Client Story: Toto, We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

Having to move gets harder with age. If you’re lucky enough to have found an apartment or house that became your home for many years, leaving that space for something unknown can be overwhelming emotionally, unattainable physically and devastating financially. You spend your life filling the fishbowl of your personal, private space and now life is having you downsize, give away your things, and create, oftentimes, a miniature version of the life you once knew.

That’s how we found Dorothy, a ray of sunshine in a tornado of stuff.

At 84, Dorothy has found herself in a one bedroom apartment in a new development that is a blessing to our community, offering new low income housing where it is desperately needed. However it is a far cry from the three bedroom home where she raised her son and hosted her family, including 10 siblings. When she was able to lease this new apartment, she had to move quickly. Boxes were expensive and hard to find, movers were going to eat up all her funds, and she couldn’t decide what to bring. So she basically brought everything.

So now your life can feel completely upended, regardless of whether you choose to relocate or were forced to move. You’ve completed the move, exhausted yourself and your finances, can’t move or set up your space…but at least you have your things. It can be very difficult to part with items now that they are the only connection to the life you knew before.

That’s where Everly comes in.

After a fun intake getting to know each other, we worked on coming up with a few ideas that might get us started. We want to have a big impact for clients and then get out of their hair, so we decide four visits might be in order, since there is so much to process and organize.

On our first visit, we chose to create an eating area in the kitchen. Since the move, Dorothy had been keeping the boxes from her non-perishable food delivery subscription, as they were clean and a good size, and boxes had been so hard to come by during the move. I was able to break down all the boxes and secure them together to store in her bedroom, creating a little breathing room and counterspace. Next, we reset her pantry, an easy task to help her gain back control of the kitchen, know what she has, and use the freed up space for more order.

Dorothy’s next two goals are simple and keep Everly motivated. In October, we are going to find room for her rocking chair, currently being stored at a friend's house. It just didn’t fit when everything got moved in. By organizing her small living room area, she also hopes to be able to invite friends over for a holiday get-together. These both seem attainable with Everly’s help!

By helping Dorothy unpack, declutter, downsize and reorganize, we’re hopefully getting her back on the path, the yellow brick road if you will, to feeling relaxed and safe in her space, at home, even if it’s not Kansas anymore.