‘Buried in Treasures:’ Fairhaven, New Bedford offer workshops to help people with hoarding

By Aimee Chiavaroli

Posted Feb 26, 2020

FAIRHAVEN — People with hoarding disorder tend to isolate themselves because of the shame involved with it, which leads to more problems.

“One thing leads to another because they won’t let people into their home when they need help,” said Ann O’Donnell, a clinical social worker who works for the City of New Bedford.

That’s why local officials have offered free workshops for Greater New Bedford residents to try to destigmatize the disorder and get people the help they need before they’re in a crisis. The 20-week long “Buried in Treasures” program is based on a book by the same name.

Fairhaven Health Agent Mary Freier-Kellogg works closely with O’Donnell and New Bedford’s Fresh Start Program under the Community Services Department. They’re on the state steering committee on hoarding.

An estimated 2-6% of the population lives with the hoarding disorder, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Freier-Kellogg pointed to local tools like textile recycle bins which help raise money for hoarding remediation programs; a state grant program which helps people with hoarding disorder develop organizational skills and reduce the amount of paper they have, with the help of aromatherapy; and images of clutter to help police and fire identify hoarding situations.

“It’s always about getting somebody in a safe place,” said Freier-Kellogg, who started working with hoarding nine years ago when she worked for New Bedford. That means making sure there’s two exits, wide enough pathways, piles don’t exceed a certain height and they’re away from heat sources, there’s room to eat meals, room to lay in bed and sleep at night, and space to get to the bathroom, she said. Then if they’re ready, the program helps to reduce the amount of items they have. Officials are sensitive to the fact that it’s not helpful to tell someone to just throw all their stuff away.

“It’s very difficult, it’s emotional, it’s time consuming,” she said. “To that person, those are their treasures.”

In the cases she’s seen, a lot of people are older professionals and use hoarding as a coping mechanism to deal with a loss or abuse.

Freier-Kellogg said people have gone through the program who spent their life trying to fill a hole after they went to college and their parents got rid of their childhood prized possessions without asking. Or it could be a sudden death of a child that causes someone to turn to hoarding.

“The more stuff you acquire, the more people you push out of your life because they don’t understand,” she said.

Freier-Kellogg said the first two weeks of the program focus on people getting to know one another and share their stories as some people are very scared to start. Then they follow the book, which involves homework and group discussions. She said there’s an “aha moment” people reach in the class when they figure out why they started hoarding and there’s a great camaraderie in the groups.

But the change doesn’t happen over night. Often people go through the workshop and feel like they have more work to do, she said. People have gone through the workshop multiple times and she runs a year-round support group every other Tuesday in New Bedford for additional help.

“Hoarding is a disorder, it’s not unlike any other illness,” she said. And she hopes people will be able to feel more comfortable talking about it, she said.

Two hoarding workshops are upcoming. One begins March 7 on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Millicent Library community room at 45 Center St. in Fairhaven, led by Amanda Blais, administrative assistant to the Fairhaven Board of Health.

Another workshop in New Bedford starts March 24, Tuesdays from 3 to 5 p.m. at Domino’s Pizza conference room at 821 Rockdale Ave., led by O’Donnell.