Hoarders

Jennifer and her husband, Ron, suffer from hoarding and their three kids are growing up with piles of junk, food, and clothing everywhere. Jill has food, in various stages of decay, stuffed among her two freezers and four refrigerators.

Linda’s compulsive shopping not only depleted her family’s finances but filled every room in their home with piles of bags and boxes. Her husband left her three years ago when he could no longer cope with her hoarding. They are now in the final stages of divorce and Linda must clean out and sell the family home as part of the settlement. Tensions run high as she struggles to let go of her things. Steven is at risk of eviction from his government subsidized housing. His apartment is filled with garbage, human feces, bottles and cans. It’s so unpleasant that even he spends his days elsewhere. Steven must clean up or be evicted from his home and end up back on the streets.

Tara has been reported to her landlord and needs to clean out now or she’ll be homeless. She’s an obsessive collector, favoring things like McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, nativity scenes, snow globes and hundreds of teddy bears. Now Tara must finally get control of her hoarding and part with most of the clutter in her home or face eviction. When fire crews responded to a small fire at Betty’s house they discovered her sick husband living in filth. Adult Protective Services removed him from the home because of his medical condition. For the last two months he and Betty have been staying in a hotel–but funds are quickly running out. If Betty doesn’t clean up her home and her yard, he may never be able to live in the home again.

While most 21-year-olds see a world of possibility in front of them, Jake wakes up every morning despondent at the state of his life–a prisoner to his hoarding and OCD. Jake compulsively hoards garbage. Snack wrappers, empty bottles, and rotting food are strewn in every room of the two bedroom town home he shares with his alcoholic father. Jake fears that if things don’t change soon he may take his own life. Shirley has always been the kind of person who could never turn away a stray cat. But eventually she lost track of just how many cats she had. When her situation caught the attention of the local authorities, they discovered that every room of her home is cluttered and cat feces and urine soak the carpets and furniture. Now Shirley must cooperate and allow authorities to remove over 75 living and dead cats from her home or face criminal prosecution for animal cruelty.

Kerrylea and her husband Geoffrey are facing imminent foreclosure on two houses. After her hoarding filled the first home she convinced her husband that the only way to solve her lifelong problem was to buy an additional home, move just what they needed, and sell the original home. But with neither home sold, Kerrylea is now forced to part with her lifetime of clutter or risk losing everything. Lauren is a 27-year-old hoarder whose relationship with her boyfriend, Will, has hit rock bottom. Her hoarding has taken over their entire town home and Will has been forced to sleep a mattress in the living room. If Lauren can’t begin to deal with her hoarding and clean up her life, her relationship will be over.