A Hoarding Alliance local resource guide
You can ask for help using a doorway, making a meal, or clearing room for a repair without deciding what to do with everything. If you’re helping someone else, ask which change would make their day easier and what they want left alone.
Start here - Fight the Blight
If you have a housing notice, a shutoff date, or nowhere safe to stay, say that first when you call. Keep any paperwork. If it isn’t urgent, ask about a first conversation or a virtual group without committing to a cleanout.
Ask how a first conversation or virtual group works before sharing photos or personal information.
Role: nonprofit front door for hoarding-related support and virtual groups; geography: ask about remote access from Auburn and Cayuga County; cost/eligibility: confirm registration, group fit, and any costs; local funded help is not assumed; emergency limit: not therapy or emergency response.
For an active fire, immediate danger, or a medical emergency, move to safety if you can and call 911. Tell responders if an entrance is blocked or someone may need help getting out.
First conversations
You do not need to know the perfect service name before reaching out. These organizations can help you understand the landscape and identify a next step.
Ask who makes decisions about belongings and whether you can begin with one task.
Use digital peer support to plan a manageable step or talk through a conversation. Share only what you want to share.
Give your ZIP and say what you need first. Ask which program serves your address and whether to call before going.
Safety and stability
These pathways serve different situations. Read the labels carefully before calling, especially when a response may involve crisis care, protective services, shelter, housing rules, legal advocacy, or emergency dispatch.
Call from a safe place and explain if an entrance is blocked or someone may need help leaving.
Use the emergency department for medical emergencies. It does not arrange routine hoarding care or cleanup.
When safe, prioritize usable exits and clear space around heat sources. Do not re-enter an unsafe building for belongings.
Save any notice and ask which corrections and dates apply. Contacting an office does not extend a deadline.
Tell intake if you have nowhere safe to stay, an eviction deadline, or a shutoff notice. Ask what to bring and where to call if the office is closed.
Describe the specific risk and what help the adult already has. Clutter alone does not establish eligibility.
If someone uses access to your home or belongings to control you, ask an advocate about safer options from a device you can use privately.
Keep any housing notice or court papers and tell intake the next date. Ask if the project can help with your issue.
Ask how the referral process works and what proof is needed. For a place tonight, tell county intake or 211 about the immediate need.
People and practical help
These listings connect the local community with housing, food, behavioral health, benefits, transit, survivor advocacy, disability support, peer support, and practical resources. Ask about current availability, cost, scope, consent, and safety before relying on them.
Ask whether the team can assess difficulty acquiring, discarding, or using rooms safely and make a specialty referral if needed.
Ask about falls, breathing, sleep, or other health concerns and whether a referral would help.
Use the information to prepare questions about hoarding-specific care and how your goals would shape treatment.
If substance-use recovery is also a priority, ask what peer support fits. For hoarding-related peer support, use the starting points above.
Check before traveling. Tell intake if you don’t have working cooking equipment or a safe place to store food.
If fuel is running low or you face a shutoff, tell intake when. Ask which benefit is open and what proof to bring.
Ask what areas must be accessible for an assessment. If heat is out now, start with benefits intake.
Ask about caregiver support, help at home, or equipment and explain mobility or communication needs.
Ask about delivery if preparing a meal or getting to a meal site is hard. For food today, ask a pantry or 211 separately.
Check which housing programs accept inquiries. The authority posts separate waitlist information for vouchers and public housing.
Select Auburn routes, then check your stop, transfers, and the last return trip before making an appointment.
Check before putting bulky items or unusual materials out. If a container is leaking or unidentified, get handling instructions before moving it.
A note from the Alliance
This guide is anchored in Auburn, New York, and includes city, county, state, nonprofit, national, and independent pathways. A listing here does not mean Fight the Blight endorses every provider or can guarantee availability. The Hoarding Alliance is not a city or county agency, therapy practice, emergency service, or cleanup company. We will keep reviewing this page, but please confirm details directly before relying on them.
Need help choosing a path? Contact Fight the Blight