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 Washington County.
Start here - Fight the Blight
Our virtual groups give people affected by hoarding and clutter concerns a place to connect from Hagerstown, Washington County, and other communities. We can help you think through what is happening and what kind of next step may fit.
Call 911 for a medical emergency, fire, or immediate threat. For behavioral-health crisis support, call or text 988 or Washington County Mobile Crisis at (240) 625-2246. For resource navigation, call 211.
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.
Maryland 211 connects people with local housing, shelter, food, utility, health, transportation, benefits, legal, and crisis resources. Use it when you are unsure which program fits, then confirm the provider's current hours, scope, privacy, eligibility, and availability directly.
The Washington County Health Department describes prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery, crisis services, overdose response, care coordination, and local addiction-authority functions. Ask which program fits and whether a behavioral-health, substance-use, peer, or family referral is the right starting point.
The Washington County Mental Health Authority maintains local support information and lists mobile crisis and 988 pathways. Use it to identify the right behavioral-health contact; call 911 for immediate danger, fire, or a medical emergency.
The Maryland Department of Human Services Washington County office provides adult services, benefits, and family-support pathways. Call Adult Services for guidance about a vulnerable adult or self-neglect concern, and confirm which program can accept the referral.
The International OCD Foundation directory can be searched for clinicians, support groups, organizers, and programs that indicate an interest in hoarding-related care. Ask about experience, licensure, fees, insurance, wait time, privacy, and whether home-based or telehealth work fits.
Safety and stability
These pathways serve different situations. Read the labels carefully before calling, especially when a response may involve protective services, crisis response, city or county code, shelter, victim advocacy, behavioral-health support, 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, counseling service, or cleanup provider.
Call or text 988 for confidential behavioral-health crisis support. It is not emergency dispatch, licensed therapy, or a cleanup service; call 911 for immediate danger, fire, or a medical emergency.
The Washington County Mental Health Authority lists mobile crisis support for local behavioral-health concerns. Call to ask about current response, safety planning, and the least-restrictive appropriate option; call 911 for immediate danger.
The county health department describes a crisis and overdose-response team that may coordinate peer specialists, providers, law enforcement, and treatment services. Call to confirm the current response and whether it fits the concern.
Maryland Adult Protective Services is reached through the local Department of Social Services for concerns involving a vulnerable adult. This is an investigation and protection pathway, not a general cleanup referral; call 911 for an emergency.
CASA supports people affected by intimate-partner violence, sexual violence, and sex trafficking with advocacy, safety planning, shelter, and referrals. This is a confidential violence-safety pathway rather than general hoarding support; call 911 for immediate danger.
The city uses Housing and Community Development and code-compliance processes for property-maintenance and housing concerns. A report may begin a municipal process, but it is not a guaranteed cleanup, relocation, or personal-support response.
The city's Fire Marshal's Office is a fire-safety and inspection contact. Use it for fire-prevention questions or an active fire hazard; call 911 for a fire or immediate life-safety emergency.
Use Washington County's public-health and solid-waste pathways for sanitation, hazardous-material, waste, or environmental-health questions. Confirm what the department can inspect or address; it is not emergency dispatch or a private cleanup provider.
Residents of Hagerstown Housing Authority properties can use the authority's concern and complaint pathways. The authority directs people to 911 for emergencies and to local law enforcement for concerns outside its properties.
People and practical help
These listings connect Hagerstown and Washington County residents with county-seat government, housing, homelessness navigation, food, legal and victim support, health care, aging services, peer support, benefits, disposal, organizing, and community resources. Ask about current availability, cost, scope, consent, and safety before relying on them.
The Community Action Council describes housing case management, eviction prevention, rapid rehousing, utility-termination prevention, food assistance, and referrals. Ask about current funding, documents, coordinated-entry needs, and whether the situation is housed, at-risk, or homeless.
REACH describes case management, a day resource center, cold-weather shelter, and assistance with emergency needs such as motel placement, food, and medication. Call to confirm current hours, eligibility, and shelter or assistance availability.
The Hope Center describes overnight shelter and free food for people who are hungry, along with other community programs. Ask about current shelter access, program expectations, identification, belongings, and length-of-stay rules before relying on this pathway.
The Hagerstown Housing Authority provides public-housing and Housing Choice Voucher information for eligible households. Its application guidance says identity and eligibility documents are required and that applicants are placed on specific waitlists after processing; confirm current openings and requirements directly.
The Commission on Aging provides programs and services intended to help older adults and people with disabilities live as independently as possible. Ask about caregiver support, meals, transportation, home-based services, long-term-care choices, and current eligibility.
Brook Lane describes mental-health and substance-use services for children, adolescents, and adults, including inpatient, outpatient, partial-hospitalization, residential, and intensive outpatient programs. Ask about the least-intensive appropriate level of care, insurance, fees, wait time, and current intake.
House of Hope describes a Washington County NAMI affiliate focused on accessible education, peer support, and community connection, including NAMI Connections and family-oriented programs. Ask about current meeting dates, registration, accessibility, and whether online options are available.
The Hagerstown Home Store provides housing counseling and information for homebuyers, renters, landlords, and homeowners. Its site describes fair-housing, lead-paint, landlord-tenant, foreclosure, and federally assisted-housing resources; ask about current fees, documents, and whether the concern fits housing counseling.
The city offers scheduled bulk-trash collection for eligible Hagerstown residents. The city lists a $25 cost per large item or scoop of miscellaneous items and excludes items such as paint, pesticides, gasoline, oil, propane, household trash, and yard waste; confirm the current schedule and payment details.
The city's trash and recycling page explains residential collection, zone schedules, set-out timing, accepted recycling, and large-item contacts. Use it for practical disposal planning and confirm the current zone, collection day, and items accepted before setting anything out.
Washington County lists Forty West Landfill, convenience centers, hours, permits, recycling guidance, and waste-reduction programs. Ask about accepted materials, current fees, permits, and safe handling for unusual, hazardous, or large-volume items.
Maryland Legal Aid may be a starting point for qualifying civil legal concerns involving housing, benefits, domestic violence, or related stability issues. Ask about current intake, income rules, language access, conflicts, and whether the matter is within its scope.
The Peer Tree is the private-pay pathway for organizing help, decluttering support, groups, family guidance, and practical next steps when a grant or public program is not the right fit. Ask about scope, cost, travel, consent, safety, and whether support is available in Hagerstown or Washington County.
Unburied, from The Peer Tree, offers a judgment-free digital pathway with peer support, groups, and tools for people directly affected and for friends or family supporters. It is not therapy, a crisis service, or a substitute for emergency help.
A note from the Alliance
This guide is anchored in Hagerstown, the county seat of Washington County, and includes city, countywide, regional, statewide, national, nonprofit, 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