Villa Park to tackle filthy house Tuesday
Owner could have 30 days after meeting to fix the home.

SAN FRANCISCO TACKLES COMPULSIVE HOARDING
Public-private partnership addressing one of the causes of homelessness...

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Filthy house may be razed

Villa Park officials find house unfit to live in.

By ELLYN PAK-THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Officials found the filthy house after 76-year-old owner Mary Maloney was taken to the emergency room earlier this month. The homeowner's son said his elderly mother was unable to maintain the home in which she lived for more than 20 years. She owned up to 15 cats, he said.

How should associations handle hoarders?
This is a good illustration of what lawyers mean when they say, ‘Bad facts make bad law.” It also underscores the need for homeowner associations to proceed cautiously and prudently in dealing with hoarding situations. Here are a few general guidelines:...

Roles that should be present in a hoarding intervention, from Cristina Sorrentino, PhD
Boston University School of Social Work
Pages 9-17 (pdf)

San Francisco Task Force on Compulsive Hoarding

Hoarding and Intervention
Helping Hoarders Get Treatment
Fugen Neziroglu, Ph.D., ABBP, ADAA Member

Facing a cohesive group, a hoarder cannot hide or minimize the problem. Intervention is a big step in the right direction, but the hoarder and those involved have much work to do. The hoarder must commit to treatment, and family members must address personal issues and learn to handle issues that may come up as the treatment progresses.

Hoarding and Intervention
Helping Hoarders Get Treatment
Fugen Neziroglu, Ph.D., ABBP, ADAA Member

Facing a cohesive group, a hoarder cannot hide or minimize the problem. Intervention is a big step in the right direction, but the hoarder and those involved have much work to do. The hoarder must commit to treatment, and family members must address personal issues and learn to handle issues that may come up as the treatment progresses...(click "read more" below)...

The mission of the Hoarding Task Force is to promote a safe, healthy living environment for the residents of Newton and prevent hoarding behaviors from creating hazards for themselves and others.  The task force addresses the compulsive behavior of hoarding by providing the necessary tools, intervention, resources, education, and community-coordinated response to deal with the disorder.

The mission will be accomplished through a collaborate effort of local services to include: police department, fire department, animal control, social services, health and human services department, protective services, housing inspector, AMR, and the Newton Housing Authority.

The Task Force has developed a protocol to ensure that cases are referred to the appropriate departments/agencies for assessment, intervention, services and support.  The task force meets every other month and on an emergency basis to discuss cases, address concerns and develop a plan of action.    See Definition of Hoarding.

  Tue, September 25, 2007
Eviction notice cleans up act

'OCD hoarder' goes into throw-out mode

By SHANNON VANRAES, SUN MEDIA

How Do I Deal With My Parents Junk? (Your Advice)

June 15, 2007

Marin County, California
Hoarding and Cluttering Task Force

Recommended Reading & idea for all counties to create!

Brochure

Produced by the Hoarding Task Force
Serving Hampshire, Hampden

 & Franklin Counties

Orange County Task Force on Hoarding
County of Orange Health Care Agency, Behavioral Health Services-Older Adult Services-Santa Ana, CA-714-972-3700 

The Orange County Task Force on Hoarding is a collaborative effort of diverse community organizations and representatives who seek to identify and understand the issues, difficulties and causes of human hoarding behavior, to educate the public of these behaviors, and to develop humane options and innovative interventions...

Children of hoarders have a voice and it needs to be heard.
COH as individuals and as a group can be change agents.
I encourage individual COH to call local "professional responders" and describe your parent's situation without giving out identifying information and if you don't like what you hear, suggest some alternatives, or suggest a meeting to explore alternatives. Maybe a Hoarding Task Force can be organized in your community. I guarantee that responders are tired of cleaning up a hoarder's home only to have it return to its former condition, sometimes overnight!...

Jam-packed with junk
Work crew starts to clean brothers' land

A Report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
November 2006

Informative Report (to show others to understand Hoarding?) with lots of VA resource contacts

An interesting blog with photos from someone helping a COH...here.

Quotes:
"I’m helping an old friend clean out her “family house”. Her mom died six months ago and was afflicted with a compulsion commonly known as “hoarding”. "

"Mrs. R. was certainly expressing herself and defining her self-image through the types of things she stuffed into every corner. Mrs. R., an ivy league educated woman with a minor in art history hoarded a certain aesthetic. The hoarding compulsion formed a kind of text about who she was. There is a semiotic nature to the “museum” of this tangled and compressed “collection”. "

***
Continuation of blog:  About people who want to "come in and gawk" during the excavation of the house

"A little tension was building when he added, "I just wanted to check it out." He felt no need for politeness or compassion and he was tipping against civility. There was no concern for me as a friend of this poor dead lady. For him there was only the desire to enter a long anticipated freak show."

"I felt the shame and protectiveness that children of hoarders must feel all the time."

Letter of the Week: Blue Lake's Garth house – Jan. 9, 2007

The Arcata Eye

Cleaning Out-Advice From Those That Have Done It, Pt.I

Tips & Advice from our members you won't see anywhere else.

Intervention. com.
Here's some information from their site:
http://www.intervention.com/servsfi.html

Obsessive Defense (Hoarding) Thwarts San Francisco Eviction

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Do you know of a Hoarding Task Force?

We are compiling a list of Hoarding Task Forces and resources to find help, state by state to post as a resource...please let us know if you know of one (or anything).  We are also looking for support groups for Hoarders and anything else in your state you may know of.

Thank you!

Please let us know here: I know one! I know one! Or you can post it anonymously here. 
Thank you!

Go here to find links to many Hoarding Task Force Related Sites.

De-cluttering day-Organizing experts volunteer to clean out an overflowing apartment.

Her eyes followed the loads of toys, clothes, shoes, books and other items that crammed her front door. Just an hour into the project, Phillips saw a glimpse of progress. Underneath the piles of salvaged items that overflowed from her kitchen sink and filled her rooms and hallway was her two-bedroom apartment.

"It's been a long time since I've seen my living room floor," said Phillips, relieved to see progress but hesitant to part with personal treasures.

Organizers and junk-removal specialists volunteered their services to help 60-year-old Phillips, who became overwhelmed by her habit of salvaging used items. Members of the National Association of Professional Organizers' Los Angeles chapter and 1-800-GOT-JUNK donated five hours to de-clutter and organize Phillips' apartment. Phillips put herself on a stiff timeline to get the clutter out so that she can care for her 87-year-old mother in her apartment.

Four trucks were parked outside the apartment complex on Lowden Street ready to take items to charities, recycling sites and the dump...