When seniors finds themselves ready to make the move to a retirement community, sometimes the process of downsizing, de-cluttering, and disposing of prized personal possessions can be major obstacles. A new trend to help seniors with the moving experience is to use senior move managers, who assist older adults and their families not only with the entire moving experience, but with both the emotional and physical aspects of relocating their homes.
Londonderry Retirement Community of Easton is offering a free presentation for seniors called “De-Clutter Your Life and Home,” on June 23, 2011 at 2 p.m. at Londonderry Cottage # 516. Senior Move Manager Christine Harrington of Move Management Specialist will offer a presentation on how to begin the move process. Topics to be included will be organizing, sorting and downsizing; customizing floor plans; profitable disposal of unwanted items; working with movers; arranging shipments; and packing and setting up the new home.
Harrington comments, “The organizational and physical tasks associated with planning and implementing a move can be overwhelming. It’s so much more than just a move when you are helping older adults transition to a new home. We work to reduce stress and trauma that can accompany this type of move so that seniors can have the life they really want.”
According to Mary Kay Buysse, Executive Director of the National Association of Senior Move Managers, “Family and friends often want to help, but there may be barriers. Adult children may be sandwiched between their parents, their careers and their own family obligations. For family members living far away, the barriers may be geographic. Some seniors have no surviving children, or their children are seniors themselves. If illness or death precipitated the move, the family may already be drained both emotionally and physically. Senior Move Management has emerged to fill the gaps and to make transitions easier for everyone involved.”
Harrington has seen a great growth in the business she started three years ago on the Shore. Among her clients are residents at William Hill Manor, Heron Point and Londonderry Retirement Community. She comments, “Senior move managers do so much more than simply sort and move boxes…they actually take the worry and work out of the move process. Senior move professionals guide clients through a journey that is often as much about the sorting through a lifetime’s worth of memories as it is about possessions.” She adds, “We use a sticker system which helps our clients prioritize the sorting process. Our non-anxious presence can help take the emotion out of the moving process.”
Because Harrington helps people achieve “profitable donations,” her services often pay for themselves. She states, “I take valued items to auction or put them on e-Bay. Because it is hard to get rid of things that are still usable, I also donate items to appropriate charities.”
Natalie Caccia, a resident at Londonerry, who uses the services of Christine Harrington from time to time, comments, “A Senior Move Manager helps get you out of where you are and get you into where you are going. It was a daunting task to do alone. I realized that with their help, the whole job wasn’t mine.” She adds, “They are professionals who know what they are doing and they do it well, giving you a certain quality of life again.”
In addition to move management services, Harrington offers seniors help during the holidays with decorating and setting up family gatherings – allowing the elderly to keep important holiday traditions.
Participants in the “De-Clutter Your Life and Home” presentation on June 23 will enjoy an ice cream social after the presentation. To register, contact Londonderry Retirement Community at 410 820-8484.
In photo: Pictured left to right are Natalie Caccia, a resident of Londonderry Retirement Community; Christine Harrington,Senior Move Manager with Move Management Specialist; and Michelle Burgoon, Director of Marketing, Londonderry Retirement Community. Londonderry Retirement Community of Easton is offering a free presentation by Move Management Specialist for seniors in the area called “De-Clutter Your Life and Home,” on June 23, 2011 at 2 p.m. at Londonderry Cottage # 516.