Action Organizing Services LLC® News
ACTION ORGANIZING SERVICES LLC® Earns Coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award
Award reflects company’s consistently high level of customer service. Action Organizing Services LLC® has been awarded the prestigious 2009 Angie’s List Super Service Award!
The Super Service Award, now celebrating its 11th year, is reserved for companies who have achieved and maintained a superior service rating on Angie's List – the nation’s leading provider of consumer ratings on local service companies – throughout the past year. Fewer than 5 percent of the companies on Angie's List meet the eligibility requirements to be considered for the award.
“Our Super Service Award winners are the cream of the crop when it comes to providing the best customer service,” said Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List.
Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have maintained a total and overall grade of "A;" have received a minimum number of reports; are NOT in the Angie's List "Penalty Box” and do NOT have an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Service company ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List, but members can find the 2009 Super Service Award logo next to company names in search results on AngiesList.com.
Brenden will be quoted and written about in the All Of You magazine in Oct 2010.
http://www.allyou.com/
Brenden McDaniel quoted in this article:
Are You a Hoarder? By Stephanie Schorow, Special to Lifescript Published June 13, 2010
http://www.lifescript.com/Health/Conditions/Addiction/Are_You_a_Hoarder.aspx?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=referral&utm_term=social+media&utm_campaign=2010-06-16
Links to interviews and articles about the A & E show:
http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/83776492.html
Hoarders ALL NEW on A&E
A&E show 'Hoarders' featured new Milwaukee episode
WTMJ: Inside the Mind of the Hoarder
NAPO-WI A&E Hoarders Episode
Watch for Brenden and the Action Organizing
Services LLC® crew on A & E
Hoarders episode that aired Monday February 8th at 9 p.m. CST.
Doug, 38, is a single dad of two adopted children.
Kylie (6) and Nate (8) both have
special needs and the conditions of their home are only adding to
their problems.
The family's kitchen is hardly usable and the refrigerator doesn't
always work. In
fits of rage, Nate pushes over hoarded stacks and throws anything in
sight. Now, a
social worker will be visiting the house along with the children's
therapist, and
Doug fears they may remove his kids from the home.
Richard Taft, Marketing Director
262-844-2742 eclutter@att.net
NAPO Wisconsin participates in episode of A&E’s “Hoarders” January has been deemed Get Organized month by the National Association of Professional Organizers. In accordance, the NAPO Wisconsin Chapter got the opportunity to showcase the talents of our members by participating on an episode of A&E’s “Hoarders”. Brenden McDaniel of Action Organizing LLC® has done a couple of episodes of “Hoarders” in the past. When he submitted this situation to A&E and it was accepted, he decided to open it up to more organizers in the area through NAPO Wisconsin as a part of our GO Month campaign.
The professional organizers who donated their time were from all over the state of Wisconsin (even arriving in the snow storm on the second day). They all have our own businesses and many have specialized areas that they work in, such as offices, storage area, workshops, and kitchens, so it was easy to coordinate everyone and let them do their thing. To have a group of people work together so well with the single goal in mind of helping out this family was really amazing to be a part of. In all, they contributed over 100 hours over a two day period.
The situation was that a single parent who had adopted two special needs children needed help regaining control over their home. Due to the attention that the children needed, he was not able to maintain the home, and it had become packed with stuff, including rooms full of clothes, toys, and ordinary household items until there were just paths to move around in throughout the home. He takes very good care of the children, but had the compulsion to give them everything that he could, until the house got to the condition that it was found in.
Over a two day period, we went through the entire house, creating useable living spaces, installing storage solutions, sorting clothes, and getting rid of the items that they did not need. The owner had control over getting rid of the stuff, so you can imagine how draining it was on him. We had a therapist from Chicago for support, as well as 1-800 Got Junk to haul away over 6 truckloads of stuff. (Each truckload weighs on average 2 tons.) A local carpenter donated his time and materials to build a bunk bed for the children. SecurX provided shredding services for any papers that needed to be destroyed. When we were all done, the Maid Brigade came in and cleaned the entire house. It was really amazing how we transformed the house in two days. Brenden is still working with the family to keep them on track of staying organized and in a recent conversation, he said that they are doing well and still keeping the house orderly.
The episode aired on Friday, February 8th at 9:00 pm CST on A&E.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you are ready to become organized. NAPO Wisconsin members are caring professionals who are looking out for client’s interests. We can give you direction, encouragement, and tactics to help you live a more organized life. For more information, please visit our website at www.napo-wi.com.
Brenden quoted in this article from the Professional Organizers in Canada. Working with clients who have hoarding issues. http://www.organizersincanada.ca/dd_sitefiles/documents/hoard_experts_20090916.pdf
The Mil
by Roxanne Johnson & contributors
Monday 11/23/2009
"...Brenden McDaniel and his Milwaukee
company, Action Organizing Services, were featured in two episodes
of A&E’s “Hoarders,” a reality show documenting those who have a
hard time parting with their belongings. The season premiere, filmed
in Riverwest and featuring McDaniel, became the most-watched
premiere in the network’s history. “Hoarders” is set for a second
season, and McDaniel is likely to make more appearances."
http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/themil/
Brenden McDaniel was called to intervene for a
client that was forcibly evicted from her home due to severe
hoarding conditions. Before and progress footage filmed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FTxI_Twvcc
http://www.todaystmj4.com/features/specialassignment/69393247.html
Hoarders
By Courtny Gerrish
When does collecting become a compulsion? Hoarding is a disease, not a habit. And it can destroy homes and ruin lives.
From the outside, hoarders look like anyone else you'd pass on the street. Inside, however, they are hurting. Their homes are disasters.
"Geri" is a hoarder. The Milwaukee County woman agreed to talk to us, in the hope of helping others. "It just started to heap up," she explained simply. But when we went into Geri's house, it was unimaginable.
The floor was covered with bags of stuffed animals, books, paperwork, pots, pans and garbage. The sink hadn't been used in years. The stairs were so heaped with debris that it was difficult to go up them. The basement was also stuffed with garbage.
We asked Geri what happened. How did her home get this bad? "It's like nature abhors a vacuum, and hoarders abhor a vacuum even more," she admitted.
Geri, a recently retired professional, lives a lonely life. She has no family in town, no close friends, and no pets. She told us much of the stuff she collected was supposed to be recycled.
She also said she's a great bargain shopper who does a lot of shopping. "Being a hoarder means you don't like to turn loose of anything," she explained. "Things take on an emotional resonance."
Eventually, neighbors noticed. And one horrible evening, paramedics removed Geri from her home and the house was deemed unlivable.
Brenden McDaniel, a professional organizer and the owner of "Action Organizing Services," is helping Geri get back into her home.
Helping hoarders is a personal mission to Brenden. "My mother who lived 10 blocks away from here actually committed suicide because of her hoarding - it got so bad. I couldn't help her, as her son I was very embarrassed, how could it get like this?" But he thinks he can help Geri. "She is just so sweet, you would never realize that she's hurting this much," he said. "I'm here to help her, not to take away her things."
Psychologist Brad Riemann runs the Obsessive Compulsive Disorders center at Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc. He treats many hoarders and told us the reasons people start hoarding vary, but many are obsessive-compulsive. "If it's kind of these classic OCD reasons, doubting their ability to sort properly, that can be treated fairly well," Dr. Riemann said. "We can get them back to a normalized situation." Geri admits she's been depressed for years... And is very lonely. "Just all that junk was a barricade. No one in their right mind would have wanted to come in here," she said.
Two weeks after our first visit, we revisited Geri's home. Brenden and his crew have been working the whole time to clean things up. It was much cleaner, but still full. Neatly stacked books replace mounds of moldy paper. The kitchen sink is empty. And you can actually walk upstairs. Geri seemed shocked by the changes but agreed it is for the best.
"I hope people don't come to the situation I found
myself in," she said. "I hope they get help before it gets to that
extreme." Geri called Brenden her salvation. She now has hope for
the future. "If I can come through this without people looking at me
and judging me, that will be just wonderful." Geri hopes to return
to her home to live soon... She still needs some plumbing and
electrical work done-- pretty tough on her limited income.
WTMJ Milwaukee Television Special Assignment
Brenden McDaniel of Action Organizing Services LLC® was interviewed on Sept. 15th by KQXR 100.3 The X, Boise, Idaho
Friday, September 11, 2009
Everybody's Business Milwaukeean helps 'Hoarders'
The Business Journal of Milwaukee Milwaukee executive to appear on
'Hoarders'
A Milwaukee-area business owner has been selected to join the stable of professional organizers appearing in the new A&E reality television show "Hoarders." With the show being picked up for a second season, Brenden McDaniel says he's likely to make an appearance in a couple of episodes, which profiles the lives of people whose excess accumulation of "treasures" threatens their lifestyle. McDaniel, owner of Action Organizing Services LLC® in Glendale, enters the scene to help clean up people's homes - and lives - a la "intervention"-style. He was featured in two episodes during the show's first season, and his appearances have attracted interest in his services. Other than being a television "star," McDaniel is also unique in one other way: He's one of the few male organizers certified by national organizing associations. McDaniel is the only male organizer in A&E's stable of organizers being tapped for "Hoarders."
Brenden McDaniel of Action Organizing Services LLC® was interviewed on Sept 7th by WCUB am 980 in Manitowoc, Wi
Article in the Wauwatosa Now newspaper January 2009 about Action Organizing Services LLC® and Brenden McDaniel. Click to read: "Milwaukee/NARI Encourages Homeowners to Start Year by Clearing Out Clutter".
Brenden was interviewed on the FM106 Morning Show in January 2009 about organizing.
Brenden was quoted in an article entitled, "Summer's endless mementos", the the September 12, 2008 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Article about Action Organizing Services LLC ® and Brenden McDaniel in the Winter 2008 Citigal Magazine.
Brenden was quoted in this article "One room at a time; Downsizing home takes careful thought, planning" Kenosha News; Dec 6, 2007; Section:Life; Page Number:13
Brenden was quoted in an article entitled, "Combat Clutter", in the October 2007 M Magazine.
Brenden was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Waukesha Section July 24, 2005.