Level 5 Intervention: Day 4 -

A student from Miss Alice’s swim class called the Atlanta CBS television station and suggested they report on this extreme clutter intervention. Reporter Crystal Cruz came this morning to interview Miss Alice who had decided she was tired of her secret and wanted to tell people about it. We can use her real name now. We imagine keeping a secret like that from all of your friends would be exhausting.

Crystal was a little shocked at the amount of clutter. Alice started to really accumulate after her husband died. It was less lonely to hang out in thrift stores than in an empty house. It is emotionally overwhelming when you consider each piece in that house represents a piece of Alice’s grief that grew into a mountain. Alice had been working with the counselor at her church and was ready to do this when she called us.

We were expecting this clutter intervention to be very hard on Miss Alice, but she told us today this has been much less stress than she thought it was. She said it feels good to be freeing herself of her clutter and even told some of her friends about it on the phone. We are so proud of how cooperative she has been in releasing the clutter. Some will be sold. Some will be donated to goodwill and art classes. Some special things will go to her children. A few things Alice will keep, but much less than we ever expected. Even Miss Alice was surprised at how much she is ready to let go — except the equipment for the water aerobics class she teaches. All of that we are keeping.

Mario, Rene, Santos and Henry are incredibly hard working. They begin at 7:30 and work almost non-stop until 3:30 or 4:00, taking just a few minutes to grab a bite of lunch. Rene tried on a shell necklace Miss Alice had made years ago. She gave it to him for the price of a hug. It was a sweet moment. He looks good, too!

We have been so impressed going through the boxes of the beautiful life Alice had with her beloved husband, Bob. Some of the lovely arts and crafts they made together have survived and will be displayed again in the home they shared. We have found old pictures and items they made for and with their children and grandchildren. We have been able to preserve many of the patterns Bob used for his craftmaking. His weaving and caning equipment will go to an art class.

We have volunteers coming on Saturday from Shallowford Presbyterian Church to help bring clutter out and sort. We started on the upper floor today and moved inwards about 4 feet. We are looking forward to the extra hands. Kathy’s friend Dan came to sort for a few hours before going to the eye doctor. Thanks, Dan.

There is more to clear in the basement, but Paul Harwood from Ace Hardware, West End and Adamsville, came to fix the plumbing leak and the sump pump. Thank you, Paul. You went way above and beyond on this one. We are so grateful to have this worry gone.

One last highlight was Alice seeing her basement that Bob built out for them. It was the first time in over a decade. Crystal was there to film it and it was very touching. It will be on the CBS news tonight at 6 p.m..

A long, hot day full of hard, dirty work, but the rewards were great. How blessed we feel to be a part of this. Photos of Day 4 are below.

Costs: How much will it cost? It is hard to say. The house is structurally sound. The plumbing drip caused most of the mold problems in the basement. We think it will cost around $15,000 to do the house and the yard. We don’t know what kind of repairs will need to be done until we find the floor!

—Reported and photos by Jackie Wells Smith

Day 4 photos below. Go to Day 5 report and photos.