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 Des Moines and the surrounding Polk County community.
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 Des Moines and Polk County can also use current city, county, state, nonprofit, peer-support, qualified-care, housing, shelter, food, benefits, transportation, legal, code, disposal, and practical pathways. No outside listing is an endorsement; each organization sets its own eligibility, cost, hours, service area, capacity, consent, privacy, and safety rules.
For immediate danger, fire, serious injury, violence, or a life-threatening medical emergency, call 911. For behavioral-health or substance-use crisis support, call or text 988 or contact Your Life Iowa. For housing, food, utilities, transportation, and other basic-needs navigation, call 211 Iowa. Confirm the current local response before relying on it.
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.
211 Iowa is a free information and referral pathway for housing, shelter, food, utilities, mental health, transportation, benefits, and other local services. Ask for current Polk County options and confirm eligibility, capacity, hours, and referral requirements directly.
Polk County Behavioral Health and Disability Services helps residents connect with health care and supports for mental illness and intellectual or developmental disabilities. Ask about current access points, case coordination, and what to do when a hoarding concern overlaps with behavioral-health or disability needs. This is not a cleaning service.
Polk County's Disability Access Point helps people with disabilities, families, and caregivers understand long-term services and supports, options counseling, service coordination, and short-term supports. The district includes Polk and surrounding counties. Ask about current hours, service area, eligibility, accessibility, and whether a home-based support or care-navigation request fits.
Polk County Adult Services describes transportation for qualifying low-income disabled adults, home-delivered meals for qualifying homebound adults, and financial-management or protective-payee services. The county says a telephone assessment and mandatory home visit are part of the intake. Ask what is current and appropriate for the situation.
Polk County General Assistance provides temporary emergency assistance with basic and special needs for people who meet income guidelines. It may be relevant when a hoarding-related housing concern is connected to rent, utilities, food, or another basic need, but it does not promise cleanup funding. Confirm current rules, documents, and available funds before relying on it.
The IOCDF lists Anxiety & OCD Treatment Services in West Des Moines as a specialty outpatient clinic offering evidence-based care for anxiety and OCD-related concerns, including CBT and exposure-based approaches. Ask directly whether the current team works with hoarding disorder, whether a clinician is licensed for the person's location, and what insurance, private-pay, accessibility, and intake rules apply. This is clinical care, not a cleanup service or emergency response.
The International OCD Foundation's hoarding directory can help people search for therapists, programs, support groups, organizers, and task forces. Availability, credentials, insurance, fees, and service area can change. Use it as a starting point and confirm every detail with the provider. IOCDF says directory listings are not endorsements or guarantees of competence.
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 support, care, or navigation.
Iowa Health and Human Services identifies 988 as a free, confidential, 24/7 crisis line for emotional support and crisis counseling. Call or text 988 when a behavioral-health crisis is unfolding; call 911 for immediate danger, fire, or a medical emergency. This is not a cleanup or housing-repair service.
Iowa HHS identifies Your Life Iowa as a free statewide crisis line that provides support, information, and referral by phone, text, or chat. Use it for a behavioral-health or substance-use crisis when immediate danger is not present; call 911 for an emergency. It is not a cleanup, housing, or legal service.
The Polk County Attorney's office describes a unit that prosecutes dependent-adult and elder abuse and helps with protective orders. Report suspected abuse or neglect to local law enforcement and Iowa HHS at 800-362-2178, which the county identifies as a 24/7 reporting route. Use 911 for immediate danger. This is not a general decluttering referral line.
Polk County's rental-assistance route may help qualifying households and may require income documentation and landlord verification. It is not a guaranteed eviction-prevention or cleanup benefit. Contact the county to confirm current eligibility, funding, deadlines, and what to do if a court date or notice is already pending.
Polk County's emergency home-repair program is for qualifying low-income owner-occupants and can address urgent health and safety repairs. The county publishes income, property, nuisance, and foreclosure-related rules. Ask about current funding and eligible work; it is not a hoarding cleanup grant.
Polk County Emergency Management maintains information about shelter and extreme-temperature resources, including warming and cooling centers and transportation information. Confirm location, hours, transportation, accessibility, and capacity before traveling. This is not a guaranteed placement or cleanup service.
The City of Des Moines explains how its Neighborhood Inspection Division addresses unsafe properties and conditions that may involve structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or other code concerns. A formal code process can create legal and housing consequences, so use it for a genuine property-safety concern and pair it with a consent-based support conversation when possible. The city does not take ownership of the land in a public-nuisance action.
The Des Moines Municipal Housing Agency is listed as a HUD-approved housing counseling agency offering rental counseling, financial literacy, fair-housing education, and other housing guidance. The public directory lists 2309 Euclid Avenue and 515-323-8950. Confirm current appointments, fees, waitlists, and whether the need is within its scope.
Iowa's Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program may help qualifying owner-occupied and renter-occupied households pay part of their residential heating costs. The state says eligibility and application timing depend on income, household circumstances, and the program year. This is supplemental assistance, not a promise to pay the full bill or a repair service.
IMPACT Community Action Partnership serves Polk County and identifies utility assistance, LIHEAP, and crisis routes for disconnection notices, shutoffs, or non-working furnaces. Its current page says the regular application window reopens during the 2026-2027 program year, while crisis help may have separate instructions. Confirm current status and required documents.
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.
Polk County's Clean Sweep page lists current options for household hazardous waste, yard waste, appliances, electronics, scrap metal, and donation opportunities. The county says the listings are not endorsements. Confirm accepted materials, fees, hours, transportation, and whether a property is inside the event area before moving items.
The City of Des Moines' Earth Day Trash Bash page describes metro cleanup events and identifies SCRUB as the City's Spring Cleanup to Reduce Urban Blight program. These are scheduled or volunteer-based events, not on-demand household cleanup or guaranteed removal. Confirm current dates, registration, accepted materials, transportation, and whether the event serves the property.
The City's Show Me My House tool brings together address-based information such as garbage, yard-waste and recycling pickup, snow routes, zoning, inspection areas, neighborhood information, and district contacts. City data may be approximate or incomplete, so use the listed source departments to verify details before making a plan.
HOME, Inc. is a Des Moines housing nonprofit that describes renter and landlord education, homeownership counseling, affordable-housing development, and home-improvement assistance for qualified homeowners. It is not an Alliance partner or a hoarding-specific provider. Ask about current service area, funding, and eligibility.
IMPACT lists Polk County programs for Des Moines and non-Des Moines residents, including food, utility assistance, personal-hygiene supplies, resource connections, and other community supports. Availability, eligibility, hours, and documentation vary by program. Confirm what is open before traveling.
Food Bank of Iowa connects Iowans with food assistance and local pantry or distribution options, including a Des Moines pantry partnership. Use its current help tools to find the right location, then confirm hours, identification, transportation, household rules, and available food before traveling.
Hope Ministries describes shelter and support for single women and mothers with children through its Center for Women and Children. This is a specific shelter pathway, not a general housing guarantee, hoarding-support group, or cleanup service. Confirm current eligibility, intake, space, accessibility, and what belongings can be accommodated.
NAMI Iowa offers education, advocacy, family support, and peer-oriented programs for people affected by mental illness. It is not a hoarding-specific provider, and its public contact route is not an emergency service, but it may help a family identify informed next steps. Call or text 988 in a crisis.
Iowa Legal Aid provides free civil legal assistance to qualifying Iowans, including housing stability, eviction, landlord-tenant, benefits, disability, and utility matters. Its Central Iowa office is in Des Moines. Apply or call to confirm eligibility, county, scope, deadlines, and whether an eviction-help desk or other current pathway fits. This is not emergency dispatch or a cleanup service.
The Des Moines Municipal Housing Agency administers affordable-housing and housing-choice programs and publishes information about applications, counseling, and program requirements. Check directly for open interest lists, property-based options, reasonable accommodations, required documents, and current wait times; an application does not guarantee a unit or immediate placement.
DART's Bus Plus paratransit service provides ADA-compliant, door-to-door transportation for people whose disability prevents use of fixed-route buses. DART says riders must apply and may need verification from a medical provider or qualified professional; reservations are generally required at least one day ahead and fares vary by zone. Ask about current eligibility, snow and accessibility conditions, and whether Polk County Adult Services can authorize no-charge qualifying trips.
Prairie Wellness describes a Des Moines practice with independently licensed clinicians and current services that include evidence-based approaches for OCD and anxiety-related concerns. Ask whether the current clinician has hoarding-disorder experience, whether the service is clinical therapy or another offering, and what licensing, insurance, private-pay, telehealth, accessibility, and intake rules apply. This is not an Alliance partner or an emergency service.
OCD Iowa is an official affiliate of the International OCD Foundation and describes education, awareness, and community activities in Iowa, including a Des Moines OCD Walk. It is not a hoarding-specific treatment provider or emergency service, but it may offer a useful connection to OCD-related education and local peer community. Confirm current events, accessibility, and whether a current activity fits the person's needs.
The IOCDF organizer directory can help identify organizers who state that they work with hoarding-related concerns. IOCDF explains that listed organizers have earned an Institute for Challenging Disorganization specialist certificate, but a directory listing is still not an Alliance endorsement or guarantee of fit. Ask about consent-based pacing, privacy, disposal practices, cost, travel, and scope before hiring.
The Peer Tree is the private-pay pathway for nonclinical organizing help, decluttering support, groups, family guidance, and practical next steps when a grant or public program is not the right fit. Ask about current availability, service area, scope, pacing, privacy, consent, safety, and fees before beginning. The Peer Tree is separate 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 friends, family, property managers, municipal workers, and other supporters who want to learn how to provide support. It can offer ongoing connection, tools, and momentum from Des Moines or anywhere else. It is not therapy, a crisis service, or a substitute for emergency help.
A note from the Alliance
This guide is anchored in Des Moines, Iowa, 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