Hoarders

Janet’s picture perfect life crumbled when her husband of 32 years died while waiting for a heart transplant. Devastated, her hoarding spun out of control and she has now hit rock bottom. She turned to shopping and began filling her home with decorating supplies, in the vain hope of completing a home remodel her husband had wanted to do. She even collected over 20 sets of patio furniture in the process. Her four daughters are concerned that if Janet doesn’t change, she will be lost to them forever. Christina, a former psychologist, is literally suffocating beneath her things. Breathing at about 80% due to chronic asthma, Christina has at times been rendered blue from exhaustion and tears. She has filled her large suburban home with clothing for her and her daughter, 12-year-old Hanna. Despite much of it being unworn for years, she refuses to part with any of it. With her health on the line, she must clean up before her asthma gets worse.

Linda’s family has been ripped apart by hoarding. She wants nothing more than to have a relationship with her grown children, but they refuse to come near her house which is packed waist and neck high with piles of belongings. Despite Linda’s past threat to commit suicide, her children have had it. And while her husband doesn’t want their marriage to end in divorce, he doesn’t feel he should be forced to live this way any longer. 29-year-old Todd has been collecting models, kits and various hobby items since he was a kid. His girlfriend of five years, Robyn, wants to get married and start a family, but has threatened to leave him if he doesn’t clean up his act. Todd wants to create a life with her, but is at his wits end not knowing where to start.

Deborah, a 49-year-old mother of two is living in fear that her hoarding will lead authorities to take her children away again. Her husband Ron is at his wit’s end. He says her hoarding fueled his depression and alcoholism. She says his alcoholism fueled her hoarding. It all came crashing down around them when Ron attempted suicide in 2003. Now, Deborah’s anxiety has reached an all time high. She has to make a major change or risk losing her family for good. Jim, a well educated Bee Keeper, is living a double life. He manages a successful honey business, but the inside of his home is a nightmare. Heather, Jim’s 37-year-old daughter, will call Adult Protective Services on him if he doesn’t clean up his act for the sake of himself and his eight-month-old granddaughter.

Julie is living a nightmare. A series of tragedies triggered massive hoarding which in turn led to Julie’s son moving in with her ex-husband. Now she must clean up or risk losing the two daughters that still live with her. Shannon, her husband Tim, and their four young children live in a house that is filled with garbage and infested with mice. Her dogs roam freely in the clutter and there’s a two foot hole in the bathroom floor. She was devastated when Animal Control removed 20 cats from the home three weeks ago. Now, as cameras are rolling, police arrive at the front door with Child Protective Services to remove her children.

Bob and Betsey’s home is filled with broken furniture, appliances, food, piles of clothes, mounds of books and toys. An invasion of fleas and bed bugs has forced them and their four children into a tent in the backyard where they have been sleeping for the last two months. But with the dropping temperatures and growing fear of being reported to local authorities, they must clean out their entire house or risk losing everything. Retired veterinarian Richard, “Dr. Dickey,” has spent more than half a million dollars filling his house, two garages and two storage units with dozens of collections, including 60,000 beer cans. His compulsions have cost him his marriage and his lifestyle. He is deeply in debt and stuck working a low paying temp job. He now needs to unearth the gold mine he is sitting on, so he can sell his collections and get out of debt.

After the death of her newborn son, Chris filled the void by surrounding herself with possessions. Attention Deficit Disorder makes it impossible for her to focus long enough to clean up. She’s now at risk of losing custody of her daughters who are still living in the house. Dale is at risk of eviction from his city subsidized housing because his apartment is filled with “found objects” that he hopes to one day turn into works of art. After he repeatedly failed to meet deadlines for cleaning, the court began the process to stop his housing subsidy. He won’t be eligible for another three years and has no other place to go.

14 years ago Jason was removed from his mother Augustine’s home by Child Protective Services because of her hoarding. She was never able to clean up enough to have him return. Now, as an adult living on the other side of the country, he is filled with shame and resentment, but unable to turn his back on her. Her hoarding has become so severe that she has lived without water, gas, heat or appliances for the last four years–bathing only once a week at her sister’s house. Complaints from neighbors have instigated a court ordered clean-up and she is now facing fines and the threat of jail time. We follow Jason as he tries one last time to rescue his mother from the filth he escaped from years ago.