Hoarding Information and Resources
Some years ago, inspired by the work of Randy Frost and Gail Steketee, a few municipalities created a "Hoarding Task Force" specifically designed to tackle the issue of hoarding in their area. The purpose was to gather together members from local public and private agencies to better coordinate services in this effort. The New York City Hoarding Task Force was one such group, formed in 2003. The NYCHTF is currently not meeting however, there are other task forces across the country as well as other agencies and websites dedicated to getting people the help they are searching for. So whether you are here looking for yourself or someone you care about, here are some places to start.
Children of Hoarders is a website specifically geared toward the adult children of hoarders and is largely compiled and maintained by volunteers. It has information on hoarding task forces, stories and videos sent in by children of hoarders, relevant articles and research, and measurements scales.
One of the measurement scales listed is the NSGCD Clutter Hoarding Scale which is widely recognized by professional organizers as well as experts in the field of behavioral studies as the comprehensive scale for hoarding. BERGFELD's was invited to participate on a very distinguished board of NSGCD members to collaborate in updating the Clutter Hoarding Scale which is currently in progress.
The Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (OCF) is a not-for-profit patient advocacy organization founded in 1986 by a group of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. In addition to maintaining their primary website ocfoundation.org they also created, with the help of Randy Frost and Gail Steketee, a compulsive hoarding website designed to provide information and assistance to sufferers and family members.
www.hoarders.org is a website created by Peninsula Community Services, Inc. They are a non-profit organization serving the San Mateo County since 1978. They became interested in hoarding because of their years of experience working with community agencies and with the clean-up and disposal problems of persons at the end stage of their severe hoarding difficulties. Like Children of Hoarders, it is mainly maintained by volunteers and is another resource for articles, videos, and other information on hoarding.
