Sometimes, a family member or friend will call for help when the person with a clutter problem can’t start the process himself. Then what happens?
Step one is to talk with the owner of the stuff. If the owner is willing to let someone in the home, and is willing to make some changes, the work can begin. In this case, some concerned friends reached out, and worked as a team for many hours to restore a home to a safe condition. What a caring community!
Here’s what that good friend had to say about the process:
My neighbour and friend is a hoarder whose home’s interior had become a massive junk pile of detritus accumulated over the course of several years. The material had grown to two to four feet in depth in every room throughout the home. The bath tub couldn’t be seen under the layers of garbage and collected material. The kitchen sink, stove and refrigerator had become unusable because they were unreachable through the mass of material.
On my neighbour’s behalf, I contacted Streamlined Solutions to ask whether there was anything that could be done to help. The response from Debby Lea was a resounding, clear and unambiguous yes. She was familiar with the symptoms and knew just how to tackle the problem.
Within a few days, Debby arrived at his home dressed in coveralls, wearing work gloves and equipped with dozens of garbage bags, filter face masks, tarpaulins on which to sort items and other needed gear like small storage containers and hand tools. She first took the time to talk with my neighbour, laying out what she felt should be done and listening with great patience and understanding to his concerns. Then she got right to work and went at it almost non-stop for some five hours. I’m sorry now that we didn’t tally up the number of stuffed garbage bags that went to the dumpster. I couldn’t believe how much unnecessary stuff had come out in garbage bags, all with my neighbour’s agreement.
Debby was extremely sensitive to his wishes and engaged him throughout the process. Nothing was tossed out or returned to the home without his consent.
Debby, working under a three-day plan of attack (because the accumulation problem was so massive), showed up at his home again and again, right on time as scheduled, and working just as hard and with just as much concentration as she exhibited on Day One.
When her work had finally wound down on the last day, we took a look around inside the home and were truly impressed by how much had been accomplished, thanks to Debby. We could hardly believe our eyes when the amount of change had sunk in. My neighbour’s home had been restored to a previous time when one could walk easily from one area to another, could use the sink and bath tub, access the stove and refrigerator and find space on the counters to prepare meals. The cupboards, shelves, closets and storage areas had been beautifully organized. Everything had been labelled for ease of finding. All the junk, garbage and unneeded material was gone. My neighbour was overwhelmed. He had never really thought his home could be restored as well as it was, thanks to Debby.
Debby Lea is unquestionably a competent, caring and hard-working organizer. I cannot praise her enough. Anyone who is in need of an organizing solution, whether for a major hoarding problem or simply to get their life or their home or office under control, should contact her today and engage her services. She is trustworthy, understanding, easy to talk with and driven to help. And she has an easy-going, friendly personality to boot.
