An exasperated client struggling with multiple hoarding-related challenges called to ask us about our hoarding cleanup services. A resident of a condominium in the greater Silver Spring, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia region, she had big problems and short deadlines.
The sweet-sounding, middle-aged woman broke down in tears as she rattled them off. She recognized that she was holding on to way too many objects. Her landlord was treating her cruelly, in her view, by denying responsibility for its lack of maintenance services. The company also reported the handicapped woman to the county code compliance office and gave her an eviction notice. The caller also needed to get her home cleaned out, and she needed a professional moving company to move her belongings to her new home.
Understanding the challenges of hoarding
The woman burst out crying again when we told her that we could solve all of her problems. Even better, we would head her way the next day for a free consultation.
We made good on that promise — assessing her need not only for hoarding cleanout services but for the other problems she faced. A visit to the home of an estate liquidation and home cleanout client usually only takes us twenty minutes. We spent an hour and a half with the hoarding sufferer.
“I can’t believe you’re going to help me,” she said, as we wrapped up the first session. “No one else would help me.”
Developing a plan for a client faced with hoarding, code compliance and eviction notices
We quickly outlined our plan for helping the client. It started with some work we wanted to provide for free to help her stem the most immediate threats. Orion’s Attic is a for-profit company, we told her, but we can handle some tasks pro bono when we see the need.
Step one was calling the county code enforcement office. We explained to the official that the client had hired us to comply with its requirements. We shared a copy of the work contract, the dates for the scheduled work, and the initial timeline for her moveout. In the same call, we offered to send regular updates by text and email to demonstrate the progress. The code enforcement officer appreciated the thorough information and agreed to take no further action as long as we continued to provide updates.
Step two was contacting building managers at the condominium and updating them with the same information. They were thrilled the client hired us, and also promised to leave her alone while we accomplished the goals.
Step three? Get to work!
Helping a client decide what to keep and what to let go
Providing help for individuals struggling with hoarding, classified as a mental disorder, starts with compassion. Our role in these situations is a bit of a combination of a professional organizer, life coach, estate liquidator, extreme cleanout specialist, and friend. The best way to get the complex and challenging relationship between us and the client going is by giving the client a clear picture of our vision.
“We see how much you’re struggling,” we told her on day one, arriving with just co-owner Chris Lancette and two staff members. We selected the two based on their compassionate and patient personalities. It was also important not to overwhelm her with too many people.
“We’re going to pick one area to start with. Let’s see if we can get you to let go of one thing we can put in a box for sale or donation, or a trash bag. This will likely be incredibly slow and painful for you in the beginning, but if we can get rolling, we’ll meet all the deadlines.”
Making slow but steady progress with junk removal, organization
It took close to thirty minutes for the client to release the first object, a tattered book. The home was filled with an avalanche-waiting-to-happen of books. Add to that mountains of junk mail, paperwork, expired food, long unwearable clothing, and excessive numbers of all kinds of other objects. Pencils, pens, electronics, paper — you name it.
The first few hours were tense.
People afflicted with hoarding generally offer the same kinds of responses when the work is unfolding. Common justifications for not letting things go include notions that they can fix every broken object. Others include that they will need the object at some point in the future. Hoarders say the object has sentimental value (even if it’s in horrendous condition).
Their thoughts may seem irrational and they may lash out at us in anger. “Why are you taking this from me?” they may scream. Hoarders may go off on us in other ways, slam doors, and yell, “I quit! Get out!”
Our response?
We always recognize it’s the disorder talking, not the human being. At every step, we demonstrate respect for the people in front of us and for the objects they love. Check out these kinds of responses we encounter in our hoarding work in an essay we wrote for Salon magazine.
Making a hoarded house livable again
Providing hoarding cleanup services can be mentally and physically exhausting for clients and us alike. It comes with the territory. The more time passes, however, the more trust clients gain in us, the more the pace picks up.
In this case, we faced a double difficulty. We had to make the home livable for the short time the client had left there, and we had to prepare her for her pending move. (At the start of the project, she didn’t yet have a new place to live.)
Another key is finding a balance between pushing clients to go at the pace required to meet deadlines and budgets — and the limits of what hoarders can handle. Few people are wealthy enough to afford us turning a five-session job into fifty sessions.
That’s where the “coach” comes in.
“Good job!” we say, each time a client lets something go. “You should be proud of yourself for that one; we know that was hard!”
And it’s totally okay when clients break down in tears and need to rest. We hang right in there with them — then try to get them fired up to get back to work. Our client surprised herself and us on this job. We made more progress with each visit.
She eventually got into the spirit of it and accepted our challenge to drop some items in trash bags and donation boxes herself. It’s a way of giving hoarders more ownership of the process.
Meanwhile, we found sellable items to take for auction on her behalf. Our team packed tons of other things for donation, and we hauled away the trash.
We even politely disagreed with her when she told us we didn’t need to sort through her deceased mother’s jewelry collection “because it was just junk. She didn’t buy fine jewelry.”
“We usually find some good stuff in piles that big,” we told her. “We’re not about to drop this at auction or charity without pouring through it first. We’ll do that later.”
Finishing the hoarding cleanout, providing moving services
The client found strength she didn’t know she had as the process unfolded. She fought through countless levels of resistance to what we implored her to do. The client also began, for the first time, to see a picture in her mind of what living a clutter-free life could look like. She started to get excited about being free of the burden of too much stuff.
We ended up filling three box trucks with items from her tiny two-bedroom condo over the course of our work. The client was thrilled by how much we were able to donate. Nobody works harder than we do to give second lives to someone’s treasures. Nobody matches our environmental ethics.
To finish off our end of the job, we gave the stuff going to her new home a good cleaning. We’re not a maid service but we wanted to make sure we put enough elbow grease on her belongings that she got off to a good start.
The next to last step?
We brought in a trusted moving company with to orchestrate the client’s move to a new apartment. Bonded and insured like us, the owners of the company share our commitment to patience and personal service. We worked hand-in-glove with it so that it could take the client the last step to her new life.
Why hoarders and their families trust Orion’s Attic
The client called us after the movers set her up in her new home. She was crying happy tears and laughing with delight.
“Orion’s Attic is nothing short of incredible,” she told us. “I can’t believe how much I can move around in my new place. It’s all so clean. It’s beautiful here.”
Surprise — jewelry sale exceeds cost of our hoarder house cleanout work!
“If you’re happy now, wait until you hear this,” we told her, revealing the last step of the project. “Would you believe that we went through all of your mother’s costume jewelry over the last few days and found some fine jewelry?”
“You’re kidding.”
“And can you guess the size of the check we’re about to send you?”
“Um, no.”
“Try $16,000!”
The phone went silent.
“Are you there? Hello?”
The amount equaled more than 1.5 times what she paid us for the hoarding cleanout services work.
She unleashed another wave of tears.
Then she made us cry.
“You saved my life,” she said.
Ready to get help decluttering or cleaning out a home affected by hoarding?
Contact us today! If you or a loved one is suffering from hoarding and are looking for compassionate help, we’re here for you. We are also experts in cleaning out the homes of hoarders who have moved or are deceased. We’re always happy to provide free consultations.
About Us: Orion’s Attic is a full-service estate liquidation, downsizing, and home cleanout company based in Silver Spring, Maryland. We serve the greater Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia region.
See how we handle what has become a calling for us in Hoarding.
A massive mound of junk mail from a previous hoarder house project.
