A Hoarding Alliance local resource guide
A respectful place to begin, whether you are looking for support for yourself, worried about someone you love, or trying to respond to a safety, housing, care, or practical concern in Charleston and Kanawha County.
Start here - Fight the Blight
Fight the Blight is the nonprofit and virtual-group front door for people affected by hoarding and clutter concerns, including people who are directly affected and supporters who want to learn how to provide support. People in Charleston and Kanawha County can also use current city, county, state, nonprofit, peer-support, qualified-care, housing, shelter, food, legal, utility, code, disposal, and practical pathways. No outside listing is an endorsement; each organization sets its own eligibility, cost, hours, service area, capacity, consent, and safety rules.
For immediate danger, fire, serious injury, or a life-threatening medical emergency, call 911. For behavioral-health crisis support, call or text 988 or contact Help4WV at 1-844-435-7498. For housing, food, utility, and human-services navigation, call or text West Virginia 211 and confirm current eligibility, capacity, hours, transportation, and referral requirements. Emergency routes are not hoarding-support or cleanup services.
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.
West Virginia 211 is available by phone and text and can help identify current resources for housing, food, utilities, health, disaster response, and other needs. Ask for Kanawha County options and confirm eligibility, capacity, hours, transportation, language access, and referral requirements directly.
The Bureau for Behavioral Health connects West Virginians to Help4WV, certified providers, treatment options, peer support, and crisis care. Use it when a hoarding concern overlaps with mental health or substance use and you need help understanding the pathway. It is not a cleanup referral or emergency dispatch service.
The Kanawha County Department of Human Services office lists SNAP, Medicaid, emergency assistance, LIEAP, adult guardianship, Adult Protective Services, homeless services, adult residential care, and other family-assistance pathways. It can help when a practical or safety concern crosses several systems. Confirm the correct unit and current intake process.
Charleston's Coordinated Addiction Response Effort team describes mental-health crisis response and follow-up, outreach to unsheltered and vulnerable people, housing connections, identification support, and treatment navigation. Ask what response is available for the person's situation; this is not routine cleanup or a guarantee of in-home service.
West Virginia's behavioral-health resource system includes certified providers, peer support, crisis care, and treatment-navigation options. Use the state pathway to ask which provider or program serves Kanawha County and whether it offers the level of care, insurance or public-funding route, and consent-based approach that fits.
The International OCD Foundation's hoarding directory helps people search for therapists, programs, support groups, organizers, and task forces. A directory listing is not an Alliance endorsement or credential guarantee. Ask about hoarding-specific experience, consent-based pacing, privacy, insurance, fees, and scope before choosing a provider.
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 911 when there is immediate danger, fire, a medical emergency, violence, or a threat that cannot wait for a scheduled service. Emergency dispatch is not a hoarding-support program, behavioral-health counseling service, or cleanup provider. When the situation is not immediately dangerous, begin with Fight the Blight or a local behavioral-health or protective-services pathway.
West Virginia's behavioral-health resources explain that 988 is available by call or text for mental-health crisis, substance-use crisis, emotional distress, or concern about someone else. 988 is not a cleanup service or a promise of in-home intervention. Call 911 for immediate danger, fire, violence, or a medical emergency.
Help4WV provides a free, confidential route to treatment programs, peer support, and crisis care. It may help when a person or family is unsure whether to begin with mental-health, substance-use, or community support. Confirm whether the available referral matches the person's goals and location; call 911 for immediate danger.
The Kanawha County DoHS office lists Adult Protective Services and adult guardianship among its programs. Use this pathway for a concern involving abuse, neglect, self-neglect, exploitation, or an adult who may be unable to protect their own interests. APS is not a cleanup service, and legal standards for intervention apply.
Charleston enforces minimum property-maintenance standards covering structure, utilities, fire safety, and sanitation. The city says an interior inspection requires permission from the tenant or homeowner, which is important to understand before a report is made. Code enforcement can create housing consequences; use it for a genuine safety concern and pair it with respectful support when possible.
Charleston's code-enforcement staff work with residents to resolve zoning violations and may issue notices, citations, and fines when problems remain unresolved. The city keeps the identity of a reporting citizen confidential, but a code report is not a consent-based support service. Confirm which department handles the specific concern before relying on this route.
Charleston-Kanawha Housing provides family and senior housing options across Kanawha, Clay, and Putnam counties. Its public notice says the Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is closed until further notice, so there is no immediate voucher application guarantee. Confirm current openings, accommodations, and other housing options directly.
Charleston's Office of Economic and Community Development describes housing rehabilitation and owner-occupied repair programs, including a program designed to help eligible homeowners keep homes in good repair and in compliance with city code. The current page describes assistance as a loan, not a grant or hoarding-cleanup benefit. Confirm current funding, income rules, property requirements, and application status.
Covenant House operates Charleston residences and supportive services for people who are medically qualified or living with disabling mental-health conditions and at risk of homelessness. Its services include help applying for SSI or SSDI, healthcare, behavioral health, and peer recovery. This is not hoarding-specific treatment or guaranteed housing; confirm fit and current capacity.
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.
Charleston's Public Works department provides residential garbage and recycling service in city limits and describes refuse fees, low-income fee reductions, recycling, and customer contacts. The city also lists accepted and excluded materials, so confirm the schedule, set-out rules, and whether a bulk item needs special handling before moving it.
The West Virginia 211 search lets people search by city, county, ZIP code, or distance for current services. It can help fill gaps when a situation involves several needs at once. Search results and capacity can change; confirm hours, eligibility, language access, transportation, and referral requirements directly.
West Virginia's energy-assistance system provides a route to LIEAP and weatherization resources. Current state information identifies a public inquiry line and an online application pathway; local administration and funding can change. Energy assistance does not pay for cleanup, but utility stability can support a broader safety plan.
The West Virginia Community Action Partnership helps residents find local community-action agencies and screens for programs such as energy assistance, weatherization, senior services, and supportive services. It does not guarantee cleanup funding or a particular local benefit. Use the agency finder and confirm the Kanawha County pathway directly.
The Kanawha Valley Collective maintains a local list of rent and utility-assistance organizations and advises callers to check whether funds are available and whether they qualify. Use this as a starting list, not a promise of assistance. Ask about documentation, eviction status, service boundaries, and current appointments.
Kanawha Young Families and Communities describes behavioral-health, food-access, workforce, and community-outreach programs in Charleston and Kanawha County. It is not a hoarding-specific provider or emergency service, but it may help connect a family with culturally responsive support and practical stability resources. Confirm current offerings directly.
Legal Aid of West Virginia publishes free civil-legal information and intake pathways for renting or leasing a home, living conditions, eviction, utilities, food and cash benefits, health coverage, disability, guardianship, abuse, and other issues. Confirm whether the organization can take the matter and ask about deadlines; legal aid is not a cleanup service or emergency dispatch.
The Mountain Mission Family Emergency Resource Project is listed in the current West Virginia community-assistance directory as serving Kanawha Valley families and individuals with unexpected needs, including food, clothing, furniture, hygiene items, utilities, and housing-related help. Confirm current hours, documentation, inventory, and service boundaries directly.
The Peer Tree offers nonclinical hoarding and clutter support, including organizing help, groups, family guidance, and practical next steps. Ask about current availability, service area, scope, pacing, privacy, and fees before beginning. The Peer Tree is a separate private-pay pathway from Fight the Blight's nonprofit programming.
Unburied, from The Peer Tree, is a judgment-free digital peer-support pathway for people affected by hoarding and clutter concerns and for people who want to learn how to provide support, including friends and family, property management companies, municipal workers, and other nonprofits. It can offer ongoing connection, tools, and momentum from Charleston or anywhere else. It is not therapy, clinical care, or emergency support.
The IOCDF organizer directory can help identify organizers who state that they work with hoarding-related concerns. A directory listing is not an endorsement or credential guarantee. Ask about experience, consent-based pacing, privacy, item decisions, disposal practices, cost, and scope before hiring.
A note from the Alliance
This guide is anchored in Charleston, West Virginia, 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