All language subtitles for Hoarders.S11E05.WEB.h264-ROBOTS_track3_eng

‐ Everywhere you turn,
you're going to find clutter.

(dramatic music)

‐ I would describe my father's
house as uninhabitable.

‐ He's definitely got a problem.

‐ [Dennis] Judy was
diagnosed with Parkinson's.

‐ But I think my mom
deserves much better.

It's hard on my emotions
when I go in there

and I see that they're
living like that.

I'm sorry, I can't, I
never saw this like this.

I mean this is too much.

‐ It's okay.

‐ This is the worst thing I
could have ever experienced.

‐ We're not trying to screw you.

We're trying to deal with this.

‐ I'm a broken man, I
have no spirit left!

You let me down so badly!

‐ Dennis please, we can leave.

‐ Dennis is gone,
we need him here.

No Dennis, no finish.

(suspenseful music)

(dramatic piano music)

(upbeat music)

‐ I'm Dennis and I am
a retired architect.

I've never thought of
myself as a hoarder,

but I'm hoarding, I know that.

Anyone entering the house
immediately becomes aware

that there's clutter here.

I've got hallways that
are crowded to the point

where you can
barely walk through.

In the living room,
items are stacked

on top of one another
almost to the ceiling.

Items at the bottom
are being crushed.

Everywhere you turn, you're
going to find clutter.

The other rooms in the house

are equally in as bad condition.

Kitchen area is hardly usable.

And my bathroom facilities
aren't totally functional.

I've got three rooms
in the house right now

that are so full you can't
even get in the doorway.

They're stuffed full with boxes

that have things in them

that I haven't viewed
for the last 12 years.

Don't know what's
in a lot of them.

There's just so much,
it's overwhelming.

‐ I'm Steve, Dennis is my dad.

I would describe
my father's house

as uninhabitable at this point

because of the fact that
there are so many items

in there that you
can't move around.

You can't find anything.

He has managed to fill
every room of the house

as well as most of
the exterior places.

The property is
almost half an acre

and he's managed to bring
in all different types

of building materials,
collectibles, he's got boats.

He's got several cars,
he's got lots of tools.

They're all out in the
way they're being exposed

and basically being destroyed.

‐ I'm Pam and
Dennis is my father.

My father is
definitely a hoarder.

He can't just have
one of anything.

He needs to have
five, 10, 20, 100.

He feels like
everything's a treasure,

everything has value,
everything has purpose.

He's definitely got a problem.

‐ I absolutely do like
to collect things,

not with the intention of
keeping them all for myself,

but possibly doing some resale.

But we never got around
to doing enough of that.

‐ My father has always believed

that things have value and
that things can be fixed,

and he likes to see
things get repurposed.

But as time has progressed on,

the accumulation of materials

has been at a faster rate
than his ability to use them.

‐ So I have acquired quite a bit

of sculptural
work, woodcarvings.

There's a lot of lumber here.

There are scrap metals,
multiple wheelchairs,

five motor homes which are
stuffed full with things,

four of what I refer to as
snack vans or bread trucks,

over a dozen cars,
including classic cars.

I will never in my
lifetime get to do

all that my ambitions
have drawn me into.

‐ My dad is a dreamer.

My dad has had aspirations
to do massive major projects.

He has the capability
to do any one thing.

The challenge is, I think that

he gets too big in his dreams

and doesn't find ways
to moderate those.

‐ One of the rooms
that I have things in

is all trains at this point.

And I probably own almost
every model that they ever made

and in some cases, duplicates.

‐ I have probably invested
almost $80,000 in trains.

I don't do much cooking.

My main substances right
now are the frozen dinners.

I use a microwave to cook with.

I have actually just one
sitting space at the table.

The rest of the table
is covered with things.

‐ I think for a long time,

my dad has been
unwilling to admit

that his house and his
property is not acceptable.

He's always felt like
it was not as bad

as people say or think.

It's very frustrating.

‐ He's always made excuses

for why things are the
way they are over there

and why he has all
the hoarded materials.

But at this point, it is
simply out of control.

‐ I'm Denise, I'm Steve's wife

and Dennis is my father‐in‐law.

Dennis' house was
always very cluttered.

And in an uncomfortable
way, cluttered.

We've tried over time to
go over there to clean up,

but then he just
moves new things in

or it'll last like a day.

So we've decided we can't
really do anything else

to help him because he wasn't
willing to accept the help.

‐ It's a classic story

of you can only offer
help so many times

and if somebody's just
not willing to accept it,

you have to kinda walk away.

‐ Dennis is an alcoholic also.

We're afraid he'll
go back to drinking.

So we felt, at the time,

that the hoarding was
better than the drinking.

‐ Unfortunately at this point,

it's very seldom that
family or friends

come for any kind of a visit.

And it's pretty obvious why
I don't invite them over.

The place isn't very hospitable.

and the majority
of the relatives

have no idea what the
conditions are here.

Right now, there's just
so much everywhere I turn,

I find something that
should be dealt with

that I'm just caught in a spin.

I never wanted it
to be like this.

But here I am.

(suspenseful music)

‐ When we were kids,

the house was nowhere
near what it is today.

There was nothing of
this magnitude and nature

when we were growing up.

‐ Our childhood was very good.

We had a very good family life.

My parents have always
had an excellent marriage.

They got married very young.

They were high
school sweethearts.

‐ Judith and I
were first married

when I was still in college,

and we've been married for
over 50 years at this point.

I must say that Judy has
been the love of my life

from the time I first met her.

We've been best of friends
throughout the years

and we've always done
things as a team.

After our son and
daughter had left home,

as empty‐nesters,
one of the activities

that we took pleasure in
was going to flea markets,

going to thrift stores,

finding things that we
considered to be treasures.

The thrill of the hunt was
always the way we saw it

as something that
we took pleasure in.

In most cases, it was
our intention to resell

the things that
we were acquiring,

knowing that the majority
of it could be sold

for more than what
we paid for it.

And we did quite well in
the resale of the items.

Our house in
Pittsburgh was actually

about 7,000 square
feet under roof.

And it did provide for us
to collect a lot of things

that you wouldn't have
in a smaller house.

(dramatic music)

Judith was diagnosed
with the Parkinson's

about three years
before I retired

and before we left Pittsburgh.

We were very fortunate for years

that the medicine
helped us go through

and keep her as
functional as possible.

‐ In the early days, there
were so many good days

and very few bad days.

‐ Initially, when
you're diagnosed,

it starts out a
little bit slower

but it is a life‐changer.

‐ It was around the time

that Judy was diagnosed
with the Parkinson's

that we decided to
come to California

to get closer to
our grandchildren

and our son and daughter.

‐ When my parents decided
to relocate to California,

my dad decided to
handle the move

and the relocation himself.

‐ My father bought a bunch
of defunct bread trucks

and motor homes and basically
filled them to the brim.

‐ [] And hired a crew
of guys to actually move

all of his worldly possessions
across the country.

‐ He did about eight
trips and spent probably

somewhere to the tune
of about 80000 dollars.

‐ He had aspirations of
selling off all these trucks

and making back all the money,

but here we are 10 years later

and the trucks are
still full mostly

with the stuff that he
brought from Pittsburgh.

‐ Part of the reason
that I've been reluctant

to separate from the things

is because I do have a
lot of money tied up.

So we brought it here

and that was a terrible mistake.

(suspenseful music)

‐ I didn't bring it
in a little at a time.

It came in as an
overwhelming abundance.

At this point, what I was
considering to be assets

have become true liabilities.

‐ I'm very sad at
the amount of money,

and time, and effort
that my father has spent.

And he has drained his
savings down significantly

as a result of all this.

‐ I will have to acknowledge

I have mistakenly invested
heavily, to the point

where our retirement funds
were put in jeopardy.

‐ I wouldn't be able
to put an exact amount

on the amount that he's
spent on the hoarding,

but I will say that
it could be somewhere

half a million to
a million dollars.

(dramatic music)

‐ Okay, nice and easy now.

Come on, you're
coming up to the step.

At this point in time,
I need to help my wife

with almost every life activity.

It actually has
become very difficult

to get my wife from the bed
to the living room space.

Okay, stand up until
I get you there.

I try to assist her in
walking as often as I can

but things have just
become so crowded.

I'm gonna have to acknowledge

that this is probably
not a safe environment

for even an able‐bodied person.

‐ He is pretty much her
full‐time caregiver.

My mother just has
to be monitored 24/7.

It's constant intensive care.

‐ It's too cold?

I have to take care of
all her body functions

and do her feedings,

which at this point
are a liquid nutrient

that is put in through a pump.

‐ Things have progressed
quite significantly

and she's lost a
lot of the mobility

that she used to have

and she doesn't have a
lot of the same ability

to socialize and communicate
with us like we used to.

‐ Oh, you're saying to
no, okay, I'm sorry.

‐ So it's hard, it wears on you.

‐ [Dennis] What would
you like to watch?

‐ It's just very difficult.

It's hard on my emotions
when I go in there

and I see that they're
living like that.

I think my mom
deserves much better,

and while we've tried
to have people come in

to help with assisting with care

for my mother and cleaning,

frankly, no one
will enter the house

because it's too cluttered.

It's a safety hazard.

They're afraid to
administer shots

and things like that in
there if they needed to.

It's just unsanitary.

‐ You okay with what I
have on on the television?

‐ It's frustrated me that
my dad has not prioritized

getting our house in a condition

where we could bring
in an outside caregiver

to support my mom and him,

and I think they
desperately need it.

(suspenseful music)

‐ Code Enforcement started
contacting my father

approximately six years ago.

And as his hoarding
has gotten worse,

they issued him some pretty
significant citations and fines.

And now they are coming
back with an ultimatum

that he must clean it up.

And they were very concerned
about my mother's wellbeing,

so Adult Protective Services
from the county came in

and they're gravely concerned

about the welfare of my mother

in the conditions she's
living in right now.

‐ At this point in time,

in order to satisfy the
City Code Enforcement group,

we have to clean up both
the outside of the house

and the inside of the house.

‐ There's a great
sense of urgency

around getting my parents house

and property cleaned up now.

It's gotten to a point
where it's at the end game.

We're in a critical state,

where if he doesn't make amends

to this house on this property,

the city's gonna take it.

(dramatic music)

‐ It scares me to think
that my parents might

lose their house if they
don't remediate the property.

And that it's come to
this state of crisis.

It's scary to think
that they're living

this close to the edge
in a last ditch effort

to resolve it before
things go completely south.

‐ I'm very concerned about
the condition of my home.

I'm just not living in a safe
environment at this point.

I know that I need to clean
up things soon as possible.

But one man against this
amount is just hopeless.

‐ Hi,
‐ I'm Dr. Michael Tompkins.

‐ Oh, nice to meet you.
‐ Very nice to meet you.

‐ Would you like to come in?
‐ I would like to come in.

I'm Dr. Michael Tompkins.

I'm a psychologist
and I specialize

in the treatment of
hoarding disorder.

So this is the living room.

‐ This is it, you can see

that I have an
abundance of things here

that don't belong.

I recognize that at this point.

‐ What is the hardest thing

about living here
right now as it is?

‐ Just to the point where
I'm so dissatisfied,

I can't walk through the
aisles are too narrow.

I'm bumping things over,

my assets have
become liabilities.

‐ It's very clear to me

that Dennis realizes that he has

put too much attention
on the stuff.

Which is very insightful
and very promising.

When was the moment
that you said,

this is not any way to live?

‐ Prior to the code
enforcement even coming back.

And I think that's probably why

I'm more ready to accept
that at this point.

I just got to the
point where I realized

that all of the ambitions
that I had for projects,

I'm not ever gonna
get to any of that.

So that it's not gonna
serve any purpose.

‐ Part of what the letting go

is going to bring up for you,

is letting go of these plans
that you had for things.

It's a dream that in a sense.

‐ I'm a dreamer.
‐ Yeah?

‐ I was an architect

and I'm creatively
thinking all the time.

‐ That's right.

‐ He has something
that's very common

for people with
hoarding disorder.

He's a very creative thinker.

And so he's always thinking
about how to use things.

I can see that's
gonna be coming up

a lot when you make decisions.

What percentage of this
stuff do you think,

you need to let go of?

And what percentage of the stuff

do you think you will let go of?

‐ I can see letting go
of almost 80 to 90%.

I'm ready to see it cleared out.

‐ That's a lot.

I've never actually
seen someone do that.

So we'll have to see.

‐ I understand that
there'll be things leaving,

that I may may wish I had.

‐ So then, you're
already anticipating

that you may have some
feelings of regret.

‐ Yes, I'm talking about tools,

‐ Okay.
‐ Utilitarian things

that I might need for a project.

That's my primary
interest at this point.

‐ So part of the loss
that's gonna come up for you

is just letting go of that.

Dennis definitely suffers
from hoarding disorder.

And the reason I say that,

is not just the amount of stuff,

show me another area
of the house will you?

‐ Okay.

‐ But he shared
many common beliefs

that people with
hoarding disorder have.

‐ As you can see the
clutter continues into here.

I sit here and I, along with
using this as a desk area,

I eat at this point.

One of the main reasons
that I have set up

this way is my
wife's bedroom area

is right behind you.

And when she's in need,

I can hear her
signaling me easily.

‐ Tell me what a
typical day like

is in your home
for you and Judy?

‐ Well, I get up at
the crack of dawn

and I'm outside trying
to shift things around.

Create some order.

Maybe an hour outside

and then I come in
and check on Judy.

And administer her medications.

I'll change diapers,

change the ostomy bag out
and get her comfortable.

Walk around.

‐ So I'm just feeling so sad

hearing this story
about how ill Judy is.

‐ It's what it is.

‐ I know, but it's so
sad I mean she's so ill,

‐ I know, but.

‐ how sad has it been for you?
‐ I know.

I know that if it were me

she would be doing
the same thing.

‐ I'm sure, I'm sure.

It's really very
difficult for me

to imagine just how difficult
every day is for Dennis.

It would be a sad situation

if their home was
pristine and neat.

How long has she been this ill?

‐ She's been in this state

for about two
years at this point

and it's getting
progressively worse.

Each day it becomes
more difficult

for her to negotiate out
to the living room area.

Unfortunately, she's
to the point now

where she's not conversant.

She can't do anything,
she can't rest

She can't, take
her body functions.

‐ She's like a 100%
dependent upon you?

‐ Absolutely.
‐ Yeah, I'm so sorry Dennis.

As you tell me about what a
day is like for you and Judy,

It just, I feel sad about this,

It sounds so hard.

What is this like for you?

‐ At this point,

it is a routine that
I have come to accept.

Truthfully it was
in previous times

that I had the greatest
fear, sadness, anxiety,

anticipating where we might
wind up at some point in time.

We are there now.

There isn't much more
that can go wrong.

‐ Absolutely, when
you look at Judy now,

what do you miss about the Judy?

Because I can only imagine

what that comes up for you

‐ Having been partners and
best friends all of our life,

There's an absence
at this point.

‐ So now you look at her

and there so little of the Judy

that you know, that you knew.
‐ Exactly.

‐ That you fell in love with.

‐ I sit on the couch at times

and while she's not aware of it,

I'm looking at her,
still admiring her beauty

and wishing to God
that she was back

to the level that
she had been at.

All through her life.

She could go into a room
of complete strangers

and within 10 minutes,

you'd think she knew everybody.

‐ And that's something.

‐ She just engaged people.
‐ She would light up a room.

‐ Oh, absolutely.

‐ And that light it's
not there anymore.

‐ There's nothing there.

I'm told that by
the dermatologist

that there's just nothing
more she can offer me.

And Judy had at
one point in time,

asked me if it all possible

to keep her at home
rather than put her

into an institution
type of facility.

And I'm trying to
live up to that.

‐ But Dennis, I'm deeply touched

and overwhelmed
for you and Judy.

‐ I think other people
feel more sadness

for me than I feel I deserve.

Honestly, I just, this
is what needs to be done.

‐ Sounds like loyalty.

‐ We've always been best
friends, good partners,

we worked as a team and raised

a wonderful daughter and son.

Those are, have to say

my greatest satisfaction
at this point.

‐ That's right.

You know at the end of the day,

it's those attachments to people

that we love and who love us.

It's way more important.

‐ Absolutely.

‐ In my opinion,
‐ Unfortunately,

I've focus too much on the
material aspects of life.

‐ So is part of your motivation,

also to make this situation
easier for her to...

‐ I want her to be as
comfortable as possible.

‐ But we're gonna
do everything we can

to help you make that happen.

But at the end of the day,

it's your stuff and you
make your decisions.

And I'm gonna be
here to help you.

But what happens
or doesn't happen

is ultimately up to you, okay?

It's clear to me that
why he's doing this.

Is his loyalty to his wife

and his loyalty to
taking care of her.

And I think as Judy
faces mortality,

mortality is right
in Dennis's face.

Maybe that's a wake
up call for Dennis.

‐ My son and daughter
and daughter in law

have all expressed concern

for the conditions that I've
allowed to develop here.

They are certainly concerned

for my wife's health
and our ability

to move her around
within the home.

I just know that
there's so much here

that is gonna have
to be dealt with,

that it overwhelms me at times.

So it's time to just
release, let go,

try to turn over a
new leaf in life.

‐ Hello,
‐ Hi there.

‐ Hello
‐ How are you men,

nice to meet you.
‐ Good to meet you.

I am Matt Paxton, I'm an
extreme cleaning specialist.

Alright introduced me to
everybody else who is it?

‐ I'm Linda.

‐ Linda and you are,
how are you related?

I am Denise's mother.
‐ The mother in law?

‐ Yes.
‐ Okay.

‐ I am Denise.
‐ Denise, good to meet you.

Okay, so this is like,
really, really serious.

I was able to read
the code violation

and it's very serious.

They want this
whole yard emptied.

I haven't toured the
entire property yet,

but just looking behind you two.

I mean, it just keeps
going and going.

This is a packed yard.

I see stacks and stacks and
stacks of wood and metal.

(dramatic music)

This is top 10 for me.

So Steve, what do you know
about the code violation?

‐ So when I met with the
Code Enforcement Department,

they indicated that
first and foremost,

the front yard needs
to be cleared out.

And they were also
very concerned

about my mother's well being

and they said secondary needs

to be the inside of the house.

And last step in our backyard.

They basically said it needs

to happen and it
needs to happen now.

‐ Can you understand why?

‐ Yes, yes, absolutely, yeah.

‐ Like the piles, I mean,
they're as high as you are.

I mean, I'm looking.
‐ Yes.

‐ But he organized 'em so well,

I can see there's wood
here, there's metal there.

I mean, he's got
it all organized.

Which fits the brain that
I talked to on the phone.

I mean, he's brilliant man,
which makes this harder.

Because you and I see this,

what do you see when you
look around all behind you?

What do you see?
‐ Junk.

‐ Junk.
‐ Junk.

‐ And what does your dad see?

‐ He sees value, he
sees collectibles.

‐ Potential.

‐ Yes, he's potential.

‐ And so that's the
really hard part here.

The only way, only way to
help a hoarder like Dennis,

is to focus on the true crisis,

which is his wife's health.

Good news is he
really loves your mom.

‐ Yes, he does.
‐ He has real motivation.

He's told me I can
take everything,

which I won't believe (laughs)

‐ We don't believe it either.

‐ But if he lets me take
half or 75% we'll be okay.

‐ Yeah.
‐ I never know

how these are gonna go.

He's either gonna let us clean

the whole yard really easy,

or he's gonna fight on every
nail on every piece of wood.

And what he says may
not be what happens.

And so we'll see
when we get started.

I'd like to go in
inside the house.

Do you guys want to go
in and see it with me?

‐ Absolutely, sure.

‐ You've been inside.
‐ Yes, I have.

‐ Have you been inside?
‐ I have.

‐ All right and you
have not been inside?

Okay, I have not seen
the inside of the house.

I was told it's as
bad as the outside.

‐ Yes.

‐ All right, I'm gonna let
you lead us into the house.

‐ Okay, oh my God.

Oh, you've gotta be kidding.

Oh Lord, oh boy.

‐ All right, hang
right there for me.

Are you okay?
‐ Yeah.

‐ You look rather shocked.

‐ Well yeah, I
mean I was warned,

but you can't really
be warned for this.

‐ This is really
sad, really sad.

I mean...

‐ This is where they watch TV.

‐ This is where they hang out.

‐ So you call that the cockpit?

This is their safest
space in the home.

So this is their happy place.

‐ This is sad.

‐ This is sadness,
this is depression.

This is sickness. I mean,
this is not a choice.

‐ No, no, this is really bad.

‐ So you know them very well.

I mean, they're amazing people.

‐ Amazing people and talking
to them away from here.

You would have absolutely
no idea they live like this.

No idea.

‐ I want to keep telling you

this is an example of his brain.

His brain is this
full of good ideas.

This is the physical
manifestation of all his ideas.

I'm freaking out a little bit,

I gotta clean this
and the outside now.

I mean, this itself
is a four day job,

‐ It's a lot of work,
there's a lot here.

‐ This is a bad situation.

Mathematically, it's
not really doable.

There's a ton of
work here to do.

Did your dad or before
your mom got sick?

‐ At some level,

but it's gotten
progressively worse.

And I think it's been something

to help him fill
a void or a need.

As a result of my mom's health
condition deteriorating.

‐ [Matt] And this is what,

how long they've been here?
‐ Eight years.

‐ Eight years!
‐ Yeah.

‐ I mean, that is, dude
I've seen some things

and to do this much
volume in eight years,

is a full time job.

‐ I agree.

‐ Alright, so I do want
to go see the bedroom

and then I'm gonna make a plan.

I'm starting to shift my needs.

Now that I See the inside.

‐ Okay?
‐ So I'm gonna let you

lead us that way.

We'll check that out.

‐ Okay.
‐ All right.

‐ That's good.

(dramatic rock music)

‐ Oh my God!

Oh my God!

Oh my God!

‐ Everything was pretty good

until we got into the bedroom.

And the bedroom is when we
just fell off the rails.

Alright, this is
where they're living.

(bleep)

‐ This is bad, holy cow.

‐ How are y'all feeling?

This is tough, you
look devastated.

‐ I am.

‐ I'm gonna assume
right off the bat,

you didn't know it was this bad.

‐ I did not, no.

‐ We would never have
allowed this, never.

‐ It makes me very sad

that she's currently
living in those conditions.

Had I known, I
would have jumped in

and done something
right away immediately.

I mean, my skin is
crawling right now.

‐ Look, it is what it is.

‐ I know it's just
really hard to see.

‐ Talk me through
this, you're his son,

you love your parents,
they're amazing people.

‐ I can't, I never
saw this like this.

I mean, this is too much.

This is too much if
I ever had any idea,

what's going on in
here, I'm sorry.

‐ [Matt] It's okay.
(sobbing)

‐ God, I mean it's
just with the lights

and everything as you see.

I mean, it's
usually dark in here

'cause my mom's sleeping.

To see it all it's
just really hard.

‐ It's very common
for a good hoarder

to be able to hide this
from their family members.

Right, They'll say,
mom's getting dressed.

I don't want you to go
into the room, right?

'Cause they know how bad it is.

So they don't want you
as a son, to see it.

‐ This is just not not for her.

She doesn't deserve this.
‐ We'll do it getting better.

‐ No, no!

‐ We're fixing it, we're
fixing it.

‐ Hang in there honey.

‐ It's getting better okay?

‐ [Matt] I'm gonna let
y'all go.

‐ Okay, Matt.

‐ I know this is super hard.

‐ It's really hard.
‐ I know it is.

Alright, we're gonna
make this better

‐ Thank you

‐ And you're included,

We're all gonna
do this together.

Let's go outside, I'll give you

a few minute break, just relax.

‐ Thank you.

‐ We've got to make a safe
place for Judith to live.

So we've got to
find a way to do it.

But this is going to
be incredibly hard.

(gentle piano music)

This is absolutely a
serious hoarding situation.

For us to save this house

and to make it
safe for his wife,

he's gotta pretty much let
us do what we want to do.

If Dennis fights this at all,

we can't help this family.

‐ Good morning everybody?
‐ [Crowd] Good morning.

‐ It's a lot of
people here Dennis.

‐ They are.

‐ Big crew big job.

How are you feeling?

‐ I'm feeling fine right now.

I'm ready, I need tthe help.

Everyone here wants to make
a safe space for your wife.

‐ I appreciate that very much.

‐ Okay and we want to help you.

Junk guys, organizers,
we got our hands full.

Normally we pick
inside or outside.

We got to do both, this is real.

I mean, this is very serious.

Code Enforcement's
made it very clear.

We got to basically start
at the front of the property

and go all the way to the back.

That includes the
inside of the house.

What are your
thoughts and concerns,

before we get started?

‐ I don't have any concerns.

I'm more angry at myself
for letting this happen,

letting it get to this point.

‐ Family, any thoughts?

‐ We have to do this.

This has been long incoming.

My mom deserves a
safe place to be.

We wanted to do this
for a long time.

And my dad wasn't ready.

And so, we're grateful
that he's now ready,

because that's the only thing

that's going to
make this happen.

And since his willingness
and support to get it done.

‐ We all see that
you're not safe

and Judy's not safe living in
this environment any longer.

And I really want you to
kind of like see that.

Because it's really important

that we solve that
problem for you.

‐ Alright, I think
we can do this man,

(mumbles)

Thank you for
letting us even try.

‐ You don't know how
much of a blessing

I feel this is
‐ Well,

let's talk in three days.

‐ I appreciate it.
(laughs)

It won't change,
it will not change.

‐ All right, this is old school.

Let's put our hands in.

We got this organizers
everybody, come on in,

we can do this, one, two three,

(crowd shouts)

(dramatic percussive music)

‐ Normally I would
only start in one area,

but just because of
the sheer volume,

we've got to start both
inside and outside.

Let me get my junk
guys started outside

and I'm going to get my
organizers started inside.

(wood cracking)

This morning is really
just about building trust

and seeing where that goes.

so far plan's working.

The organizing are
banging through,

they're sorting everything,

junk guys are moving
things in and out.

Both groups are working fast,

but we need more space
to tear apart this hoard.

The one problem we're
starting to have

is there's no room
to put anything.

Hey guys, we have like
an actual problem.

You guys are doing so good

that I have nowhere to put
all this stuff outside.

So I need you to like
chill for 10 minutes.

I've gotta make space outside.

If you can...

‐ How much room you need.

‐ Well I'm about
to move a huge RV.

(dramatic music)

This is probably
the most successful

first hours we've ever had.

I mean we've already cleared out

almost four trucks and
taking about 2000 pounds

of metal out of his house.

This is a challenge.

It's such a dense hoard,

that anytime you move
anything, it just grows.

We have a tractor in here now.

We're doing a lot.

There's just so much stuff here

that it doesn't even look
like we're doing anything.

‐ Can we let someone
else enjoy this?

‐ Emma would love them.

‐ I was gonna wear
those for Halloween

but it passed without
my finding them.

‐ Someone else's treasure.
‐ Yes.

‐ Dennis has being
entirely too cooperative.

For the first day of hoarding.

I've seen this in the past

where he's gonna say
yes to everything.

‐ That can go.

‐ The bad news about
this is tonight,

when we leave, he is
going to freak out.

This is scary, he's gotta
push back a little bit,

or it means he's not
taking it seriously.

‐ Can we e‐waste this?

‐ Those are good
for under the car.

Yeah we want to keep
anything like that.

‐ They've become obsolete dad,

We should probably...
‐ What's that?

‐ The old electrical things,

the circuits on them are bad.

You can't keep those.

‐ All right.

‐ It is possible that
he's actually okay

with everything going
and he's chosen just

to let it all go to
take care of his wife.

But it's not probable.

‐ What about this guy up here?

‐ You don't touch that.

‐ Why, what does he do?

‐ I just spent a
lot of money on him.

‐ He's broken though.

‐ No, that's the antique
patina the thing.

‐ Starlets on the bottom,

I don't really...

‐ His neck's cracked,
he's almost decapitated.

‐ I don't know that it has...

‐ That it has that
makes it more valuable.

It's a it's an old element.

It's not...
‐ I kinda doubt that actually.

‐ We can sell that, definitely.

‐ I don't know, I would say

if the group that's
here, the cleaning group,

says that it's donate able,
I would donate (mumbles)

‐ I guarantee you I
can get $100 for it.

‐ I don't, I think
you're dreaming, no way.

‐ It's worth that to me.

‐ Well I understand that,

but it's worth that
to anyone else.

‐ What is it hurting?

‐ It's big, It takes up
space, you need room.

Dad we're never going
to get this done

unless we say yes, you're
gonna have to say yes.

‐ On one item like that
you're gonna draw a line.

‐ We're not gonna draw
the line, I'm just saying.

I mean, if you can't come up

with a good purpose for it,

we need to evaluate whether

or not it really needs to stay.

‐ The fact that I appreciate it

isn't a good enough purpose?

‐ You appreciate a lot of things
in here and I respect that.

‐ Take it away.

‐ Dennis did let it go but
he wasn't happy about it.

And he was really then moved

into kind of feeling a little
hopeless or demorolized

by the whole process
and starts thinking,

Well, I'm gonna be
living in a home

without anything
that I appreciate.

Or anything that's
beautiful, which isn't true.

But that's where he's
sunk to in that moment.

‐ We're trying to
be fair about...

‐ Take it away.
‐ Okay.

‐ Dennis is upset.

He's upset with a son
for taking his toy horse.

He's been avoiding
the reality all day

and now it just hit him.

And now I find out he's hiding

in the truck at the
end of the block.

This is starting to weigh on him

and he's trying to avoid
it instead of talking.

Avoidance is why we're
in this situation.

‐ You all right men?

‐ Yeah, it's just getting
to me a little bit.

‐ Well, yeah, I was like
(mumbles) (chuckles)

‐ I just needed to get away.
‐ Okay.

I didn't want Dennis to quit.

If he disappears and we
throw everything away.

We haven't done anything.

He's just gonna fill
it right back up.

That is not the time
to push on a toy horse.

Do you want to keep that?

‐ I wanted to keep
it but it's done.

I mean, I gave in.

‐ Well, but you're still
allowed to have a voice.

‐ I'd like to have
a set aside at least

and then reconsider it later

after we've gotten
everything to the point...

‐ Do you want a maybe power?

‐ Yeah, a maybe power
or something like that.

‐ I think that's fair.

(gentle music)

This is a massive job.

And we've got a total
of 10 tracks today.

A lot of times we don't get
that done in a whole cleanup.

so we've gotten a lot done.

We didn't even really
realize what clean,

when he wakes up and sees
half an empty driveway,

I don't know how
Dennis is gonna react.

Hiding in the truck
and avoiding it

is why we got in this problem.

And I don't know
what's gonna happen.

(t

‐ [Son] I want you to still be
involved in the process.

I don't want you to shut down.

‐ [Dennis] It's gonna take time.

‐ I understand.
‐ Wounds like this just

don't heal by words.

‐ [Son] I understand,
I understand.

‐ [Dennis] I really don't
think you want me out there.

‐ Let's go hear him out.

‐ How can I put my
faith into somebody

who's let me down that hard?

‐ I just got on the property

and I'm hearing Dennis
is pretty mad at me.

‐ He's got a lot of
words, lip service.

‐ Dennis is pissed.

He believes that I personally

threw away all of his tools.

‐ When there was a
challenge about keeping

or getting rid of something,

you ultimately said, let it go.

My family is worth more
to me than this stuff.

‐ And it completely is.

‐ So...

‐ That was no
justification that I had

to distinguish between
the two things.

‐ Yeah, dad I get it, I get it.

This is the one shot we have

to make it right so that.

‐ I know that.

‐ Dennis is a good guy

and I just need to
sit down with him,

talk face to face
and just let him

say what he has to say.

I feel it, I feel the anger.

‐ Damn right you do.
‐ [Matt] Okay, tell me.

‐ And you'll own it?

‐ [Matt] I am, I'm
here to listen.

‐ You promised me that I had
no reason to be concerned.

The things that I didn't
want to go out of here.

We're gonna go out of here.

I had 14 laundry hampers.

Lined up along
that wall yesterday

and out on the front.

And so clearly they were tools.

I pre sorted them.

I took the time to do that.

They're all gone.

I asked you about it midday,

you said he and you
had set them aside.

‐ We had a lot of things.
‐ There are non to be found.

Thousands of dollars
worth of tools.

Some of them are
from my father's.

They meant a lot to me
every time I used them.

You let me down so badly.

I don't know which
way to turn right now.

This is the worst thing I
could have ever experienced.

I'm a broken man.

I have no spirit left.

I'll have nothing to work with,

nothing to work with
my grandsons on,

half my tools are gone.

You didn't keep the
word and pass the word

that those things should
never go to the dump.

‐ I want to acknowledge
your frustration first.

I hear it, I feel it.

Not all the tools were tossed.

10% of this property
has been cleaned.

There are other tools
on this property.

Did we throw away a few things
by mistake, I bet we did.

I absolutely bet we did.

‐ 14 out of 14.

‐ We did not throw
away 14 out of 14.

‐ Yes you did.
‐ We did not.

‐ They're not here.

‐ You don't see them.

‐ Show me.

‐ I will, I'll spend two hours.

‐ You show me,
‐ Timeout,

timeout, I respected
your silences.

Time out, I have allocated
over 100000 dollars,

to clean your property.

That's a lot of
frickin money dude.

‐ And you...
‐ To get, stop I'm talking.

I'm gonna listen to you
when it's your turn.

You're gonna listen to
me when it's my turn.

We're busting our ass to
get you out of trouble.

You lose all of this, all of it.

If we don't do our job,

is some of it gonna get
thrown away, absolutely.

Yes, are you pissed about it?

Absolutely, should
you be pissed at me?

Yes, it's on me.

If I leave and all
these fines go away

and this yard is clean and
you're pissed at me, success.

'Cause it means you and
your wife will stay here.

Am I gonna do my best

to save everything I can you?

Absolutely, I will.

If your dad's tools
got thrown away,

that sucks and that is on me.

Did I save everything?

No, absolutely not.

That's why we're in
the problem we're in.

This is not gonna be easy.

We talked about that yesterday.

‐ Mistakes were made,

mistakes probably will be made.

But I guess my question
to you is like,

here's the situation,

Code Enforcement is
breathing down your neck.

Life is really hard
for you and Judy,

you won't have an
opportunity like this again.

So my question to you is,
where do you go from here?

Where do you go
from here Dennis?

‐ The only thing I
can do from here,

is sit back and let
the havoc continue.

‐ Let's try and do a better job

at keeping an eye out today

for the things that
really matter to you.

But understand,
nothing was intentional

that we got rid of yesterday.

We're not trying to screw you.

We're trying to deal with this.

We want you guys to be happy,

you're gonna get
kicked out of here.

If this doesn't happen.

I mean, maybe a few
things went out.

I'm trying to keep an eye out

for stuff that is
of good quality.

And if I accidentally
threw something out

we shouldn't have,
I'm sorry, okay?

That would not be my intent.

You know I love Grandpa,

I'm not trying to throw
anything in his out.

But this has to happen and
I understand it's hard.

‐ Then let it happen.
‐ But You have put trust.

‐ Let it happen.

‐ No, no, put
trust in us though.

‐ The question is, given
where you are right now

and given your lack
of confidence in us

being able to take
care of these things.

Can you move ahead with this?

Will you move ahead with this?

‐ I said, I'll be here,
that's all I can offer.

‐ To me, that's amazing.

To be willing to actually
move ahead with this.

Even feeling the
way you're feeling.

That takes a lot of courage.

‐ Takes a lot of courage.

‐ It's taking everything I got.

‐ I hear you, I hear you.

‐ It would have been so natural

for me to go into the
bottle last night.

‐ I know you can't
possibly see it now

but we're gonna rebuild
things on the other end.

You're gonna make it.

You're gonna make
it through this.

I know that it's hard to see it.

But, you're gonna be good.

‐ You're gonna be
okay, all right, okay?

(mumbles)

(upbeat music)

‐ Dennis and I had a pretty
strong argument this morning.

And I think his best way

to deal with anything
is to run and hide.

So right now Dennis
is basically sitting

in his car in the
middle of the street.

And I don't know when
he's coming back.

‐ This is absolutely a
serious hoarding situation.

‐ Here we are 10 years later

and the trucks are still full

with the stuff that he
brought from Pittsburgh.

‐ It's really very
difficult for me

to imagine just how difficult
every day is for Dennis.

It would be a sad situation

if their home was
pristine and neat.

‐ We're at a critical state,

where if he doesn't make amends

to this house and his property,

the City's gonna take it.

‐ This is the worst thing I
could have ever experienced.

‐ Did we throw
away a few things?

My mistake, I bet we did.

Right now Dennis is
sitting in his car

at the end of the street

and I don't know when
he's coming back.

‐ Feel like I can
move this for us,

cause they need
to get the junks.

That said if want to get out

and park it between those
two cars at that end?

Thanks dad, appreciate it.

This morning my dad
was really upset

that we got rid of a
bunch of tools yesterday

that apparently are handed
down from his father.

It was not intentional,
accidental, but he was pissed.

And I don't know if
he'll ever forgive us

for what happened yesterday.

He's still very mad
about it right now.

(gentle electronic music)

Tools is what he cares about

and we're gonna
focus on that today.

Sometimes when you're
cleaning a hoarded house,

the most powerful tool
is just to listen.

He likes the crew
that was inside.

He loves you guys.

He knows you guys have
an eye out for stuff.

He's pretty much mad at me.

And that's fine.

This guy needed to be heard.

We heard him, hopefully
now we can start cleaning.

Bottom line, tools or
where he's frustrated.

So all tools, I mean
down to a screw,

keep it, keep all
tools to the side,

we still gotta let him
make that decision.

Plan today is to clean twice
as much as we did yesterday,

we will have an eye
out for all the tools.

I'm going to create a
massive ridiculous pile

that Dennis can go through.

But I'm not just
here to help Dennis,

I've got to help
his wife as well.

She needs somewhere
safe to live.

And right now, this
place is not safe.

I mean right now, words are
just gonna piss him off.

We just need to do some action

and get some
clearing and he needs

to see a big pile of tools.

‐ Yep, there you go.
‐ Okay, all right, lets do it.

(upbeat hiphop music)

‐ We've got books under the TV,

we got books and boxes,
books on the shelf.

Yeah, we got more
books than people

have read in a lifetime (laughs)

that's a part of the
train thing yeah?

That's all train tracks.

(mumbles)

‐ With the bullet?

We just need one working
that's the best bullet.

We may wanna see about
doing a train zone.

Where we start to have
some boxes of train stuff.

‐ I've never thought I'd be
living in a society like this.

You don't have the
privacy of your own home.

That is ridiculous.

It's my responsibility
whether I'm safe

or I'm in healthy conditions.

My wife wasn't complaining.

She wasn't hurting from
anything that was going on here.

I'm not allowed to live
the way I wanna live.

I got a big piece
of property now

that I'm not allowed to
do a damn thing with.

That is absurd.

I would have been
just as well off

to have the left the
police take over.

I'm not gonna be happy
when this is done.

I'll be relieved that it's over,

but I'm not gonna be happy.

‐ Do you have any
more small boxes?

My dad came into this
with good intentions

and a lot of positive
thoughts about

what this was going to do
for us as a family, for him.

But just like we've
seen before in things,

it's like he starts
with a great attitude

and a positive
mind about things.

And then I think when
the reality sets in,

sometimes it's a little
more shocking to him,

than I think he would
have ever imagined

and he's angry, he
doesn't feel like anybody

should have the
right to tell him

how he should live his life

and what he's allowed
to have and not have

and he's just, he's having

a he's having a super hard time.

‐ Dennis is feeling
powerless, hopeless,

demoralized, out of
control, overwhelmed,

terrified, anxious and yet

he's willing to move
ahead with this process.

And moving ahead with
all those feelings,

I don't know that we can ask
a human being more than that.

We can't really ask them to
not feel what they're feeling.

What we can ask them to do

is to feel what they're
feeling and move ahead.

And Dennis has given us that

and I think he deserves
a lot of credit for that.

(soft ballad music)

‐ If he chooses to reengage
and participate in this,

does that, in your experience,

increase the chances that he
can be successful ongoing?

‐ Yeah.
‐ I feel like

him being part of it

is gonna help him come to terms

with some of this stuff
and see the things

that he had that he
really shouldn't have had

and doesn't need to keep.

‐ Absolutely, people who
participate in the process,

do better than people who don't
participate in the process.

Because if he participates
in the process,

then it's not like
we're doing this to him.

‐ Yeah,

‐ He will learn some things.

And one of the
things he'll learn

is that he can
handle the feelings

that come up around letting go.

‐ Yeah.

‐ But if he doesn't
participate in that process,

he doesn't learn that, right?

And the other thing now
is people who participate

in the process are
a little less likely

to fall back into it than people

who don't participate
in the process

because their experiences that
something was done to them.

‐ Right, right.

‐ You know, have to kind
of see how things go.

But at some point,
would you be willing

to talk with your dad

and invite him back
in to participate?

‐ Sure.

‐ I think that in general,

the way I would suggest
you approach this

would sound something like,

I know this is really
hard for you dad.

And I want us to solve
this problem as a family.

If you're able to
present it that way,

you present a whole different
reason to participate.

Because it is about your
family, the end of the day.

It's about your family.

‐ Yeah.

‐ And doing good
for your family.

And I think if you could
present it that way,

you kind of hook in a little bit

to a value that your dad has,

I think, he loves
your mom tremendously.

He loves you.

I think at the end of the day,

he's going to be willing
to do hard things,

but only because of
what it stands for

in terms of being a family.

‐ Sure, that seems
to be the glue

holding him together right now.

‐ So if you're comfortable,

and you say, I would like you

to actually to
participate in this.

Not, you should be
participate in this,

not, I need you to
participate in this.

‐ Right?

‐ I would like you
to because we want

to solve this
problem as a family

and you're an important
part of our family.

‐ Dennis is gone, he's
been stewing all morning.

Dennis is honestly
and truthfully upset.

So he just drove away,
we need to find him.

(upbeat dramatic music)

‐ Hey, I just saw your text,

we haven't seen my dad yet.

‐ I guess he doesn't have
any particular places

that he goes to
that you know of?

‐ No, there's I mean, the
only thing I can think

is large parking lots
where he might have

just wanted to kind
of pull out of the way

and take a nap, I hope.

Probably take a, grab
my brother's keys

and take his car and go
drive the neighborhood

and see what I can find.

I mean, it's frustrating,
he doesn't have his phone.

I think he was just, he
was angry this morning,

he left it plugged in inside.

I pulled it out to make sure
it didn't get swept away.

And he left without it.

‐ Dennis disappears, when
things are uncomfortable.

This is only gonna get
more uncomfortable.

‐ I'm either gonna
find him or I'm not.

I mean, I don't know, there's

a 1000 million
places he could be.

‐ You can eat turtle soup,

if the turtle
stays in the shell.

‐ All right, see
you guys in a bit.

‐ One hand I'm really really
concerned where is he?

Hopefully he's just asleep
in his car somewhere.

But the other hand, if
I don't finish this job,

Then he loses his whole house.

So we need him here.

‐ As we, the hours tick
away, he's not here.

Obviously my concern
grows a little bit.

We'll continue to clean
as much as we can.

With all the volunteers
that we have.

I just don't want to
do more harm than good.

‐ A question it's gonna
come up at some point,

is whether we can continue
this, without him here?

‐ We got buy in with the family

but there's only so
much we can remove

from the property without
Dennis being here to approve it.

It's still legally his stuff

until the city takes
it away from him.

There's a fine line
between helping a hoarder

and stealing stuff
off his property.

At some point
today, I need labor,

I need trucks and I need Dennis.

We do need to find him
‐ understand

‐ At some point, okay?

All right and we
need to keep doing

what we're already doing.

Alright, good job.

This is a huge hoard.

If everything was perfect,

I didn't know we didn't
have time to finish it.

Now with him gone
for four hours.

It's a massive delay.

No Dennis, no finish.

I mean he's got to get here.

(upbeat music)

‐ How's it going?

‐ So two seconds ago
it was all right.

I go in there, find everything
has been stripped away.

‐ Well, really,
what do you mean?

‐ All my furniture?

‐ Dennis, Dennis please let
me talk with you for a minute.

‐ Listen, there isn't
any amount of discussion

that is gonna change
what has happened here?

Those furnitures weren't causing

any health or welfare problems.

Why were they taken?

‐ I don't know, I actually...

‐ Nobody knows, I can't
get answers from anybody.

‐ Here's a situation,
at the end of the day,

we can leave.

And we actually will have
to leave if you're not here.

So as hard as this is,

if you want this to continue,
you have to be here , okay?

‐ So what I can do
is suffer through it?

‐ As I said before, you're
at the very beginning.

You're in charge.

‐ Sure.

‐ You really are.

'Cause if you said
everybody off the property,

we would we would leave.

We don't want to leave.

But we would have to leave.

‐ I come back
feeling more relaxed.

I walk in and say more disaster.

‐ I understand, I
hear you, I hear you.

I get that, I really get that.

But the decision
is yours in terms

of whether we continue or not.

And if you're not here,
we can't continue.

‐ I'll think about that
for the rest of the day.

‐ Okay.
‐ I'll let you know

before the end days.

‐ Okay.

Like by when?

‐ It may be ending.

‐ Okay, at the end of the day?

all right.

(dramatic music)

‐ Dad are you okay?

Dr. Tompkins talked to me

about pulling him
into the process

and doing it as a family effort

and making sure he
understood this was

for the better of the family.

What's going on?

‐ I walk in here and find
half my furniture gone.

My China closet from
home, it's gone.

‐ Even though mainly why is
because there was rat urine

and rat poop all over the place.

I begin with a hazmat mask on

to clean up the rat droppings.

‐ Okay,
‐ I'm sorry.

‐ I didn't know that.

‐ I mean, I'm not trying
to throw your (bleep)

away but I mean,
if it's infested

or it's got rat urine
on it, it's gotta go.

‐ You might as well
tear the house down.

‐ No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Hey, seriously,
we're not doing this

for any other reason
other than our love dad.

I mean, it's (mumbles).

We're trying to make this.

We want you and mum to be happy.

We want to be able
to come over here.

Okay, tomorrow
morning, will you agree

to try and come in and start,

‐ Ill come in and I'll get
started in the morning.

‐ Okay.

‐ Today started
off pretty rough.

With Dennis being angry about us

throwing some things away.

I promise you it's
a better scenario

than the county throwing
everything away.

‐ All right I'm gonna
get back in there

because I got to work
sun up to sun down buddy.

To get this done.

‐ I don't want to say this

but if Dennis doesn't
show up in the morning,

we can't continue and
if we don't continue,

the city is going
to take everything.

‐ Okay.

(soft orchestral music)

‐ Good morning, everybody?

‐ [crowd] Goodmorning

‐ All right, day three,

this is kind of
the pinnacle day.

A lot of emotions have naturally

flown over the last few days.

And that's normal.

That means we're all
taking this very seriously.

If there's no emotions,
I'd be concerned.

It's a new day,
it's a new Dennis.

He came in excited,
ready, cooperative.

He wants us to get going,

Dennis, you've gone
on a journey, man.

physically and emotionally,
you've gone on a journey.

Right, you took off for
a couple hours yesterday.

I kind of respect it now
that I know you were safe.

‐ Yesterday is a
blurb, I'm sorry.

It's a new day,
I'm in a new place.

I have unfortunately, some
emotions about things.

Probably disproportion with
everything that's going on here.

‐ Do you think it's
disproportionate?

‐ No, I don't, and I agree.

I don't think it's necessary
for you to apologize.

This is this is rough Dennis.

Dennis made this huge
emotional shift last night

and he's in a completely
different space.

‐ You could have quit yesterday.

‐ I kind of had blinders on.

‐ Why can we ask
why didn't you quit?

‐ I'm a stubborn son of a gun.

‐ Okay, all right.

(mumbles)

It would have been easier
to quit and you didn't.

‐ Absolutely, neither one of us

would have benefited from that.

That's behind us.

‐ Okay.

‐ Let's just look
forward positively.

I know we're all gonna pitch in,

I'm going to pitch in today.

We're gonna pull
things and throw them.

‐ We still have two whole days.

Today is the day we're
gonna kind of settle down.

We've added labor, we've
got more organizers.

Thank ya'll for coming.

We've got more green
shirts, the junk guys here.

We're gonna see a lot of
space start to prevail today.

We're proud of you, today.

You're back here, you're
focused, everybody is,

you guys ready to get started?

‐ Let's do this.

‐ Hell yeah.

(mumbles)

(upbeat orchestral music)

‐ Thursday is really
the most important day.

This is a big job and
we finally got the space

to ask for help in.

We've got a lot
of new organizers,

we've got a couple
extra new junk guys.

And we've even got a
lot of family friends

that have showed up.

We've got a lot of work to do.

We're gonna have
almost 10 people

working inside on multiple rooms

and then we'll have another
whole junk crew outside.

It is just a lot of chaos
going on in the home.

And the reality is, we must
get this house clean for Judith

and for Dennis or
they cannot live here.

The first project of the
day is the master bedroom.

I need Pam and Steve
to really get focused

on their mom and dad's bed.

It's pretty gross and we need
to clean the entire room out.

There's rats, there's blood,

there's just a lot
of gross stuff.

And I need the
family to focus on

in the morning so
we can get it done.

I think the emotion for you

was in this room
a couple days ago.

How are you feeling,
I mean, what is this?

This is where your mom sleeps,

like how are you feeling?

‐ I'm still very sad about it.

But I'm also very excited
to get it out of here.

And make it better.

So, I've come to accept
it is what it is.

It sucks, yeah, I
mean, this is awful.

‐ And we wanna get
the place in order

so that he can get
someone to come in

and help him with
more of housekeeping.

And healthcare, he needs help.

‐ All right, I'm gonna
get my guys in here.

‐ Okay, we'll get it done.

‐ I need bed and mattress out.

‐ Bed and mattress, okay?

Pam and Steve are just
ready to get this over with.

They don't really wanna stare

at all the bad things anymore.

They just wanna get down
and get this house cleaned.

I'm seeing a lot of
urgency from the family,

because they really know that

they're on their
own when we leave.

‐ That's a go, go, go, go.

‐ Dennis was working with
one of the organizers.

And he said he would probably

let go of about 20%,

but he was consistently
letting go of about 50%.

‐ That can go, go, go.

‐ And then I came in
and I had to tell him

Hey man, the
donation is a no go.

I hate to do this to you guys,

I have gotten a call from
both donation places.

And they are now telling us
they can't accept our donation.

‐ Okay.

‐ So how does it make you feel?

‐ I'm disappointed,
but at the same time

I know it has to
get out of here.

‐ Well, that's what I was
avoiding saying to you.

‐ Are you?

‐ No, I mean if they,
if we've offered it,

‐ [Matt] Yeah.
‐ And it's been declined.

‐ I mean,
‐ We've offered it to two.

‐ Well, everything that we have

set aside for donation
put in the dumpster.

I don't know what else to say.

‐ So that changes our
playing a little bit now.

It's pretty much keep or trash.

‐ Yeah, let's do it.

‐ Hey, complete
turnaround in 24 hours,

‐ Thanks Matt
‐ Thank you man,

you're doing great, really good.

‐ Okay.

‐ Awesome, you're doing great.

‐ I'm hopeful with
Dennis's behavior

that we got a chance
to finish this thing

and then I walk outside
and I look in the backyard.

And I realize, dude,

this is going to be almost
impossible to finish.

This is just too
massive of a job.

I don't think we'd
have enough hours.

(upbeat rock music)

The next thing that I look up,

Code Enforcement has
come a day early.

I thought we had another day.

We've got an uphill battle.

We've added people we're
giving everything we got.

Now, I've already taken 200000
pounds of trash out of here.

But I still don't
think it's enough.

‐ I mean, California man,

they got drone
technology to check in

on the houses that are hoarding.

Now, they have permission
from the family

to check on them via drone.

They did tell me that

but they were just
sending the drone over

and then they were
looking at the entirety

of the property
and they saw that

we had moved a lot of stuff,

but they see the whole property.

So they also saw that we
hadn't taken everything out.

‐ Well, I can see just
from the entrance,

when we inspected last week,

this whole entire
thing was blocked.

‐ Yeah, there was
RVs and trucks here.

‐ Yeah,
‐ They're gone,

we're in the middle of
pulling this whole area here.

‐ Yeah, you got the box
cuts, you got more RVs.

‐ I think I know
the answer to this.

Obviously, we
worked really hard.

But are we anywhere close
to being code back here?

‐ No, I think that you guys
have done tremendous work

with the progress
that you've shown

from the beginning of
the property back here,

but I definitely can
see that there's still

a lot of work that
needs to be done,

but you're definitely
on the right track.

‐ I'm very concerned that
we're not gonna get enough done

to make them happy by
end of day tomorrow.

(dramatic synth music)

It's been a really good day.

We've done an enormous
amount of work

between inside and outside,

we're taking about
10000 pounds an hour.

And we're still just kind of

barely making a dent
in this property.

Started clearing
out the driveway.

And if there's one part of the
property I hadn't seen yet.

Once we uncovered it,
It looks to be about

a 25 foot long by
about 15 foot wide,

just a row of concrete blocks.

This is a massive pile
of stone and brick.

And I don't have a
solution for it right now.

This is a massive hurdle
I did not have time for.

Sometimes I really hate my job.

Last day cleaning,
and we still got

a lot of work to do
more than we normally

would have on the last day.

But it's a new day.

‐ There's been amazing progress

over the last few
days but feels like

still so much ahead of
us, could be a long day.

‐ I have to say
I'm very concerned,

there's still a lot
of things remaining.

The carpets aren't pulled up.

I'm very worried right now

that we're not
gonna complete this.

‐ I think Dennis is pretty good.

Dennis needs to go on
a journey emotionally.

And I think each
day he gets excited

and then he gets upset
and then takes a break

and then comes back
and gets refocused.

I think that's just
his daily journey.

And he's letting
us take things away

and he's actually making
really good decisions.

A lot of the family stayed
late and worked last night,

they wanted to do
everything they could

so we could have the best
chance to finish this

and he continued to let
that 80% of the house go.

But there's a
massive pile of stuff

on the outside of
the house today

that was thrown out
late into the night.

And now Dennis is
picking through it.

He's gonna find a problem
with what's been thrown away.

That's just the
nature of hoarding.

I don't know where Dennis
is gonna go emotionally.

But we got to really
just push forward

and keep cleaning
because we've got

Code Enforcement
coming midday today

to give us the final sign off.

So we really don't have
time for mistakes today.

(upbeat rock music)

We have about 5000 pounds of
cinder block we get to move.

We had to get rid of it.

We didn't know where to go
and we got really lucky.

We call it Habitat for Humanity

and their restore is
gonna come pick up

all that stones and extra brick.

That's the good news.

Bad news is we got to load it.

So we're gonna try
to get the family

kind of pumped up, ready to go.

Alright, everybody, all
family, come over here, please.

We've got to get
all these bricks,

it goes all the
way to the street.

We've got to get
them on pallets.

But this is one
of the last things

that's holding us back on
compliance with code, right?

We're gonna haul brick
for the next two hours.

And then we'll just
finish up the house.

All right, let's do it man.

We're running out of
time, we gotta do this.

(upbeat orchestral music)

‐ The materials that we're
picking up here at Dennis'

will be taken back
to our restore

and sold to the community
a fraction of price

to help divert pounds
in the landfill,

and the proceeds will
help to build homes

for people in our community
who desperately need them.

‐ I believe it's very
important for my dad

that these materials
go to a good use.

Like maybe repurposed.

So we're real excited

about Habitat for Humanity
taking these materials.

And we'll hopefully
help somebody in need.

That's really important to us.

(dramatic synth music)

‐ It's one of those
things where you can't

get mad at Dennis,

he's let us do our job.

He's just so much volume
that it's hard to do the job.

‐ Okay, let me deal with a
little one over here first.

And then let's deal
with the big one

because I have a
feeling that one's

gonna find anything,
you wanna puke.

As we're trying to get
to the final stretch

of cleaning my parents bedroom
we found two more rats.

Dead against the walls,
in different spots

and one was fairly small
and one is just huge.

‐ Hey that is big, oh my God.

That's a 10 pounder, you okay?

‐ Get it out of here.

‐ You guys should get
in the rodent business.

You've got a future.

‐ Is there another one out here?

‐ Yeah.

‐ Oh my God.

(bleep)

‐ Its impossible
to see this stuff.

It's right where their bed is.

Right by where they sleep,
unbeknownst to my mom,

What's going on
behind, around her?

She sleeps a lot.

And so she was in
that room a lot.

It just sucks to see that
that's what was going on.

This is too much.

It's just too much
to see this in their,

in their house and their
room, its too much.

‐ It got to you, too bad.

‐ I can't believe it,
I can't believe it.

‐ Well, it's gonna
be all worth it.

And everything.
‐ It's so scary.

‐ Yeah.

‐ My dad's got to
stop, he's just,

he's got to stop bringing
stuff into his house.

He's got to prioritize my mom

and her care and his
health and well being.

He needs to change
his priorities.

He needs to willingly
accept help.

If he doesn't keep
his house in order.

We can't get him
the help he needs.

So it's critical, it's
like life or death

at this point, I mean,

if he can't figure out
how to hold it together,

i dont know what's going
to happen?

‐ The last day, there's
still a ton to do.

Is the whole yard being cleaned

by end of day four doable?

No.

Is getting the house
in the side yard

and the front yard to code?

Yes, we still have a
small chance to do that.

But we're gonna need every
second of cleanup to get it.

We've been banging
out all morning

and Code Enforcement
is already here.

I thought we had
a few more hours,

but I'm a little nervous how
they're gonna feel about it.

Lieutenant.
‐ How you doing?

‐ [Matt] How are you men?

‐ Good to see you.
‐ Good to see you.

We've made some progress.

‐ Wow, you have.

‐ We're not done by any means.

‐ Okay.

‐ Do you see at least an
effort's been made in progress?

‐ Absolutely, this
is night and day.

I didn't even
realize this was what

this area looked
like, quite frankly.

‐ It's a nice property
once it's empty.

‐ Yeah.

‐ So I wanna show you the house

I think that's where we're
probably most proud of.

‐ Okay.
‐ All right.

‐ So we'll kind of
let you look around,

obviously, we're still cleaning.

Check it out and then we'll
meet back here in the kitchen.

‐ Okay, wow.

‐ Code enforcement
came and they saw

a lot of work done in
a short amount of time.

And now they just
wanna make sure

that we're gonna continue

to see progress
over a longer time.

What are your overall thoughts?

‐ I'm just impressed with how
much you've actually moved.

And I knew there was a lot here

and obviously there's
still some items

you're still working on.

But it's amazing how much
stuff's come out of here.

This is impressive.

‐ Does this buys us more time?

Like what do we what
are we looking at?

‐ This this is definitely a
step in the right direction.

definitely buys
some more time.

But this is huge
forward progress

from what we've seen in
the past, impressive.

‐ Well he let us.

I wanna say, there was a moment

where he could have
quit and he didn't.

He really just let
everything go since then.

‐ We're just impressed

with everything
that's been done here.

‐ Thanks, all right.

I'm gonna get back to work man.

I appreciate your help
and your patience.

They were happy, they
look at this as a win.

That means we did a good job.

If we didn't do a good job.

They would have been siting
this house today on site.

But code is happy, we
should have about six months

to work on kind of plan B.

(upbeat music)

‐ [Organizer] Let's go guys.

‐ We've got a lot still to
do with only one hour to go.

This has been a mad final foot.

We've got furniture coming,
We've got people scrubbing,

people cleaning,
we're pulling carpets.

We're bringing in new beds,

we're bringing in new furniture.

Everything is happening
this last hour.

I'm excited, but I'm
still a little nervous.

‐ But we're here
because we've heard

that Dennis was in a situation

and we're happy to help
out the community here

in Sacramento area where we can.

‐ We did it, end of day four,

we cleaned a lot of
trash out over 500 tons.

Which is a million pounds.

That's an enormous
amount of weight.

We didn't finish, but
we did a good job.

There's still a long ways to go

but the house looks great.

I'm really pleased
the family can now

finally go in and
live in this house.

‐ [crowd] Oh my word!

(soft rock music)

‐ [Dennis] I can't believe this.

‐ Oh my God, look
at the kitchen.

(joyous laughter)

‐ You don't recognize
this room anymore do you?

No, it's quite a bit different?

‐ So you can see, the
house has been emptied

of a few things.

You can see it's
been thoroughly cleaned.

We've got a new couch,
we've got new tables,

we cleaned out the bedroom.

We have a new bed for you.

The kitchen is clean,

the refrigerator is fully clean

and it's totally usable,
it's really good.

‐ This is fantastic,
just fantastic.

‐ How are you guys, family,
what do you thinking,

how are you feeling?

‐ I'm blown away, I
mean, this is just,

I can't believe this is the
same house we started with.

‐ I've got a wonderful
place to start over.

‐ I'm grateful that you
let us help do this.

‐ Yeah, so am I.

‐ It's been a huge
weight on our shoulders,

for a lot of years
and it's amazing.

‐ It's livable again.

So I just thank
everybody involved

and all of people
that donated things.

It's just, I gather there's
still things we have to do,

but this is just overwhelming.

Thank you all very
much, we appreciate it.

‐ It's shocking to see
the transformation.

It's just, it's shocking.

‐ There have been some mighty,

beautiful people
gotten involved here.

I just, I can't thank
everybody enough.

‐ Yeah, so Dennis
you have space back,

you have light back, now,
all this love and care

in your family can come in
and fill it, in any way.

‐ That's just amazing.

‐ How's it feel to
have all the space

‐ For for whatever I've
lost, look what I've gained.

‐ What do you think mom?

‐ How're you feeling,
can we get a smile?

(mumbles)

‐ You like it?

Okay, I'm sure she's happy.

‐ Just looking at
Judith and Dennis,

I can tell they're happy.

And that's what
we're here to do.

This is where we'll be
sleeping tomorrow night.

look a little different?

Sure does, fresh and clean.

Dennis and Judy can
finally spend the night

in a clean house for the
first time in a long time.

Check this out dude.

Oh wow, the whole thing is
raising.

‐ [Matt] We're raising it up
so, it raises up..

‐ Oh, it is all going up.

‐ I believe that the
way the house looks now

is gonna be a life
changer for my mom.

I think she's gonna feel
different when she wakes up.

She's gonna feel
encouraged to come out

and enjoy relaxing in the house.

This is gonna give
her a good shot

at wanting to have that
have that life back.

(soft acoustic music)

‐ It's bright in here.

‐ Beyond anything I
could have imagined?

‐ Those bathrooms have
been thoroughly cleaned.

‐ This morning, we still felt
like there was a lot to do.

We really didn't think of
what's gonna happen honestly.

I think it's wonderful.

There's so much room in here

my parents can actually
move around now

and enjoy themselves, it's well
lit, it's clean, it's safe,

far exceeds any expectation
I had, it's amazing.

‐ It makes me feel good.

I think this is going to
be the way I wanna keep it.

This is absolutely
going to be fresh start.

I'm going to do everything
I can to preserve it.

Don't want to let it get back

anywhere near what it had been.

‐ This was a massive crisis.

Inside was dangerous,
outside was dangerous.

There were fines
and we were able

to handle all of those.

What we have achieved
is they have options,

the county's gonna
work with them

and they're able to make

really good long term
decisions for both of them.

This was a win.

‐ Thank you, very
nice meeting you Judy.

Dennis and his family
have come a long way.

They started out
feeling hopeless.

And now they're at a place where

they can actually see the light

at the end of the tunnel here.

But they're certainly
not out of that tunnel.

No one in this family can
for a moment walk away

and assume that Dennis is going

to be able to manage
this on his own.

Particularly, if he
doesn't take advantage

of the counseling that
will be offered to him.

‐ Did we help this family?

Yes, we did.

What I love about this job was

the city worked with us,
the family worked for this,

and it came to a happy ending.

(dramatic synth music)