Owner of Pittsburgh-area hoarder house agrees to accept cleanup help
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The owner of a home in Plum Borough at the center of a massive hoarding situation said she is ready to accept help.
Junk of all shapes and sizes has been piling up at the home on Shelbourne Drive in Plum for more than a year, leading frustrated neighbors to demand change.
On Wednesday, KDKA-TV learned the homeowner has agreed to let neighbors help her. The Salvation Army is coming to the property on Thursday to remove whatever it can. Whatever it does not take, the homeowner is going to get a dumpster, and neighbors will get rid of the rest of the items.
"She's going to let us help her by bringing some type of equipment in to get rid of everything," neighbor Jeff Russo said. "I'm going to reach around to the neighbors here to see who can help her in the next few days or if there are outside resources that will help us."
Plum Mayor Harry Schlegel called Resolve Crisis Services for help on Wednesday morning to assist, and a team responded. Resolve Crisis Services is the crisis center for Allegheny County. It is a partnership between UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and the county.
"I'm hoping between the cleanup in the short term and Resolve, that they can do something and give her the help she needs for the long term," Schlegel said. "She is in that house by herself. There is no family. That's the shame."
The front door of the home is blocked by junk and the driveway is filled with items that include chairs, carpet rolls, a busted TV and an exercise bike. The junk also has spilled into the backyard and side of the house.
Neighbors said they feel for the homeowner, who has lived there for 30 years. The homeowner said she resells the items.
KDKA-TV's original report got the attention of Mike McCloskey, who owns G.I. Haul Junk and Waste Removal. He offered to help for free if the homeowner agrees.
"Sometimes people need help, and they are just afraid to ask," McCloskey said. "They just need a hand up."
"We will come up here with four or five trucks and fill them up and off we go," he added. "No cost just to help out the community and the neighbors."
One of his employees met the homeowner, who was receptive to the idea, and they plan to return. G.I. Haul Junk and Waste Removal will remove whatever the Salvation Army does not take.
