Hoarders

Not even losing several inches of her intestine to gangrene has stopped Theresa from hoarding and eating expired food. She has also spent the bulk of her husband’s retirement funds on thousands of luxury handbags and shoes. If she doesn’t get her hoarding under control, and sell off some of her belongings, she and her husband face certain foreclosure on their home. 42 year-old Karen was once a prominent attorney, but after losing her three month-old baby to SIDS, her world crumbled and she resorted to drugs, alcohol and hoarding to ease the pain. Because she has attempted suicide in the past, her husband lives in constant fear for her life, and each day amidst the hoard is an uphill battle for Karen’s survival.

Mary Lynn’s 14 year-old-son Jacob would rather be in foster care than live with his own mother in her hoarded house. He recently fabricated a story about his mother beating him as a means of getting Child Protective Services involved. CPS now makes regular visits to the house and if Mary Lynn doesn’t make progress fast she could lose her son forever. Home shopping junky, Ingrid, has let her hoarding take over her home. Unopened boxes fill rooms to the point that it is impossible to use almost the entire house. For years she’s been suffering from a range of mysterious illness, and the source is hiding under all the clutter.

Tami is battling cancer and her last hope for survival is a bone marrow transplant. But the condition of her home is getting in the way of her treatment. Years breeding hundreds of rats has left rodent feces and hair covering every surface, and her floor to ceiling hoard has driven her children from her life. Now her home must be cleaned out so she has a place to recuperate, or sadly, to die. George has hundreds of unfinished projects spread about the family farm. They fill a garage, a barn, a basement and even spill out across the property. His hoarding his strained relationships with his siblings, his wife, and his daughters, and now he faces stiff penalties and jail time if he can’t get the property in order.

After losing a cousin on 9/11, Dawn’s hoarding spiraled out of control, filling much of the house and part of the yard. The city will impose fines of $1000/day if she doesn’t clean up. And her husband, worried what Child Protective Services would do if they knew the full extent of the hoard, has threatened to take their two teenage daughters and leave. Linda’s hoard is so bad that her diabetic husband is unable to maneuver through the home by himself. On most days, while she is at work, he is confined to an upstairs bedroom with little access to food and water. If Linda does not address her hoarding now their daughter will have her father removed by Adult Protective Services and cut off all contact with her mother.

Kathleen’s hoard is so bad that her son gave up his college scholarship for fear of leaving his 16-year-old sister home alone with their mother. The kitchen doesn’t function and the hoard is being used to support sagging doorways to unusable rooms. Now Kathleen’s sister Paula will use her law degree to petition the courts to remove her 16 year-old niece from the home unless Kathleen cleans up. Margree married a minister two years ago, but her home was so hoarded he was never able to move in. Out of frustration over her unwillingness to clean, he has separated from her and now rents his own apartment. He is giving her one last shot to clean, or the marriage is over.

Vula is hoarding more than 30 sickly cats that have completely destroyed her home. They have used every square inch of the house as a litter box, including the kitchen, which is filled with piles of hoarded food. Animal Control and the city attorney have now stepped in, leaving Vula no choice but to clean up or face eviction and the demolition of her home. Lisa, a 30-year-old fifth grade teacher, has already lost one job by bringing her hoard from home to the classroom. She now fears that her current job is at stake and that her three-year relationship with her boyfriend is suffering. As her mother and sister help with the clean-up it becomes clear that hoarding runs deeper in the family than anyone has been willing to admit.

Laura has terminal cancer and is in fragile health, but sleeping or resting is nearly impossible. The only open spot she can lay her head on is two-thirds of the living room couch. It’s a couch surrounded by plastic bins, toys, boxes, scrap-book and crafts supplies, rotting furniture, magazines, and a carpet stained by cat urine. Laura’s hoarding has greatly strained her relationship with her husband and daughters. She knows this is her last chance to unburden her family and give them back a home free of her clutter and misery. Penny is a 44-year-old single mom of two. Her three-bedroom home is so hoarded that her toddler son has been forced to sleep with her on the living room couch. Her refrigerator doesn’t work and there’s a terrible smell in her older son’s bedroom. Penny has already had run-ins with Child Protective Services. Now she lives in fear that CPS will show up and remove her children.

Carolyn’s seven-year-old daughter is so distraught about her mother’s hoarding that she has been leaving notes around the house saying, “It would be better off if I were killed.” Carolyn must get control of her hoarding or face not only Social Services but perhaps a much more tragic consequence. Jo’s house is a collector’s dream, filled with thousands of plates, crosses, pots, glassware, and clocks. But her hoard is destroying her marriage of 48 years to her husband, Ed. He feels robbed of his retirement and has moved out once. If Jo does not address the problem, the marriage could be over.

The stench emanating from Robin’s home can be smelled from the street. The garbage inside is piled from floor to ceiling and the house is literally caving in around it. The hoard is so bad that the city has condemned the house and has plans to demolish the property and send Robin and her father a bill for $30,000. They have resorted to sleeping in cars, parks and now a low income housing development. Robin’s only hope of saving her home is to clean it out. Ken is just weeks from a court date where he faces six months in jail if he doesn’t clean up his home and yard. His hoarding has strained his marriage and his wife and three-year-old son moved out when Child Protective Services started to investigate. The kitchen is filled with old food. Piles in the house and yard are three to five feet high and neighbors have complained of rats, mice, roaches and other infestations. Ken must clean up now or pay the ultimate price.

Just weeks before he died, Adella’s estranged husband asked their daughter to help her mother clean up one last time. Adella’s hoarding has already cost her a previous house, her marriage and relationships with her children. Now, despite years of conflict, her daughters feel they must honor their father by helping to save their mother’s home from being condemned by the city. Teri’s husband is so fed up with her hoarding that he is threatening divorce. The couple’s two young children are forced to live in a home so cluttered that the front door doesn’t fully open. They suffer from severe asthma, and each child shares a bed with parents who no longer speak with one another. Conditions are so bad that Dr. Zasio feels legally compelled to call Child Protective Services soon after arriving at the home.