'I need to get out of this dump' – Decades of hoarding comes to an end
Developers The Gore Bros. clean up, trade homes with 93-year-old woman and her son
(This story appeared in the March 19, 2015 edition of The Chilliwack Times. I won a Ma Murray journalism award for this in the Feature Story category, in no small part thanks to the amazing photographs by my colleague and friend Greg Laychak - PJH, December 20, 2024)
Pauline Jollymour sits at the end of a winding narrow path on a 1950s era kitchen chair with metal legs and torn vinyl upholstery.
The path winds from the front door of her Mayfair Avenue home along the hall into the kitchen through stacks of newspapers, empty food packaging, unopened products, and cardboard boxes and plastic bags with who-knows-what inside.
Looking defeated and every bit of her 93 years old, Jollymour also has a smile on her face and while she can’t hear very well, she has a sense of humour as she holds court amid teetering towers of accumulated stuff.
“I’m still laughing, I don’t know why,” Pauline shakes her head and says of the situation she and her 58-year-old son Gary find themselves in.
Gary suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder that has led to a near unimaginable case of hoarding. Pauline and Gary have lived in the house for 21 years but it wasn’t like this until four years ago.
“Thats’ when I got sick,” Pauline says.
And that’s when she stopped being able to deal with Gary’s condition and keep the house in a manageable state.
The hot water heater in the house blew out years ago but was never turned off so the basement is wet and full of mould. Rats come in and out of the home—some might live in the piles full-time.
A white fluffy substance that looks like construction dust covers much of the material stacked up in doorways and against walls. It is not construction dust nor is it even normal household dust, it’s from the product Gary is most obsessed with: Tissues. Boxes and boxes of both opened and unopened tissue are stacked in Gary’s room alongside piles of loose tissues, most unused, some folded and stacked.
While Gary’s mental health is at the root of the problem in the house, even the casual observer can see that Pauline’s own actions range from enabling to hoarding herself.
Gary is getting help and is aware of his condition.
“I’m going to make an effort,” Gary quietly tells a visitor. “I mean, I’ve got a problem.”
Problem meet solution
Pauline and Gary have faced orders from the city to clean up the premises. The fire department has tracked the dangerous situation for years urging them to clean up. Fraser Health officials apparently won’t go inside to visit any more because of the mould and rats.
But finally, the seemingly insurmountable situation is coming to an end thanks to three local brothers.
Mark, Tony and Lee Gore—known locally as one of the three main developers renovating and building dozens of homes in the award-winning Garrison Crossing neighbourhood— have stepped up to help Pauline and Gary for free.
The Gore brothers bought a townhouse on Woodbine Avenue, set it up with furniture, a TV, even put food in the fridge and toiletries in the bathroom. Pauline and Gary agreed to sign over ownership of the Mayfair house to the Gores who in turn will sign over the new home to the mother and son. They also offered $1,000 each for three junk cars full of belongings and garbage in the driveway.
Simpson & Simpson Notaries have waived legal fees, TD Bank waived processing fees and the Gores’ sister, realtor Jill Hall, will list the Mayfair house, once it’s cleaned out and renovated, and sell it with no commission.
In recent weeks Gary has slept over at the Woodbine house frequently and the Gores said Pauline finally slept at the new house for the first time on Monday night. During a visit to the Mayfair house last week, Pauline was asked why she hadn’t moved over to the Woodbine. house yet.
“The cat,” she says, referring to a feline she hasn’t seen for close to two years. How does she know the cat is still alive and in the house?
“The food,” she says. “I put food out and it’s gone.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of existence given the rat population in and around the home.
Cat or no cat, Pauline knows she needs out of the dangerous and disgusting home she has lived in for years.
“I need to get out of this dump,” she confesses.
A new start
With the assistance of the Gore brothers, Pauline and Gary pile into vehicles and head over to the Woodbine house for a visit. Pauline sits down on a couch in the living room with a look of comfort and relief.
“I wish I was about 70 years younger,” Pauline says on the couch. “I’d marry one of these guys.”
“You guys are wonderful,” Gary adds.
The case of Pauline and Gary is not the first time the Gores have been involved with hoarders. As developers who buy homes they’ve stumbled across it before, but they also got involved with a U.S. reality show, Hoarding: Buried Alive, where they rescued a hoarder from her situation and renovated her home.
Why have they taken such an interest in Pauline?
“Basically she is 93 years old and is a total sweetheart,” Tony says. “She reminds me of my grandma. She is totally sweet and nice and caring and she doesn’t seem to have a bad bone in her body. You get attached to her.”
Once the slow transition to the Woodbine house is complete there is the danger, of course, that Gary won’t be able to stop his compulsion. The Gores say they plan on making weekly or biweekly visits to clean and check in on the couple so that doesn’t happen.
And while all the details on costs of the new house and a sale price of the old house haven’t been worked out, the Gores are committed to not making a dollar off this “deal.” All time and investment are freely given; if any money is made on the home sale it will go back to Pauline.
While overjoyed about all the help, Pauline worries that the move will be tough for Gary because of his condition.
“I feel sorry for Gary, it’s going to be hard on him,” she says. “It’s not something that he wants to do. It’s a force that’s driving him.”
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Paul J. Henderson
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