Hoarders Series Premier on Labor Day to Feature Edmond Family

News9.com

EDMOND, OKLAHOMA – Monday, the series premier of Hoarders on A&E will feature an Edmond family.

Many Oklahomans struggle from this form of obsessive-compulsive disorder known as hoarding. The Mayo Clinic defines the disorder as "is the excessive collection of items, along with the inability to discard them. Hoarding often creates such cramped living conditions that homes may be filled to capacity, with only narrow pathways winding through stacks of clutter. Some people also collect animals, keeping dozens or hundreds of pets in unsanitary conditions."

Democratic leader Danny Morgan studied hoarding last year when he was approached by a constituent to look into the death of Kitty Lewis, an Oklahoma City woman who lived for years and died alone in a home that had been deemed uninhabitable by county officials.

Representative Morgan created a Vulnerable Adult Intervention Task Force via Senate Bill 1601 this session. The task force will study how to best provide interdisciplinary community assistance, intervention, and referral services for persons with mental or physical illnesses or disabilities, dementia or other related disease or condition.

Speaker of the House Chris Benge appointed Terry Humphrey to serve on this task force. Humphrey is the director of the City of Edmond's code enforcement division and participated in the Hoarders documentary which will be featured on Labor Day. He said he spent quite a bit of time discussing this issue from the code enforcement perspective.

"What we need to realize is that this is not just a problem occurring somewhere else in another state, but it's happening right here in our small towns, in urban areas, in communities all across Oklahoma," said Humphrey in a press release. "Last year this same program featured a home in Muskogee, and soon will focus on a home in Edmond. These are often last ditch efforts to save a person's home from being condemned, to save them from losing their children, their spouses, their loved ones and animals. We need to become more educated and aware of this largely hidden phenomenon before it becomes deadly or causes a health risk to neighbors."

The Hoarders series will premiere on A&E with back-to-back episodes Monday, September 6 at 8:00 p.m.