Sunday, November 18, 2012
Dallas Morning News
For 60 years, Connie Strow grew up and raised her family in the Dallas home built by her father. When she was ready to downsize and move to a nearby retirement community last year, the 84-year-old didn’t trust any moving company to help deal with the physical and emotional change.
Along with the support of her daughter, Strow turned to Plano, Texas-based Senior Focused Relocations Inc., a moving company that focuses exclusively on helping older Americans move into smaller homes or retirement communities.
The 7-year-old firm took care of everything: from packing to moving to unpacking to arranging furniture and other belongings at the new place.
“It was hard to move, but they made it so easy,” Strow said.
Moving can be stressful enough. But it can be particularly challenging for older adults and their families when it comes to leaving a home filled with years of memories — and sorting through tons of stuff they’ve accumulated over decades.
That’s where senior-move managers come in. The industry is expanding rapidly, thanks to empty nesters downsizing and a graying population, including the tide of baby boomers relocating to active or assisted-living communities.
The membership ranks of the National Association of Senior Move Managers have swelled to 700 members in the U.S. and Canada from 60 in 2006, said Jennifer Pickett, the group’s associate executive director.
“It’s growing by leaps and bounds,” she said.
Hiring a senior mover is not cheap, though. A full package could cost upward of $10,000. The national average ranges between $40 and $60 an hour and could be as high as $150 an hour in places such as New York City, Pickett said.
Lue Taff, a geriatric care manager at the nonprofit Senior Source in Dallas, which helps older adults and their families with caregiving issues, said some of her clients have benefited from these specialty movers. It is sometimes worth the money to ease the stresses of a major move, she said.
“It certainly minimizes the bad emotional impact,” Taff said. “Someone else is dealing with things, and you’re not trying to figure out what to do with different things. And it can be emotional when someone has been in their home for 50 years and is leaving that home.”
The job is part counselor and part mover, organizer, designer and handyman. Services can vary among companies.
At Senior Focused Relocations, workers will not only pack and move customers but also organize, sort and cull through belongings. The company also will make arrangements for estate sales or ship furniture and other belongings to friends and relatives.
The Senior Focused team will set up a new home, hanging pictures and artwork, installing flat-screen televisions, connecting major appliances and even transferring utilities.
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