics. She gives students restaurant recommendations and assists with package deliveries.
“Independence doesn’t mean being alone,” Horwitz told The Post. “Students need to become self-sufficient — to learn to do laundry, cook, and navigate life — but having support along the way is key.”
Unlike other services, Horwitz refrains from doing students’ laundry or chores, preferring to refer them to local laundromats or dry cleaners. Instead, she focuses on urgent package management and prescription drop-offs. She sees herself as a family friend nearby.
“We read the room. If the student needs something, we can be as inconspicuous as a DoorDasher and just get it done with minimal interaction,” Horwitz told The Post.
Shari Brooks originally hired Horwitz to support her daughter at WashU in 2020. Brooks and Horwitz eventually developed a friendship and Brooks now serves as marketing director of “Mindy Knows.”
“When your child is far from home, having a trusted person on the ground gives parents immense peace of mind,” Brooks told The Post. “My daughter started college during the pandemic, and everyone was on edge. Mindy was an essential resource. When my daughter contracted COVID and went into quarantine, Mindy delivered medicine and supplies right to her dorm.”
Brooks emphasized that their mission centers on mental health support and offering smooth transitions rather than pampering students or taking over household chores.
“They need to learn life skills, but they’ll do that on their own,” Brooks said, reiterating that the service functions as extended family rather than a maid service.
The network of “Mindies” across the eight college campuses – Rent-A-Moms at other schools- convenes monthly to share what practices are most effective on their campus.
“If you had a physical issue at college and had a local aunt nearby that you were close with, you would reach out for help,” Brooks said. “That’s what we’re hoping to become for families: a trusted local person who can step in and help when the need arises.”
Concierge moms are slowly but surely infiltrating campuses. In Boston, Concierge Services for Students (CSS) serves Boston college students and gives them a “mom away from home”, accepting 30 clients per year.
They offer laundry, grocery shopping and banking. Founders Joan Alfond and Tammy Kumin also offer school assistance, from campus acclimation to tutoring and course selection.
Daisy Bug Delivery founded by Rachelle Arnold at the University of Tampa, offers services from Birthday Surprise deliveries to assisting with dorm move-ins and providing rides.
Jordyn Lazar, a Miami native who graduated from WashU in 2026, used Mindy’s services throughout all four years of college after her mother discovered the program.
Lazar said her mom was protective and wanted to make sure Lazar had reliable people nearby in the new city. Not all of her college friends used Mindy’s services, but Lazar said everyone around her benefitted from having Mindy as a point of contact.
Lazar said the biggest help was Horwitz’ sick-day deliveries of homemade soup and medicine. Lazar did not have a car on campus her first two years, so Horwitz would deliver packages and set up her birthday celebrations.
“I knew she’d answer if I reached out, and my mom knew I was in good hands,” Lazar told The Post. “Over the four years, her and my mom became friends and I became closer with her – it felt like texting my mom’s friend in the area.”
