Cleaning houses allows Stacie Kupihea to provide for her two children at a job that helps keep her panic attacks to a minimum.

That's important to the 40-year-old mother, who wants nothing more for her two daughters than to put a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs.

She only works part-time at the moment, cleaning the home of two clients of her cleaning business, which she started in March. Her boyfriend encouraged her to go out on her own and take the risk of starting a business.

She hardly makes enough to pay for things, but she's working for herself and that's important. She is renting a home in Kaka'ako with the help of the federal housing assistance program, Section 8.

"I get panic attacks when I'm in too big a crowd," Kupihea said. "I break out in a cold sweat and I start to stutter.

"I feel way better than before. Before, I couldn't even go to my kids' school open houses."

Kupihea is asking only that her daughters, ages 10 and 13, benefit if her family is adopted. She doesn't need anything for herself, she said. If a generous donor steps forward, she hopes for Wal-Mart or Old Navy gift cards for her daughters to buy shoes and clothes.

Her younger daughter is into Barbie dolls, but as a mother, Kupihea stressed, "My youngest one really needs blue jeans."