Support group formed to help people who might be hoarders

A new support group is starting in Westmoreland County to help people who have issues with clutter, organization and/or hoarding.

The group will hold meetings and connect participants with therapy and in-home assistance through a grant from the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County to combat what organizers say is a problem locally.

“This is a very unique support group that we are doing specifically for collectors to help people,” said Heather McLean, one of the group’s facilitators and outreach coordinator for Mental Health America of Southwestern Pa. “It affects people’s quality of life.”

The support group is a program of Fight the Blight, an Irwin-based organization that targets blight-related issues. The Hoarding Alliance of Westmoreland County has been formed recently to address the issue as well.

Someone who accumulates items and becomes unable to part with them for a variety of reasons may find their living spaces full of those possessions. McLean said that can result in health code issues and small problems turning into large ones, such as structural compromise or utilities being shut off.

The American Psychiatric Association defines hoarding disorder as when a person has a persistent difficulty or distress in getting rid of or parting with possessions. Those possessions can accumulate into a disorganized state, which can cause health and safety issues.

Animal hoarding is a facet of the disorder that happens when people have problems managing and caring for animals they acquire, according to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America.

The prevalence of hoarding in general is higher for people over 60, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Facilitators of the support group held a meet-and-greet session Saturday in Irwin and about 10 people participated.

Matt Williams, founder of Fight the Blight and one of the group facilitators, estimated there are thousands of people in Westmoreland County who have issues with cluttered living spaces.

Those who struggle with it are under-served, he said. They can also have feelings of anxiety, isolation and depression.

“It’s kind of like a pilot program,” Williams said.

The group will meet for 16 sessions. It is modeled after Buried in Treasures, a program for helping those who have issues with clutter and/or hoarding. McLean and Williams said they have gotten training from members of the Philadelphia Hoarding Task Force.

“We’ve learned that hoarding disorder, there’s a lot to it,” McLean said. “We have nothing to address this; a lot of places don’t.”

Organizers hope to start with the first support group meeting in the next few weeks but specific dates were still being determined.

It will meet in Irwin.