Cleanup in Aisle Eww: Helping hoarders
If there’s one thing Claude Bartholomew has learned after years of providing cleanup services for hoarders, it’s the importance of discretion.
“We get jobs dealing with situations with people who come from all walks of life,” said Bartholomew, a principal with 1st Hoarding Cleanup and Vancouver Island Trauma Scene Cleanup.
While some hoarders reach out after acknowledging they have a problem, others are referred by organizations such as insurance companies, public trustees and social agencies, he said.
Bartholomew, whose other services include biohazard cleanups of homicide and suicide scenes, body decomposition and industrial accidents, provides an alternative to cleanups by volunteers.
“It depends on the competency of the individual, where they are in the system and who is legally responsible,” said Bartholomew, when asked who most often refers them.
Since hoarders often feel shame and value their privacy, Bartholomew goes to great lengths not to divulge details that could identify a client.
One that he can acknowledge is a cleanup of a 400-square-foot studio apartment that was so full of accumulated items even the balcony was overflowing.
“Nothing had been thrown away, ever,” he recalled. “There were pigeons and seagulls on the balcony — a combination of animal waste on top of items.”
His team’s first priority is to ensure a person has access to the bathroom, cooking and sleeping areas and that they can safely exit their living space, he said.
“You’re not going to change a person’s behaviour right away,” said Bartholomew, noting it’s important a cleanup operation doesn’t overwhelm a hoarder, and that it’s done in stages.
“We don’t say: ‘OK, everything must go!’ ” he said. “This is what we can accomplish in a day. We’re not just walking into someone’s house and tearing their life apart.”
While an outsider can make suggestions and offer to help sort items, it’s important to let the hoarder make his or her own decisions and actively participate.
One approach might be to suggest a hoarder identify belongings he thinks he “absolutely must hold onto” and move those items to a garage, if possible.
Organic materials such as perishables from a fridge that have accumulated over time can turn into hazards, he said, recalling a situation where someone’s water had been shut off.
“Urine and feces were in different containers, and in bags,” said Bartholomew, whose biohazard technicians are trained through American Bio Recovery Association.
“Houses are dynamic. We start thinking it’s one thing and it might morph into animals in there that have passed away, or rats.”
When a hoarder is “saturated” after a de-cluttering session, Bartholomew, who has a master’s degree in social work, stops the process.
Contrary to popular perception, a hoarder doesn’t always wallow in a filthy mess that is a health concern, he said.
“The simplest job can be where someone has purchased things that are not utilized,” said Bartholomew. “There are a lot of shopaholics.”