KIM: I do crime-scene
investigation for a living, and this is the worst house
I've ever been in. No, I don't think I'm a hoarder. MICHELE: Oh, my God. Nothing looks how it was
when I remembered it. DICK: Put the...
MARK: Put your damn stick down. DICK: Why?
MARK: 'Cause I'm gonna beat you over the head with it
if you point it at me again. This place is not safe
for her 2-year-old grandson. Do I need to let go
of some things? Yes. We get called on by the city
multiple times a year. I'm so [bleep]
over this already. TONYA: Pull that dump up
to the front door, and just start
hauling [bleep] out. What's happening? Oh, this hurts. The clock is ticking as to
when my son would be taken away. Mama! ♪♪ I'm Sandy, and Dick
is my significant other. [ Camera shutter clicks ] I met Dick at a dance
for parents without partners. I noticed Dick
on the dance floor 'cause he was
a very good dancer. [ Camera shutter clicks ] I didn't know Dick
had a problem of hoarding. It was maybe a year
before he moved in with me. He started bringing stuff over. He was just collecting
more than one of everything. And little by little,
it just started taking over. I lost my home. I'm Kim,
and Sandy is my mother-in-law. I do crime-scene investigation
for a living, and this is the worst house
I've ever been in. They're, in essence, homeless. They can't sit down
and eat a meal in their home. They can't watch TV. They can't take a shower. There's nothing they can do that
normal people do in a house. They go in there, and they sleep
in a little tiny ball. And then, they leave
to go someplace else 'cause they can't enjoy the home
that they're paying for. I'm Mark.
I'm Sandy's son. My mom is a very passive woman, and she just let things
run all over her. KIM:
Sandy does not tell Dick no. I think he likes
to be very controlling. Dick just did what he wanted to. I'm Michele,
and Sandy's my grandmother. [ Camera shutter clicks ] I haven't been in her home,
uh, in 15 years because I think
she was just embarrassed to have anybody over. I just couldn't let anybody know
how I was living. MARK:
Dick went into the hospital for heart complications,
and my mom called Kim. And Kim asked her if she
could go over to the house, and my mom agreed to it. I was shocked
when I went in the door. MARK: It was horrifying
to know my mom -- [ Voice breaking ]
my mom was living in that. It was bad.
It was very bad. MARK: That night,
we came up with a game plan that we were gonna clean up the
house while Dick was not there. We bagged stuff up and threw it
in the truck and the trailer and went to the landfill. I had receipts for 13 tons
of stuff going to the landfill, and that was only the front
living room and the dining room. It was overwhelming. In addition to their home
being as bad as it was, they had nine off-site
storage units... nine, full, so... And Dick and Sandy
never had any money because their money was going to paying
for all these storage units. In essence,
Dick has destroyed her life. MICHELE: She's not
the same person she was before her house
became so cluttered. It changed me. KIM: Sandy and Dick
are currently living in a one-bedroom apartment, and they're paying
on their three-bedroom home that they can't live in. SANDY: I love my home. I want to stay there
the rest of my life. I'm Karen.
I'm a first-grade teacher. I always have children's
best interests at my heart. I would hope none of them
go home to a house like this. I'm Tonya, Karen's daughter. My mother hoards
anything and everything -- junk, trash, documents, papers, things everywhere. I'm Jared, and Karen is my mom. Her house is like an "I Spy"
book, whatever you can think of. You might find a spatula
in the coat closet. It's just random. I am Kathryn,
and Karen's my mom. She loves yard sales
and estate sales. That's her crack. I also have a problem
with thrift stores. KATHRYN: Part of it is, like,
her getting a bargain. The other part of it is the high of actually
getting something else... Well, hi, Karen. KAREN: I found treasures.
CLERK: Oh, wonderful. Absolutely random crap. I'm Julie, and Karen
has been my friend for 15 years. I have been to her house
one time seven years ago. I knew she collected things. Most teachers do. That's the nature of the game. The main excuse that she uses
for all of the junk is teaching, but you only need one copy
of that worksheet that you can make duplicates of. You don't need four boxes
that have been out in the rain that are warped and dusty
and gross and disgusting. You can throw away
the whole box. KAREN: Do I need to let
go of some things? Yes. When my dad was there,
it was a clean house. KAREN: It was our palace --
neat, organized. But, at some point, he decided his plans
did not include a wife and four children. And right after the divorce,
my -- my precious firstborn son felt like it was his fault,
and he chose to end his life. That's when it got
really, really bad. JARED:
We all dealt with my dad leaving and my brother dying, uh,
differently, and hoarding stuff was hers. And it just grew from that. Are you all done? I feel sorry for Ryland. KATHRYN:
The house that we live in is not a safe environment
for him, not at all. He thinks that it's normal
to find something that you like and grab at it. I've had to teach him
that that's not okay. Okay. JARED:
We'd call it a trash-alanche. You would hear, like,
a pile of garbage tumble down, and it's just a matter of time
before it falls on somebody. TONYA:
He deserves better than that. He deserves to grow up
in a house that is safe, and where he's at now
isn't safe. I'm surprised
that Protective Services haven't taken him away
at this point. I am her agenda. She has the city on speed dial. The clock is ticking as to
when my son would be taken away. We get called on by the city
multiple times in a year. It's no longer an if.
It's a when. Mama! I am all my son has. So if he were
to get taken away... ...that would be the end. MARK: My feelings towards Dick
are very angry for putting my mother
in this situation. I'm tired, and it's just getting
too much for me right now. We need to get it taken care
of and -- and to never let
it happen again. Hello.
Good morning. I'm Dr. Zasio. I specialize
in anxiety disorders, which includes
hoarding disorder. I understand we've got
a big job on our hands. The reality is,
the house is so hoarded that you can't live here. SANDY: Right.
DICK: Oh, yeah. I guess. I thought it was important to
assess how they view themselves in terms of their responsibility
of the hoard. Would you call
yourselves hoarders? DICK: Nope.
DR. ZASIO: No? Dick right out said,
"I am not a hoarder." I think this is gonna be
a big problem moving forward. We want to get you back
in your home. Okay? Michele, you're already
getting emotional. MICHELE: Yeah.
DR. ZASIO: What's going on? I haven't seen it in so long. There's really no way to prepare anybody
for what you're gonna see. We're here because
we know it's bad. MICHELE: [ Crying ]
DR. ZASIO: You can do it. DR. ZASIO: As soon as Michele
walked in the door, she just started sobbing. This is never easy to see. I look around,
and I see, like, my pictures and my sisters'
pictures on the walls, and nothing looks how it was
when I remembered it. It was way worse
than I could've ever imagined. [ Crying ] I can't believe
that my grandmother would live like that. I can tell that that's not
a working toilet... No. ...because it's filled
with excrement. Garbage all over the kitchen
and the floors, the bed where they sleep. Oh, my God. The worst part
was seeing the freezer when it was open,
crawling in bugs. Just seeing it in that state...
it was devastating. Sandy, talk to me.
What's going on? I just hate for her
to see this. SANDY: I've been hiding it
and hiding it, and my heart just ached to have
her see how I was living. DR. ZASIO: Dick, talk to us about what it feels like
standing in here. It doesn't bother me any. DR. ZASIO: It doesn't?
DICK: No. Dick doesn't see anything wrong
with the house the way it is. He doesn't see
that there's a problem. DR. ZASIO: Sandy.
SANDY: Mm-hmm. If this house
doesn't become livable, what's gonna happen? It's got to be either come back
or let go. Okay. We are so glad
to be here to help you. I need it.
I need it so bad. DR. ZASIO: Okay. I cannot live anymore
the way we been living. I've had it.
It's at the breaking point. Hi.
I'm Dr. Green. Hi, Dr. Green.
I'm Julie. I'm Dr. Melva Green, a psychiatrist specializing
in hoarding behaviors. Seven years
since I've been here. Well, let's see
if we can't get in there and help her out. [ Knock on door ] JULIE: Hi, Karen.
KAREN: Hi, Julie! Hi. Hi.
I'm Dr. Green. Hi, Dr. Green.
I'm Karen. Come right in. DR. GREEN:
Once you get inside, you notice that there really
is just a lot of stuff and a lot of random stuff. I see a child's bed
over there. KAREN: Ryland.
DR.GREEN: This is your grandson. Are you concerned about him
in this space? Yes. I'm constantly moving things
out of his way. I'm worried he could trip.
He could hurt himself. There's so much in her house. I think
it's really important that we go
into your personal space, so that we can really get
to the heart of the matter. JULIE:
When we got into her bedroom, I was totally unprepared
for that. There was no place
to even move. I noticed
that your mirror, you've got stuff
stacked all the way up where you can't even
see into your mirror. Is that by design? Girl,
I never look in the mirror. She's hoarded with a sense
of worthlessness. JULIE:
Karen told me earlier that she did not feel worthy
having her own bed. It breaks my heart,
Karen. This is how transformation
begins. You have to feel it
in order to heal it. We're going to really get to
the heart of this unworthiness. DR. GREEN:
It's gonna be really important that Karen address this
for a number of reasons, but, on top of that, this place is not safe
for her 2-year-old grandson, and Karen recognizes it. That's a crisis. It's concerning
for the city authorities, and it could progress
to the point of Child Protective Services
becoming involved. We're gonna get through this.
You know that. DR. ZASIO: Dick has agreed
to allow us to help him, but I'm not sure how motivated
he is to get rid of the stuff. He didn't seem
particularly concerned about what he's done
to Sandy's house. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. I'm Dorothy Breininger. I'm a professional
organizing expert, and I specialize in hoarding. You know, normally, we come in, and we discuss how we're gonna
sort things, the categories
that they're going to be in. This isn't the case. This house
is completely unlivable. I don't know how they lived
in it when they did live in it. We're bringing in shovels
and barrels to work in this house. DICK: Okay.
BREININGER: Okay? We can do this. This isn't about picking
and choosing what to keep. It's shoveling it out
into barrels, bringing it out onto the front and dumping it out
to just rifle through and see if there's any trinkets
to be salvaged. I just want to see
how you're doing. This is tough.
This is my mom's house. This is... I -- I'm sorry.
I can't do this. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This family is torn up. Sandy is feeling terrible. Michele is in tears.
So is Mark. And Dick doesn't care. I don't know if you
can see Michele over here. She's crying. DR. ZASIO:
Dick seemed completely detached. He was sitting there.
He wasn't involved and just plain didn't seem
like he cared. He is very ill emotionally,
very ill. Maybe we should skip this step
of sorting right here and get it straight
on the truck. Do I have your permission
to get it straight on the truck? DICK: Yeah, put it on the truck.
BREININGER: Done. Thank you both. SANDY: This is what
we've been living with. BREININGER: This is going really
fast because they said, "Yes, get rid of everything." So we are piling. We are packing, and it's
going straight on the truck. And then,
I discover poop... ...big size. BREININGER: Did you see how big
that piece of poop was? MICHELE: Yeah.
BREININGER: What kind of an
animal made that?
MARK: Possum. Possum [bleep] Okay, Dick. I'm just showing you
that this is possum poop. This is not normal...
DICK: Yeah. -...to have this in your home.
DICK: You're right. BREININGER:
And as we clear away more, I'm seeing this huge hole. It's no wonder that they've had
all these critters in the house. Dick, you didn't create
the holes in the wall, but you didn't do preventative
maintenance to prevent it. And you let it go. DICK: I didn't have...
MARK: Look at this house! Hey, I'm looking at it. What's there? Rotten hole. Why? Because you have stuff
sitting here. That didn't stop the water
from coming in. You let it go. We can't... MARK: Put your damn stick down.
DICK: Why? 'Cause I'm gonna beat you
over the head with it if you point it
at me again. Okay. So good morning, everyone. I'm Standolyn Robertson, a certified
professional organizer. Our goal is to have a safe home
for your grandson, a safe home for you. How are you doing
right now? My butterflies
have butterflies. I'll be okay. Good.
We're here for you. We're here for you.
Let's do it. Let's do it. Yay! KAREN: This can go.
ROBERTSON: Okay. Just throw anything
that can go right there. ROBERTSON: Clock?
KAREN: That's to keep. Where will it live? I have to keep it. Because of where it was located, I didn't realize
how special it was to her. It was so precious,
yet it was on the front porch. We're going
to surround you with things
that you love, okay? Okay. What's happening? I don't know. Oh, this hurts. It does. This is what I meant
about it being hard and why you've avoided it
for so long. DR. GREEN: Getting Karen
to really feel these emotions that she's not allowed herself
to feel is really the point. So have these meltdowns. Have these moments. That's why
we're here with you. Oh. Everybody's been in denial. That's been
the fundamental crack in their very foundation
as a family. I did not expect it
to be this intense. It is intense, but you guys
have had this bottled up for -- for years. But you're part
of each other's healing. It's important for this family
to feel these emotions. They don't have
to suffer individually. They can heal collectively. I'm gonna let
you guys work together. But again,
talk, communicate. ROBERTSON: This is my first time
seeing Karen in action. It was almost like she was
at a yard sale, just, like,
looking through all the boxes. Do you find having a lot
of things, like, overwhelming? Yes. Okay, let's think about doing
that to a 2-year-old. KATHRYN: It's ridiculous
ROBERTSON: This is overwhelming. We're gonna be back for him
in 20 years at this pace. You know, I'm just the
do-it-yourself kind of person. If this is how the rest
of the house is going to go, then we're not gonna be able
to pull this project off. Did you do
anything about it? DICK: Yes, I was...
MARK: Look. This is what
you did about it. You brought more in. SANDY: It's terrible. DICK: Okay.
SANDY: Okay? This is your fault. No, it's your fault,
too. Yeah,
that I wasn't strong enough to force you to clean up
and make this a home. I agree with Mark when he said,
"Mom, I could've stopped it." I just think I just got tired
and accepted it, and I should've been stronger. DR. ZASIO: So Dick, I don't know
if you can see all this, but this is all from mice
and rats. DICK: Yeah, I see that. Look at how thick
it is over there. Look at up here. Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, you're right. Did you ever cook
in this kitchen? So do you think that someone
brought all this trash in the house
to make it look like this? Mark, you want
to answer this one? MARK: Dick, nobody has been
inside this home. Nobody has been inside this home
but you and my mom. Why... DR. ZASIO: At some point,
he just kind of gets fed up with the conversation
and says, "You know what? I'll just leave." This level of denial
is really problematic 'cause you have to acknowledge
there's a problem in order to make change. BREININGER: Dick,
you're shaking your head. What are you thinking? DICK: That I'm leaving town.
BREININGER: You're leaving town? DICK: Yeah. Why are you gonna
leave? Well, uh, you exposed everything
out to the public, and everybody laugh
at your ass. But are you saying
that you're so embarrassed that you'd leave the woman
that you love? Yep, sure will. Holy shnikes. KIM: How does that make you
feel? SANDY: Horrible. You've invested 30 years
of your life with this man who obviously
doesn't give a damn. That's a good way
to treat her, Dick. Did you see this coming,
that he felt this way? No. KIM: But he wants
to leave you and leave you
with this whole problem. Dick still doesn't realize
how big this problem is and how he's destroyed
this home, and instead of wanting to clean
it up and make it better, he just wants to leave. He doesn't want to take
any responsibility for what he's done. Sandy, what is your investment
in this relationship? Zero, right now. He could walk away,
and I would be happy. I don't need him
in my life. Do you love him? No.
There's no love. When somebody hurts you
all the time, you got no love. ROBERTSON: Welcome.
TONYA: Thank you. I'm glad
you're here today. I'm so happy you're here today. We have got to step it up. We've got to step it up. Thanks for being here. Welcome. This is crazy hard. You're welcome. Are you okay? Are you sure you're okay? No, I'm good. Okay. You seem like
something's going on. No, I'm good. Okay. So we'll keep going. You're making big decisions, and trust
that it's going to be okay. DR. GREEN: Hey, there.
TONYA: Hi. Did your mom delegate you guys
to this area? No.
It's just junk. To me, this is clearly trash. Okay. I just don't want you
to do this behind her back. All right. So we'll just put it
all right back where it was. No, we'll just...
Well, I'll get her permission, and then, we'll throw
it away the right way. I'm so [bleep]
over this already. What's it been,
like, a [bleep] hour? This whole hoarding, I don't
think that it's a condition. I think it's just as easy
as throwing something away. Permission
to throw [bleep] trash. Really?
It's all [bleep] trash. It's so frustrating
to see that there is a baby that lives in the house
that isn't safe. Get over it.
Just throw it away. You can tell this is a very
strained relationship, huh? ROBERTSON: It is.
This is part of the healing. KAREN: Okay. Okay? This is part
of the healing. KAREN: That's my cave. Mm-hmm. What do you think? Throw it away,
and start over. ROBERTSON: We have some
guidelines the two of us set up. So you two spend a minute
in here working. I wanted them to have the time
together to just get in there, bond, deal with it and see
how it all would work out. Are you sorry you came? Yeah.
This is horrible. Pull that dump up
to the front door, and just start hauling
the [bleep] out. Can you be kind? This,
would you ever seriously... Can you be kind? Let me see you put it on. I don't want to
have this conversation. For real? I don't know that your daughter
Tonya understands what you're going through. This is my wall
that I protect me. Karen has built her walls
with stuff, and Tonya has built up a wall
of lots of emotions. And you tell me
that I wasn't a good mother and that
I didn't do it right, and I'm sorry. I live
in this constant fear, and I'm having
a really hard time letting go. The entire rest
of the trailer is Dick's stuff, and we will not finish if we have to ask Dick
to go through that stuff. It is your house. It's time for you to say, "I'm not taking this anymore,
and I want it on the truck." Would you give us
that permission? I -- I give you my...
that permission. Let's just get rid of it. Dick is not tuned in
to what is going on here. I see everything destroyed, and he sits there
like he could care less. Right over here.
Over here. Right here.
I want that box. BREININGER:
He's been sitting on a chair. He's been moping. Right there. And, suddenly,
he's out of his chair because he wants to see
what's in the truck. Hang on one second here.
What's going on? This is not all of it, but this is all that would fit
on the tables. I mean, my automatic response
is, "Well, we said toss it." You've got a few hundred dollars
worth of jewelry here. I'm not sure, Dick, that you're really
understanding the situation. It's because of your love
of stuff that this house
is destroyed and the two of you
are now in an apartment. Do you understand that? He doesn't seem to be gathering
any insight whatsoever. He does not understand
what he has done and how it
is impacting the family. He's worried about the money
that he spent on this. My grandmother
doesn't have a home now. She's living in an apartment,
and he's worried about the money he spent
on some cheap-ass jewelry. I pay for her -- her --
her rent. She wouldn't need the apartment if you didn't do it
to this house. Oh. I wanted to just
pick those suitcases up and throw them and tell him
to go [bleep] himself. MARK: Dick, do you hear us? I hear you. KIM: He hears you.
He just doesn't care. Let's just put it
out there right now. Would you rather
keep this... Well, I... ...or Sandy? It's one or the other. Well... I'm sorry that I put you
in a position to judge me, and I'm sorry I was not
the right person for your dad. I'm sorry I wasn't
the right mother for you. I'm so shocked you're here.
I'm so glad. What's happening for you? Nothing.
I'm glad. I'm glad that you want to get
out of this wreck. It should be a peaceful area,
and it's not. Well, that's my goal. DR. GREEN: The introduction
of Tonya into Karen's process is absolutely changing
the dynamics. She doesn't understand
what her mother's condition is and doesn't really seem like she's that interested
in understanding. So now,
I want to move on. Let's do it then. I love you. There's thousands and thousands
of decisions in here, and I have to have this room
done by the end of the day. So are you okay
with the girls handling this? We got you, Mom. Yes. Okay. KAREN: I'm gonna outside.
They're gonna stay. TONYA: I love you. Be kind. Be kind. Okay. Get out. It was really courageous
that Karen made the decision that she would let her two
daughters finish off that room. TONYA: There. Trash. Yeah, toss it all. Start just a bin
of the winter things. Although this one has
a hole in it. Those are keeps.
Thank you. ROBERTSON: What is this? I can't put this stuff back in the living room
or your bedroom. Go finish your pile. In order for us
to stay on schedule, I need her making big decisions. Keep, keep, keep.
School keep. That stays here. She has to ramp it up. Keep. This is stuff
she still needs to look at. ROBERTSON: I don't know
if we're gonna get it done. Would you rather
keep this or Sandy? It's one or the other. Well... Stuff? I think, Dick, if this stuff is
so much more important to you, then I think you're gonna
go have to live with this stuff. Well, I will. I think that's what
it's gonna come to. DR. ZASIO: He's not even
understanding right now the fact that his stuff
has destroyed your home. And you know
what he's doing? He's sifting
through his jewelry. Yeah. You have to say
what is really important and what you have
to get rid of. Oh, I know. Can you make the decision?
You gonna keep your storage? 'Cause I have no room for it. Yeah. You're gonna go
live in it. Yeah. The house
is almost cleared. We've got an inspector coming
to look at the house, give us an idea
of what things look like and go from there. Good. The family had already taken
out 13 tons worth of stuff. We took an additional
13 tons out. Beyond that, this family
is not facing any good news. There's just major damage here,
um, major damage to the roof, major damage to the flooring, to
the plumbing, to the electrical. We have mold-like substance
at various areas throughout the structure,
pretty severe. You're talking hundreds
of thousands of dollars to fix this. No way could I afford
to fix up the house. It was a sad feeling
that I was losing this. I want to hear
from you, Dick. Are you guys moving together,
moving forward, or are you moving
in different directions? DICK: Oh, together. Dr. Zasio,
sorry to interrupt, but I'm shocked. Tell her.
If you want to be with her, now's your time,
now's your opportunity. What do you want
to say? Well, Sandy,
I'm gonna do everything I can to try to straighten up
my act. I can't do it anymore. I can't. What does this mean
for the two of you? That means I can't live
with him. All right. After all this,
I can no longer live with Dick, and I would really like
to see him go into a home where he'll have people
to take care of him. And I think that would be
the best solution for him. Dick is definitely one
of the most resistant hoarders I've ever worked with. All the therapy I've tried
to do with him has gone nowhere. This is a very tragic outcome. The good thing is Sandy is making something
out of it. DICK: I'm, uh, sorry that I put
Sandy in this predicament and she lost her home,
and, uh, she doesn't deserve it. She'd rather live on her own,
and she can do that, and I won't interfere
with her plans that she has. This is so disgusting,
what I've done. What is this stuff? It's just, I don't -- The boxes
that were in the storage overnight this...
then have to be purged, and I'm -- I'm trying. [ Sighs ]
It was just garbage. The most ridiculous,
senseless stuff in those boxes affected so many lives,
how pitiful. Could this be a motivation
to not do this beyond here? Absolutely. I just want this chapter
of my life over. MAN: You want to keep those?
KAREN: Trash, trash. MAN: Trash?
Okay. Oh, no! Oh, my gosh. He's shocked. What is this? Okay.
This, to me, is worth it. He can run around
in this room and play. KAREN: Oh, my goodness.
This is incredible. I feel like the house is
completely safe for Ryland now. Ooh, nice! Whoa, mom.
Whoa. Whoa. ROBERTSON: We wanted to have
a safe space for Ryland. But what really
came out of this is that we needed a safe space
for Karen. KAREN: Oh, my word.
This is perfect. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Today, when she actually
got to see the house, it was like a whole new Karen
was born. I'm absolutely proud of her. I think we're all ready
to jump in and support her the best way we know how,
and I think she's ready for it. I think that's the biggest
thing, is she's finally ready. For me, the success was having
you, at the end of this, to be able to look
into the mirror and tell yourself, "I love you." You ready for that? Yes. I love you, and I love
who you're gonna become. You gave your kids the gift
of being able to see you, the real you. The old you. The old you.
Wow. DR. GREEN:
The transformation of this house is a transformation
of her heart. Group hug.
Group hug. Hug your mama.
Group hug. I'm satisfied that Ryland
has a safe home now where they don't have to worry
about Child Protective Services. Oh, my baby.
