Move managers help seniors pick up, move on
They are the standard issues of moving: what to keep, what to donate, what to share, and what to toss.
But when you're moving from your home of several decades, the home where your children came of age, the home where your wife spent her last days, the issues can be far more complicated and emotion-laced, even overwhelming.
That's where senior move managers come in. Their services go way beyond that of a home organizer, moving company, or a trash hauler; depending on the need, a senior move manager will help weed through every item, determine what will fit in the new space, prepare the old home to go on the market, organize estate sales, move things into storage, and ship belongings to family members throughout the world. They'll also unpack at the new residence and, to an extent, recreate the home that was left behind.
''Packing boxes is easy -- you can teach anyone to pack or unpack. What we really do is hold people's hand through a transition," said Lynn Falwell of the Natick-based It's Your Move.
Falwell, 56, moved her own family eight times and gained expertise in the area of relocation from her years as a real estate broker in Wellesley. Janice Armour, 60, was a personal organizer for two decades and owned a concierge business helping seniors with everything from balancing checkbooks to grocery shopping. Together they've been packing memories and helping people embrace new chapters in their lives since 2002.
Sandy Wheeler, 83, of Sherborn is a recent client. Despite the changes that life's transitions have brought, Wheeler's home has remained the same: China and linens filled the closets, and books, toy cars, and memorabilia from his years as a Harvard undergrad were scattered throughout the house. A tall man with a strong frame, Wheeler has nevertheless begun to show signs of his eight decades, and he knew he would need help for the task ahead: cleaning and selling his house, and moving to a facility. But his family is fairly far flung, and he's not the sort who'd ask them to drop everything to come and help.
''I don't know where I would have even begun," he said.
The answer, it turned out, was It's Your Move, which was recommended to him by both his real estate broker and the director of the development he was moving to.
What Wheeler found most helpful was the guidance he received. The move managers kept track of what needed to be done and in what order, and performed the tasks involved in putting his house on the market. Wheeler said he also appreciated the help in determining which items would go to which stepchildren, and the packing and shipping of those things.
Move managers typically have a menu of services and prices, and the tally can vary widely, depending not only on which services clients choose but also how quickly they can make decisions. Falwell and Armour charge hourly rates between $40 (for staff help) and $75 (for planning and management). A typical move into a one- or two-bedroom apartment, including organizing the kitchen and closets, takes a day and a half and costs $2,500-$3,000. Altogether, clients have paid anywhere from $2,000 to $44,000 for services.
''Some clients have preferred to tell us that they have budgeted a certain amount of money for this process, which allows us to prioritize with them what needs to be done," said Falwell.
Margaret Somer of Swampscott took the plunge to move her parents in July. At age 85 and 89 years old, they could no longer remain in the Connecticut home they inhabited for over 50 years. Somer, director of the Small Business Association's development center at Salem State College School of Business, was exhausted from the weekly trips to Connecticut to care for them.
''It was daunting [to think about moving them], as I have a very demanding job working over 50 hours a week . . . trying to figure out how to downsize, what to do with my father's collection of 200 oil paintings, family heirlooms. . ."
Somer wound up connecting with Falwell and Armour.
''They walked into my parents' house with different-colored tape, tagged everything to go to the new house, charity, cousin's house, and said we'll take care of everything," said Somer. ''They worked with a trash hauler, packed up the entire house beautifully, and even notified me when they found an electric wire on a lamp was worn out and dangerous." They unpacked everything at the other end as well.
When Lisa Zankman of Framingham moved her parents from Philadelphia to Loomis Village in South Hadley last summer, the issue was more about moving in than moving out. Though her mother participated in the move, her father had fallen ill and Zankman knew an extra pair of hands on the receiving end would be welcome, so she called Moving Mentors of Amherst.
The company charges $125 hourly for a consultation and $75-$90 hourly for further planning. Packing and unpacking costs $50-$65 hourly, said Barbara Perman, a co-owner.
It's been nearly four months since the move, but Zankman has found that their relationship continues. ''My mother recently needed some minor carpentry work done and I called them so we wouldn't have to bother my brother-in-law, who is the only handy one in the family." Although Zankman is available on weekends, her job as the senior vice president of human resources at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a good two hours from South Hadley. She said she finds comfort knowing there's someone her mother can count on during the week.
''We pretty much keep the connection with our clients indefinitely," Perman said. She's been called to some of the same homes numerous times over the past decade. ''Since we're the ones who have helped the seniors move in, and they often don't know anyone where they've moved to, we're really the oldest friends they have in their new home."
Senior move managers are better known in the warmer climates, where people have been flocking for years to retire, but they are gaining popularity in and around Boston as adult communities increase.
''This year, Massachusetts ranked the 14th highest state with the largest number of new senior housing units being built, compared to 36th in the year 2000," said David S. Schless, president of the American Seniors Housing Association in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit organization comprised of companies that finance, develop, and operate market-rate senior housing.
Barbara Whipple of Hampton, N.H., decided to start Your Moving Partner in 1998 after experiencing the challenges of moving her mother from Annapolis, Md., to Portsmouth.
''I started to think about our changing demographics and the fact that most adult children don't live near their aging parents," said Whipple, 42, who at the time lived nearly 500 miles from her mother. ''I realized there was a real opportunity for a niche service."
The first thing Falwell recommends before selling a ''tired" home is to remove clutter and get large items out of sight. Since this can be onerous if a family member has died, Falwell recommends organizing things into categories like photographs, silver, correspondence, and books, and getting them off to temporary storage. This will allow the family to take a breath, rather than feeling forced to make decisions too soon.
Falwell prefers using a ''mover's warehouse" since many of them, knowing an eventual moving job is secured, will deliver boxes and packing materials without pick-up and drop-off fees.
Unlike some storage companies, Falwell says, a mover's warehouse is usually climate controlled, secured 24 hours a day, and allows clients access when they need it. It's also much less expensive -- $60 a month for a vault that will hold an entire room's worth of furniture.
Falwell and Armour routinely photograph china, furniture, and collectibles, and e-mail them to family members so they can decide who would like to keep what items.
Wheeler, in fact, has six grown children and stepchildren living in Switzerland, Maine, California, Arizona, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts to whom Falwell and Armour have packed and shipped objects from the Sherborn home.
''During the sorting we listen to the stories and encourage the stories, because that's how people are able to let go of the memories of the 'things' and the house," said Falwell.
The two have shared many unusual experiences and recalled with a giggle relocating a couple from Weston to their retirement home. One afternoon, as they rid the basement of a dilapidated ping-pong table and old hockey pads, from children now in their 30s and 40s, they came across an old moose scull with its antlers intact.
''We knew someone who would love to use this as a coat rack, so [after checking with the owners] we called him to pick it up," said Falwell. ''Two months later, the client called me and said, 'Remember that moose skull with the antlers that you took out of our basement? Well that's the only thing our son who lives in England wants from his childhood.' "
Falwell tracked down the skull, which had since changed hands, wrapped it and shipped it overseas.
Lebovits can be reached at lebovits@globe.com 
