MORRIS – Just over a year ago the Grundy County Health Department assembled a Grundy County Hoarding Task Force, bringing together municipalities, first responders and mental health professionals to address the mental illness.

Hoarding affects about 5 percent of the world’s population, according to statistics provided by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Susan Hudson, director of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Division at the Grundy County Health Department, said while the group hasn’t located all the residents who need help, members are seeing referrals from first responders and property managers.

“Some weeks we have no referrals, other weeks we have three or four,” Hudson said.

Hudson said there are nine counties in the health department’s region, and seven of them have hoarding task forces, including Will, Kendall and DuPage counties.

Once the county agencies found out there were others doing what they were, they decided to organize a regional group that will meet throughout the year to exchange information and discuss what others are doing and see if those ideas will work on a local level. They met in June at the DuPage Health Department.

“It’s fascinating to share, and some will say, ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’ We are looking forward to what the group will be able to do together,” Hudson said.

Phil Jass, public health administrator at the Grundy County Health Department, said what was once thought to be a local problem is much larger than originally thought.

“We think about how it affects us locally and now we are seeing that it’s much larger,” Jass said.

He said joining other agencies that have hoarding task forces in place gives the county additional resources that will be beneficial to the residents of Grundy County.

In June, Melissa Wasko, the “60-plus” therapist for the Grundy County Health Department, was seeing nine local residents who are actively working on their illness.

According to Mayo Clinic, “Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them. A person with hoarding disorder experiences distress at the thought of getting rid of the items. Excessive accumulation of items, regardless of actual value, occurs.”

Hudson said oftentimes the problem is not evident from outside the home, and the way they are found is when first responders are called to the home.

A hoarding protocol flowchart was put into place that first responders and code officers can follow in both emergency and non-emergency situations.

“Melissa responds to a report with someone, such as a first responder or a property manager, and lets them know we are here to help by being as reassuring as possible,” Hudson said. “She’s very gentle and not pushy. You can tell she is passionate about the cause.”

The hoarding task force was started with a grant from the Community Foundation of Grundy County, and Hudson said like any other grant-based program, making the program easy to duplicate is important so it can be shared with others.

Calls to DuPage and Will County departments for comments on this article were not immediately returned.