| Links to Daily Progress Reports and Photos
Work in Progress Report, Day 2 Work in Progress Report, Day 3 Work in Progress Report, Day 4 Work in Progress Report, Day 5 Work in Progress Report, Day 6 Work in Progress Report, Day 7 Work in Progress Report, Day 8 Work in Progress Report, Day 9 Work in Progress Report, Day 10 Work in Progress Report, Day 11 Work in Progress Report, Day 12 Work in Progress Report, Day 13 Work in Progress Report, Day 14 Work in Progress Report, Day 15 Work in Progress Report, Day 16 Work in Progress Report, Day 17 Work in Progress Report, Day 18 Work in Progress Report, Day 19 Work in Progress Report, Day 20 Wprk in Progress Report, Day 21 Level 5 Intervention: Alice’s StoryAn elderly woman responded to a Clutter Free Yourself newspaper ad and asked Kathy to stop in for an estimate. When Kathy went for the appointment, she walked into a level five excessive possession acquisition home — in other words, an extreme case of hoarding. Miss Alice has been hoarding since her beloved husband passed away 13 years ago. She had been reported by numerous neighbors to various government agencies for creating a health hazard and is in jeopardy of losing her home if the situation isn’t cleaned up in 30 days. The television show, Hoarders: Buried Alive, interviewed her, but unfortunately declined to take on the project. The show requires family support. Miss Alice’s hoarding has created an estrangement with her children and she did not qualify. The intervention efforts of Miss Alice’s children have been unsuccessful and created a wedge within the family. She is anxious to solve her problem so her children will once again be proud of her. Miss Alice is active in the community and is a genuinely nice person. She has dealt with the grief of her husband’s death by shopping daily in thrift stores to avoid the loneliness of an empty house. A few months ago, she decided she was tired of living like this and hired some people to help her. After three weeks, they had only cleared the pantry and part of the carport. At this rate, it would take more than two years to solve the problem. Miss Alice decided to be more aggressive and hired someone to start clearing the yard. Unfortunately, they cashed her check for $1,900 and never returned to do the work. She continued to try and clean the place with the assistance of friends, but with just a few hours a week of volunteer time, the work wasn’t getting done. After spending several hours with Kathy, they worked out a plan to clutter free the home and create a new vision for beautiful living. Miss Alice at one time was an artist, but she is no longer able to get to her art supplies. She is also a great cook and skilled wedding cake baker, but cannot use her kitchen. She is looking forward to cooking a meal in her kitchen once again and hopes that when the house is clean, her children will join her for some healing. This situation is sad because of the extreme nature of the hoarding. The photographs we are posting are shocking and tragic. Miss Alice has consented to their use and will be taking a few of the photos herself to help document the transformation of her home. She has begun the effort to alter her behavior so she never has to live like this again. Follow-up, monitoring and counseling will be provided so this condition doesn’t occur again. Not seen but coming: photos of the basement, which is packed floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall, and permeated with mold. Other rooms are not shown, simply because we can’t get to them to photograph them. We’ll also posts “after” photos to show our progress over the next few weeks. The expense of cleaning up a level five home (the highest ranking on the scale for measuring this kind of problem) is enormous. This has gone on for a very long time and previous attempts at intervention have made the problem worse. We estimate the de-clutter and cleaning alone will cost $12,000. ($15,000 with the yard clean-up that must be done.) Kathy has substantially reduced her rates, and found numerous volunteers to help. There will be a yard sale to dispose of many of the excess belongings and to help raise funds to pay the costs of hauling trash, cleaning mold, laborers and repairing the damage to the house. We’ll be posting periodic updates, so check in often. If you are interested in helping Miss Alice get her life back on track, you can make a tax deductible donation to help defray expenses. We’ll post details very soon as to where to make your donation. It you’d like to volunteer to help clear out the house and sort clutter for donation, sale or disposal, please call Kathy at 404-803-4547. Help is needed each weekend, starting immediately (August 24). Progress Reports will continue on Kathy’s Blog Work in Progress Report: Day 1We’ve just started on Monday a large and complex project to help an elderly, but active and productive, woman deal with her extreme clutter problem. Her house is literally packed from floor to ceiling and wall to wall with clutter — mostly clothes, but also other household items. She literally has to climb over mountains of clutter in order to move around her house. Her stove and refrigerator are blocked, as are most entrances. Not only is this a fire and safety hazard, but a health hazard due to the over-cluttered condition of the back yard and house. To her credit, the owner contacted Kathy for help, and Clutter Free Yourself responded with a proposal that the owner can commit to, with the assistance of many in the city. We’ll post a list of the official help we’re receiving from government agencies and the owner’s church as soon as the details are finalized. We’ll also be accepting tax-deductible donations to help defray expenses of this project. More details to come. Work began yesterday, August 23rd, with organization meetings and calls. First we clear the mold-permeated basement. Later in the week, other workers and volunteers will begin clearing the upper floor. Check in for daily updates on progress. AcknowledgmentsKathy and the Clutter Free Yourself, L.L.C. team gratefully acknowledge these individuals who have contributed much to the success of this Clutter Intervention Project: Officer JJ Davis — City of Chamblee Police Department, Code Enforcement There are some really nice people in the world. Don’t you agree? —Reported and photos by Jackie Wells Smith |
 Kitchen from carport entrance. The refrigerator is in the back cabinet. The stove and counters are completely covered. Owner uses an ice chest for perishables.  Living room from carport entrance. Clutter reaches nearly to the ceiling and continues on other side (not seen). |
 Hallway from living room. Unseen is the layer of clutter that is 12 inches thick underfoot.  Bathroom from hallway; there is a cleared area for the toilet and to enter the shower. |
 First bedroom from hallway. It's nearly impossible to enter this bedroom.  Dining room from carport entrance; not seen is the rest of this pile. All floor areas are covered with a layer at least 12 inches thick. |
 Back screened porch. Clutter is piled against the screen and in danger of breaking through.  Partial view of back yard. Piles of bagged clutter go all across width of yard. Further back: overgrown shed with more clutter inside. |
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