Making the decision to move is never easy, especially for senior citizens.
Many of them have lived in their homes for decades while bringing up their families, and the thought of leaving for a smaller home and having to sort through items accumulated throughout the years to find what is truly valuable to them can be daunting.
That’s where Michelle Kavanaugh-Anastasi and her team of project managers at Organize Senior Moves come in. They work with seniors and their families to help make moving less stressful.
“We’re not movers,” said Kavanaugh-Anastasi. “We will oversee the move with the movers.”
The Delmar resident said she founded the company five years ago when she saw how difficult it was for some seniors to transition into living in smaller spaces.
“I have another company — a companion service called M&T Helping Hands,” said Kavanaugh-Anastasi. “So when I opened up M&T Helping Hands and went on consultations, I would notice that they weren’t unpacked, and I would notice that their demeanors weren’t good. Some of them were just very overwhelmed, and they would still have boxes from when they moved that were unopened.”
It wasn’t just the seniors who were overwhelmed. Kavanaugh-Anastasi said oftentimes, the seniors’ adult children were just as lost at the prospect of seeing their parents move as the seniors themselves.
“What we find is the adult children don’t know what direction to turn. So when they reach out to Organize Senior Moves, they are at a standstill,” said Kavanaugh-Anastasi.
Kavanaugh-Anastasi meets with her clients to assess the situation, and then she assigns one of her project managers to work with the seniors and their families to look at the new space, design where their things will go and then go through what they have to find what they need.
“The first step is designing their space. The second step is the downsizing process of what to keep, what does the family need or want, what can be auctioned off, what can be set aside for an estate sale and what can be thrown out or shredded,” said Kavanaugh-Anastasi.
Once the designing and the downsizing are finished, the project managers tell their clients to take a break while they oversee moving day.
“We tell our clients to go find something fun to do for the day,” said Kavanaugh-Anastasi. “They will get a call around 4 or 5 p.m. that day to let them know everything is done. We will put all of the clothes away and set everything up so when they step into their new space, they’re already home.”
Organize Senior Moves isn’t done when the move is finished. They will also stage the seniors’ former homes for sale, which can be as traumatic for seniors as moving.
“A lot of real estate agents recommend us,” said Kavanaugh-Anastasi. “They will call us when they don’t know where to turn.”
Organize Senior Moves has been so successful that Kavanaugh-Anastasi is approving franchises in the region. The first franchise was established in October in Saratoga Springs — in conjunction with the opening of senior living community The Grove at Neumann. Both Kavanaugh-Anastasi’s original company and the franchise in Saratoga Springs — run by Lori Tracey — are members of the National Association of Senior Move Managers.
For more information or to set up a consultation, contact Organize Senior Moves at 528-2622 or www.OrganizeSeniorMoves.com.
