SEATTLE — A concerning trend is being seen in homes across western Washington. Researchers are seeing a direct tie between the COVID-19 pandemic and people hoarding.
Local leaders believe the problem is threatening the health and safety of some people.
A 2022 research article referred to “hoarding acts as the coping strategy” when public health is threatened.
"To me, that makes sense that during a pandemic that particularly impacted older adults, that you would see more issues with either clutter, or in some cases hoarding, where people just hung on to stuff, because it provided some comfort to them when they didn't really have people around," said Joanne Donohue, chief operating officer with Sound Generations.
Alex Ek, owner of Sound Hauling and Junk Removal, said he has been seeing far more hoarding situations nowadays in western Washington, compared to when he started hauling junk two years ago.
"Walk in the door, and you’ve got floor to ceiling, you’ve got trails, you’ve got ... just an unsanitary situation. So that was, on average, once a month. Now we’re seeing it more like once a week," said Ek.
He recalled one Seattle woman's apartment he worked on recently that overflowed with trash and packaging.
"She didn’t feel safe. She felt that even going outside her apartment door she might contract COVID and be an issue," he said. “She became a shut-in."
Ek and his team stepped in.
"She allowed us to come in and clean out her space," he said. “You could tell the relief she felt off her shoulders of that situation. It was pretty incredible.”
Not only does the clutter create hazards for tripping and falling, but it can make it difficult or impossible for emergency responders to get to people living inside if there is an emergency, Ek said.
“One recently was if the place were to have a situation where there was an emergency, emergency personnel wouldn’t be able to get in quickly enough to help this person. At all," he said.
Another case he worked on posed significant threats to sanitation.
"There was rodent feces, and there were dead animals," he said, adding that they had to go in with respirators.
In listening sessions, officials with King County identified this to be an issue. That is why Donohue said they contacted her senior services nonprofit, Sound Generations, and told them that they would receive new funding from a King County Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services levy to provide free junk hauling services for people in need.
It gave birth to what became the Decluttering Project.
“Right away, people started sending referrals to us, which suggested that there was just an unmet need out there," said Donohue.
But after about 150 projects, the funding will soon run dry.
"We are at a point where we can officially work on about another ten projects," said Ek.
That is why he is hoping county leaders or philanthropists will step in.
"We’re very hopeful that the monies do come back in some form, some fashion, because it is important," he said.