The interior of a hoarding house

Hoarding Connection of Cuyahoga County

The Hoarding Connection of Cuyahoga County’s mission is to provide support and advice, educate, develop best practices, and assist in identifying needed resources for individuals who hoard and those that work with individuals who hoard.

This collaborative effort brings together more than 20 organizations from the public, nonprofit, and private sectors to address hoarding issues across the county.

The Hoarding Connection of Cuyahoga County (HCC) promotes a comprehensive approach to helping individuals who hoard while protecting the safety of the community and individuals who respond to hoarding situations. To do this, the group: 

Provides public information to improve community awareness of hoarding as a mental health issue 

Provides education and training to professionals and organizations in contact with individuals who hoard

Organizes peer-led treatment groups for individuals with hoarding disorder 

Develops and disseminates information that can be used by organizations across the county to advocate for individuals with hoarding disorder.

FAQs

What is hoarding?

We recognize hoarding as:

  • The acquisition of and the failure to discard an unimaginable number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value to persons other than the person who hoards.
  • A mental health illness that may cause significant distress or impairment caused by the hoarding behavior.
  • Living or work spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed, and which may lead to hazardous conditions for the hoarder and people in their surroundings, such as guests, pets or neighbors.

Does the Hoarding Connection provide direct services or financial assistance to hoarders?

The Hoarding Connection does not provide direct services or financial assistance to hoarders. However, we can help connect hoarders to community resources, and offer peer-led support groups to help individuals address their hoarding issues.

What is involved in the peer-led hoarding treatment group?

The Hoarding Connection of Cuyahoga County provides Buried in Treasures groups throughout Cuyahoga County (Ohio).

Each Buried in Treasures session focuses on a chapter in the book, Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding (Tolin, Frost, & Steketee, 2nd ed. 2013, Oxford University Press). Buried in Treasures is a voluntary action-oriented peer-led treatment group. The facilitated group is highly structured and time-limited, consisting of 15 sessions spread over 20 weeks.

The sessions are facilitated by a nonprofessional who may have (or have had) hoarding disorder or a special interest in it. In-person activities include discussion of each chapter, exercises from the book dealing with acquisition, discarding and disorganization, and homework between sessions. Research by Randy Frost and colleagues indicates that up to 73 percent of participants are much or very much improved by the end of the group.

Please check our calendar below for upcoming Buried in Treasure sessions.

How can I join the Hoarding Connection as a partner organization?

To join the Hoarding Connection, please contact us using this form.

I’m interested in starting a Hoarding Connection in my own community. What do I need to do?

To develop your own Hoarding Connection, we recommended having the following:

  • An agency sponsor that will support the Connection’s efforts.
  • An identified point person for each organization.
  • Representatives from a variety of organizations that play a part in addressing the hoarding problem.
    (Housing inspectors are important members of a hoarding connection because each locality’s housing codes and the way the housing inspector interprets them which will determine the community’s response.)
  • Minimal operating procedures, determined by the Connection. At the very least, how confidentiality is managed should be addressed.
  • An updated list of community resources which can help in a hoarding situation. Cuyahoga Hoarding Connection members identified clean-up services and financial assistance as the most needed items.
  • Initial tasks for the operational stage. The Cuyahoga County Hoarding Connection identified community education and assisting new hoarding teams as its two primary tasks.
  • Regular surveys to determine whether the Hoarding Connection is meeting the members’ needs.

Explore our events and workshops:

Connect with support and guidance

Need help managing your hoarding disorder? Want to join the Hoarding Connection as a partner organization? Fill out the below form, and a member of our team will reach out to you with next steps.

Fill out my online form.

Hoarding resources in Cuyahoga County

This list is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an official endorsement of products or services by the Benjamin Rose, the ADAMHS Board or other partner organizations of the Hoarding Connection.

Junk Removal and Cleanout Services

1-800-Got-Junk
1-800-468-5865

Haul My Mess
216-799-9911

Junk Away
855-855-5865

Specialized Cleaning Services

Bio Clean Services
800-901-2988

Rainbow International of Cleveland
440-888-0497

Steri-Clean Cleveland
888-577-7206

Senior Relocation Services

North Coast Residential Relocation
440-248-5281

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