I'm Jan.
And I'm from a small Texas town.
My house is a disaster.
It's got stuff stacked up in it.
Every time you move, you run into something.
And you spend about an hour picking everything up.
I was always going to do something.
And then, you know, you go to climb on the ladder, one day,
and you can't climb on it.
You done got too old.
When I want to eat, I have a microwave oven.
Or I have a toaster oven.
For a fridge?
Well, I was too embarrassed to have anybody in my house,
you know?
So I just parked it out there.
I just come out and get it out of the freezer
and thaw it out and then cook it.
I'm Misty, and Jan is my mom.
I haven't been to my mom's house in 17 years.
You could walk through it, but she had boxes everywhere.
I just got to watching too much TV
and, you know, it just made you feel good to buy something.
And here's the old UPS truck come up.
And you know, what I did I get today?
Hefty.
Lots of times, you forget what you ordered.
[music playing]
I have several dogs, and they keep me company.
They follow me.
If I can make it, they can make it.
She told me she had 10 dogs.
That's too many, especially in a house like that.
This is my bedroom.
This is where I sleep with my dogs.
Oh, I don't mind having them up here.
It's better than having to put up with lip service from a man.
I'm Chief Robert Johnson.
Janet is a citizen of my community.
We had received a call from a neighbor,
and he was concerned for her welfare and safety.
It was a really super hot day.
And so he called the fire people to come and check on her.
I was talking on the phone, and I had the TV on.
I didn't hear him knocking.
They thought they possibly had a deceased person
in the residence.
I came out of the bedroom, and I seen two men in the hallway.
I said, what are y'all doing?
And they said, (DEEP VOICE) fire chief,
we're here to check on you.
I'll meet you outside.
I thought, dadgum.
I go out there.
There's, like, three cop cars.
We did generate a report, which was forwarded
to Adult Protective Services.
If she does not clean this residence up then
our code enforcement division could get involved.
And she could be displaced from her home.
If I don't clean up good, they're probably gonna
make me move out, you know?
And they'll come in and clean it up themselves
and then send me the bill.
It's probably one of the worst cases
that I've ever seen in my career.
What we would like to see is the house is cleaned up
so that if there is any type of emergency,
that emergency medical teams can get in there.
My name is Matt Paxton.
I'm an extreme cleaning specialist.
We also have cats on the property.
How many do you think there are?
Do you know?
I don't know.
They broke in the garage.
The garage door had a hole in it, and they got in there
and had kittens.
She has more animals than what you can have by our code.
So that number would have to be down to three.
MATT PAXTON: That's tough.
That's like, which kid you want to keep?
That's a tough one.
MARK: What are you thinking, Jan?
Nothing.
Let's just change the subject, OK?
So we're back to cleaning house.
OK.
So what are you doing with these dogs?
Are you going to bring them back, or what?
We're going to--
Because you don't know which three I'm keeping,
so you can't possibly be doing this.
I need to know.
Are you taking them back and keeping them?
Or are you going to let me run an ad?
You need to call the chief of police to find out.
Yes, ma'am.
Please.
WORKER: Yes, ma'am.
My name is Mark Pfeffer.
I'm a licensed psychotherapist and specialist
in the treatment of anxiety and compulsive hoarding.
The dogs represented, to Jan, her family.
Over the last 20 years, really, that's all she's had.
They told me when they picked them up that I could run an ad
and sell them.
You turn them over to them.
And then you can run the ads, and they'll have the adoptions.
But they had to take possession of it,
because you could only permitted three by state law.
Jan is also a very tough cookie.
So for her to show any emotion tells us
how powerful that the feelings must have been for her to let
go.
We'll go to the pug rescue, or they'll be adopted out.
But they'll all be OK.
Thanks a lot.
Some parts this stuff is sad, you know?
So could we please continue?
Heinz 57 is still good.
I want that radio.
This stuff has an expiration date on it.
I don't care what it's got on it.
Mother, it's 2002.
It's not going to--
I don't care.
It's still got gel in it.
I can feel it.
I know, it's expired, 2002.
Look at it.
It's--
There, thank you.
It's 10 years old.
Now, why are you throwing things at me, now?
If I was throwing something at you, you would know it.
OK.
Because I would probably hit you.
What I witnessed today was Misty's voice
getting louder and louder.
You stood up to her.
No, let's keep it.
You didn't win that one, but you're registering.
You're finding your voice.
I want to finish the conversation,
because your daughter can't--
I told you, I'm not talking about it.
You don't have to talk.
You just listen to me, then.
I want to translate, for you, what your daughter was saying.
Mom, I don't want you to go back to the way you were.
I love you the way you are right now.
No, she don't.
She's trying to critique me on everything I do today.
Let me just finish.
No sense of humor.
You can't laugh--
No, I'm not saying you can't have a sense of humor.
I'm just saying, I don't want you
to go back to what this is now.
Well, I appreciate that.
I'm sure you'll be coming up here to check on me regularly.
And translation-- I'm the mom.
I don't like when you say that to me.
I want you to be with me.
She should have the right to disagree with you sometimes.
That's fine.
She's entitled to her opinion.
That's right.
But she-- that's what she was saying to you.
She loves you.
She wants you to have a life.
I know how she loves me.
Can we continue?
OK.
That's the best we're going to do for right now.
And I think she heard you.
MARK: The floors in this house have this "poop-maché."
We tried to pick it up piece by piece, and it just crumbles.
The only way to get it out is a sawzall.
[sawing]
MARK: She hadn't been to the beauty parlor in 20 years.
It's so important to give someone not only a home
back, but some self-esteem.
Oh, gosh, that looks good.
You guys look awesome.
Thank you.
What have you been doing so far, today?
We've been getting beautified.
You did the hard work to reconnect.
You did the hard work to let go of things.
We took 26 tons of trash out of this house,
almost 50,000 pounds.
Oh, look!
Oh my gosh.
MARK: Get in there.
Oh my god, furniture.
She just dropped all the walls and showed her true emotion.
Oh, my globes.
Oh, this is out of sight.
You said to me there was a lot of nosy people
in this neighborhood.
And it turns out, you're right.
Everything you're looking at is donated
by people from your town.
It's amazing.
And I'm most grateful.
That was unbelievably shocking to her.
She truly didn't think anyone in the world cared about her.
Oh, the stove!
Oh my gosh.
Wow.
- And a new-- - Oh, cookbook?
A dishwasher.
A washer?
Oh my gosh.
The outpouring of generosity was almost a prescription
for home mental health.
I've never had anybody be this kind to me.
Jan really did everything she could
to make this crisis go away.
Oh, Misty, look.
Oh, and there's a picture of the pugs.
Oh my gosh.
And thank God, the county agreed.
She can stay in this home.
She can live here happily.
She can keep three dogs.
I'd say this is success.
I just don't feel as alone now.
I feel closer to my daughter.
We've learned to actually listen to each other.
I am optimistic about the future.