Lester Taylor’s stuff was all-consuming. It all began following his daughter’s divorce, when she moved next door to him in a house he owns.

“She had trouble getting rid of things,” said Lester. “All her stuff filled up her home, and then my home and then the outside of both homes.”

Springfield’s Building Development Services, which enforces the City’s nuisance ordinances, received a complaint about the property and Taylor become fearful that he could lose both homes.

Fortunately, six months later, he’s living happily in his home, and the City has closed its case. All thanks, Taylor said, to the Safe and Sanitary Homes Program.

“They saved my life.”

Safe and Sanitary Homes is a program to address hoarding and unsanitary living conditions in Springfield. It was started by individuals representing various community organizations and agencies in 2013, following a fatal fire in which firefighters couldn’t immediately locate the victim due to the excessive clutter in the home. By the time they found him, he had succumbed to smoke inhalation.

In recent years, first responders, including police, firefighters and EMTs have seen a dramatic increase in cases of hoarding and severe squalor. While anecdotal, some of the Fire Department’s more experienced captains estimate that as many as a third of the homes they are called to in Springfield show signs of hoarding and severe squalor. Trash blocking exits, newspapers stored in ovens, rooms unable to be used as intended–these are just a few of the things firefighters see on a regular basis.

Hoarding is a diagnosable mental illness in which parting with items causes significant distress to the owner. It becomes a safety concern when one or more rooms is inaccessible or unable to be used as intended or everyday living is compromised.

While not a mental illness, unsanitary living conditions are just as common and can be just as dangerous as hoarding. These cases are situational –caused by a sudden crisis or loss of income–or behavioral, which occurs in families where at least two generations have lived in similar conditions. Whatever the reason, it’s putting those families, firefighters and anyone else who might visit the home at risk.

In addition to creating unsanitary conditions for those in the home, hoarding and severe squalor also creates significant safety hazards—particularly fire hazards. Fires are more likely to occur in hoarded homes, and those fires burn hotter and faster than typical fires. Hoarded homes often present more challenges for first responders to get in and for victims to get out.

Springfield is taking steps to prevent injuries and deaths to not only those in the home, but to first responders as well. The Safe and Sanitary Homes Program raises awareness, education and ultimately assists to those suffering from hoarding disorder and those living in unsanitary living conditions.

Since it began, under the direction of the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, the Safe and Sanitary Homes Program has received nearly 100 referrals. Twenty volunteers, including students with Missouri State University’s Citizenship and Service Learning program, have donated more than 1,500 hours to help clean up 23 homes.

All clients have received referrals to counseling services and another dozen have been referred to other agencies, such as the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services.

Firefighters have installed 15 smoke alarms in homes identified as not having this basic protection and many others have been referred to other programs that could help, such as Habitat for Humanity. This is all in addition to the hundreds of residents who have been educated about this serious issue through free training provided by Burrell Behavioral Health, community events, speaking engagements at the local and state level and public service announcements.

While the program has proven successes, there are challenges ahead. So far, the program has survived on a generous $2,000 donation from the Larry P. O’Reilly and Family Foundation and the generosity of local trash haulers willing to donate dumpsters to cleanup sites.

Unfortunately, these generous contributions do not address a significant need for additional funding, resources and manpower. Each cleanup can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a dumpster to a few thousand dollars for extermination and structural repairs. Without a consistent revenue stream, it’s unclear if the program can survive.

This possibility Lester Taylor certainly hopes doesn’t become a reality. He describes a feeling to which many of those living in similar conditions can relate.

“It was overwhelming. I didn’t know where to start,” he said. “These volunteers came in to help. I don’t know what else to say. It’s the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.”

If you or someone you know may benefit from the services of Safe and Sanitary Homes, visit safeandsanitaryhomes.org or call 417-874-2383.

To see the impact excessive clutter can have on fire growth, watch a demonstration conducted by the Springfield Fire Department at springfieldmo.gov/Fire