- I was always a collector.
I always liked picking up things.
(dramatic music)
- It's clear to me they've totally lost control
of the hoard.
- It's like a horror film. To me, it's life or death.
My parents will die in that home.
- This is disgusting and no one should live like this.
- I don't like to be threatened about doing something.
(dramatic music)
- Everything here matters to you,
and we can't keep most of it.
- Might as well just shrivel up and die.
- My name's Tim Mesen, code enforcement officer
with the county of San Bernardino.
- (bleep) you.
- No, no, I'm not taking it!
That's bull (bleep). That's not the idea.
- What frightens me is this has become normal.
(dramatic music)
(tense music)
(mellow guitar music)
- I'm Montie, semi-retired mechanic,
agriculture worker, and Vietnam vet.
- Ow.
I'm Sherry.
I'm a housewife, assistant mechanic, agricultural worker,
and that's it.
(tense music)
- I was always a collector.
I always liked picking up things.
I've got tractor transmission parts, rear ends for tractors,
engines.
Tools, tubing, everything under the sun.
I've always been working on something,
working, tinkering with something.
Building something or something.
(tool sparking)
(foreboding music)
I've had code enforcement on me over eight different times.
I've paid fines over eight different times.
A thousand dollars a fine.
I didn't like the reason why they were being called
because the real estate people selling houses
down the street and they didn't have guts enough
to come to me personally to ask me to clean my yard up.
They had to go to county code enforcement
to turn around and tell them to come clean my yard up.
And that's the reason why I got really defiant about it.
(intense music)
- It's a terrible mess. - A total mess.
(Sherry laughs)
(dramatic swoosh)
(foreboding music)
- In the house, we've got clothes.
(tense music)
Blankets, papers.
Coats, jackets, pots and pans.
(dramatic music)
Stuff here, stuff there.
Just everything you can think of.
- We don't argue about it because we're both at fault.
- We're both at fault.
(dramatic music)
- I'm Audora and I am Sherry and Montie's oldest daughter.
(gentle somber music)
For 20 years or more, I've only ever been allowed
to pull up to the street.
I've never even really been allowed
to pull into the driveway.
My mom would tell me,
"I'm embarrassed. I don't want you to come in."
- I'm Brenda, I am Sherry and Montie's youngest daughter.
(tense music)
I have seen the house one time, about 25 years ago.
And I asked my mom to go to the bathroom.
My mom said, "You're not gonna like it. It is a mess."
She actually let me go in.
I really didn't pay attention to what things look like,
just to get in there and get out.
- I'm Stella, I'm Sherry and Montie's middle daughter.
(gentle somber music)
The last time I was at Sherry and Montie's house,
it has to be at least more than 25 years.
The house was clean, except the dining room.
After that, I was never allowed in the house.
(slow somber music)
- A buddy of mine, he was backing up to the gateway,
and the truck bumper caught me between my stomach
and a telephone pole fence.
- Yeah, you had four fractured vertebrae,
a fractured coccyx, and a smashed urethra.
- Yeah. Okay.
- I told my mom, I need to see the inside of the house.
I don't care how bad it is, I have to see,
because Dad's gonna come home from the hospital
and if it's bad, you need help.
I can help you.
I've been an ER nurse for 18 years.
Let me see what we're dealing with.
To say it was shocking is putting it mildly.
(ominous music)
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
It's like a horror film.
I saw a closet of clothes that had so much dust on it.
I mean, I don't think anybody's touched it in decades.
(dramatic music)
Nobody could cook in that kitchen.
- The stove works.
I can cook in there.
- And God forbid anybody eat anything
that comes out of that kitchen.
They could get sick.
(dramatic music)
That bathroom, the toilet is full of feces.
The sink isn't connected to the wall.
The shower is black.
I don't even know what that black is in there.
I was so overwhelmed with emotion
that I was shaking when I came out of the house.
I mean, it just is that upsetting.
- I'm Rhiannon, and I'm Montie and Sherry's granddaughter.
(soft somber music)
When my mom visited the house,
she'd actually had said that she can't believe
that she had been around my grandma and grandpa
and have had them over and had seen her grandchildren,
my babies, in the condition in which they live
and the germs that they're probably bringing with them.
- She was devastated about it.
She wanted, mother should have been taken care of better.
She kinda ruled it on me, the whole thing and I kinda-
- And it's not totally his fault.
I'm responsible too. Takes two to tango.
- My mom never kept a home like that.
I really can't wrap my mind around how
my mom's home became like that.
So then it leads me to think
it's something to do with Montie.
(slow haunting music)
- I was in 'Nam for 27 months, basically almost three years.
Gettin' out, I had a truck blowed out from under me.
Had an outhouse fall on my back too.
Fell out of the back of the truck when we were loading it.
Metal railing about that far,
and I got a scar in the middle of my back about that long.
I've been diagnosed with PTSD.
That's the reason why I see a psychiatrist every two weeks.
- And sometimes he has night terrors.
(explosions booming) (tense music)
- I find myself waking up after I've hit the wall.
- When we were sleeping together,
he almost hit me in the head with his fist,
and I had to wake him up.
He sleeps in his room and I sleep on the couch.
(tense music)
- Montie was in a horrific accident.
My mom has COPD, she has diabetes.
It's not safe for a healthy person to live there,
let alone somebody that has health problems.
- How they've lived there this entire time, I don't know.
I worry for their health, for their safety.
I couldn't begin to even fathom what their true
day-to-day life looks like.
I love them dearly, they're my grandparents,
but both my children are very vulnerable to illnesses,
and just the simplicity of having
grandma and grandpa around are putting my children at risk.
It is upsetting and very concerning.
(tense music)
- If the house does not get cleaned up
and into a livable, safe environment,
I have to call APS.
I have to get Adult Protective Services involved
and let them handle it from there.
At this point, to me, it's life or death.
My parents will die in that home.
That's how I feel about it.
(dramatic music)
(tense music)
My mom is not going to live there anymore.
Not in that condition, she is not going to.
If I have any say so at all, it's not happening.
(tense music)
(knocking at door)
- Hello. - Sherry, hi. I'm Dr. Nieves.
- Dr. Nieves?
- Yes. Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
- And this is Montie?
- This is Montie. - Yes.
- Hi Monty, nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you too.
- Thank you for inviting me into your home.
I'm Dr. Dinorah Nieves and I am a behavioral scientist.
How long have you all been living here?
- About 20 years. - [Montie] 25.
- 25 years.
- Walking into the house, it's clear to me
whoever's living in this home has totally lost control
of the hoard.
My first thought is, how did we get here?
25 years.
- Yeah. - Of accumulated stuff.
- [Dinorah] Of good memories?
25 years of good memories? - Oh yeah. Yeah.
- [Sherry] Oh, yeah.
Well, it wasn't always like this, believe me.
- No?
- This developed over working too much
and coming home and going to sleep. (laughs)
- An answer about long working hours and them being busy
may explain why it's hard to keep up with a home,
but certainly doesn't explain piles and piles of clutter.
What can you use in here?
Can you use the kitchen? Where's the kitchen?
- Right behind you. - Right behind you.
- [Dinorah] So, you got a lot going on in this kitchen.
- [Sherry] Yes.
- Are you really cooking in this kitchen, Sherry?
- Yeah.
- Do you feel safe cooking in that kitchen?
- Yeah, I do. - You really do?
- I, I'm careful.
- All I can see when I look in the kitchen
is piles and piles of flammable objects
and piles of dirt.
So many things that can compromise someone's health.
And yet, she seems not to be frightened at all.
Here's what scares me.
Not only would I be terrified to cook in this kitchen.
- Yeah.
- I'm scared that you're not scared.
- Well, I'm careful. Very careful.
- You know why accidents are called accidents?
- Because they're accidents.
- They don't happen it on purpose.
- No, no, they don't. - Right? Okay.
Okay. What frightens me is that this has become normal,
that you've normalized it,
and that when we normalize threats, right?
- [Sherry] Yeah.
- In order for us to be able to get through our day
without constantly reacting to the threat,
we begin to overlook them, to ignore them, right?
- Right. - They're normal.
- [Sherry] Right.
- But that doesn't make 'em less of a threat.
- [Sherry] Right.
- There is an awareness that there is a danger,
but they've adapted to it in such a way
where they minimize it for their benefit,
and also to minimize the shame around it.
Where's the bathroom?
- Behind you.
- Okay.
Now, do you use this bathroom?
- Yes. - Yes.
- Okay.
Would you let me use that bathroom?
- No. - No.
- Why not?
- It's too dirty.
- Why would it be too dirty for me
and not too dirty for you?
- [Montie] 'Cause we live here.
- Why would you value me more than you value yourselves?
- You give company a lot higher than we do ourself.
- We're hopefully cleaning all this out.
- So, now you're ready to do this?
- Yes. - Yes.
- What will happen if you don't do this?
- Our kids are gonna be on our tails
and they're gonna be calling authorities.
- Has that been mentioned?
- Mm-hmm.
- Okay. So there's some added stakes.
- Mm-hmm.
I don't like to be threatened about doing something.
- [Dinorah] Okay.
- Code enforcement's fined me numerous times
for my yard outside, and I was defiant of 'em.
- Okay. And you don't like to be told what to do?
- Not that way.
I felt this way ever since I come outta the service.
And I came out of the, I come out the service,
spending 27 months in 'Nam, to come home and be spit on.
And now they wanna try to kiss my ass,
to turn around and say everything's fine again.
It ain't fine again. And I turned around and I did my best.
I'd do it over again.
But it's, to come home and be spit on.
And then to have to just shut up, keep my mouth shut,
say I was never there.
- There's a lot there, right? - Yeah.
- So give me one second, I'm gonna try to unpack it.
- All right.
- The first thing is, thank you for your service, Montie.
- You're welcome.
- The second thing is,
if you feel that the way you were treated
was abusive in some way, or neglectful in some way,
I want you to consider the possibility
that you may have recreated it here.
He has projected outward onto his home
the same type of neglect and abuse that he felt
when he came back from fighting a war.
It's easy for us to behave in a way
that mirrors how we've been treated,
because we begin to believe that how other people see us
is how we should see ourselves.
So what we wanna do is encourage you
not to neglect and abuse yourself
because you felt neglected and abused when you came home.
And I can see how that would've happened.
And now that's something we're gonna shift.
- And it's- - Yeah?
- All the sudden it's just snowballed.
- Yeah. - And made everything worse.
- We got, we're gonna do it. We're gonna do it.
Because here's what I know to be true.
You fought a whole war for our country,
and you still have a lotta fight in you, you told me.
And you have stuff to fight for.
You have a home, you have a family, you have a wife.
You gotta fight for your marriage, Montie.
You gotta fight for your health, Montie.
You gotta fight for your home. - Yes.
- You gotta fight for this. - [Montie] Yes.
- Because this is what you fought for.
What'd you go fight for?
- It's just...
- Are you crying?
Can I wipe this tear?
- Go ahead. - Okay. (sighs)
- I am, I am an emotional person.
- Me too. We gonna be in here crying all together.
- I'm sorry and I'm not sorry.
- Don't be sorry to me. You didn't do anything to me.
I want you to look at what you've been existing in.
And I think you said some stuff that starts to get at it.
Because, if you feel neglected and abused,
it is very easy to neglect and abuse yourself.
- Right.
- If you feel silenced, it is very easy to silence yourself.
It is very difficult to fight against what you perceive
are other people's feelings about you.
That is a very difficult thing to do.
(gentle music)
(tense music)
- You are important enough to yourselves and to one another,
to make a commitment to live differently.
- Yes. - Yeah.
- Yeah. Okay?
- It's like trying to start life all over again.
- [Dinorah] Yeah.
- I don't like living like this.
- If you're ready to change this,
we are going to work on exactly what you're asking for,
which is an opportunity to move forward differently
than the way you've been living.
And what I wanna do now is take you out to meet Dorothy,
who's the organizer,
and she's going to be the logistic
and physical side of the support, right?
Okay? - Okay. All right.
- All right. Let's go.
- Hi, Dinorah.
- Hi, Dorothy.
So this is the amazing organizer I was talking to you about.
- Hello. - Hello.
- Hi, Montie.
- Hello. - Nice to meet you.
- Hello, Sherry. Good to meet you.
I'm Dorothy Breininger, I'm a professional organizing expert
and I specialize in hoarding.
I brought some people you might know.
- How about this? - Yeah, just slightly.
- We've got granddaughter Rhiannon here.
- [Sherry] Love you so much, baby.
- [Dorothy] And we've got daughter, Stella.
- Hi, Dad. - Hi, honey.
- Hi, Mama. - Hi, Boo Boo. (laughs)
- To me, it seems like there are problems
not only outside the property, but inside as well.
I need to know what they are, so I can respond to them.
Stella and Rhiannon have not been in the house
for a really long time,
so we all need to go in there for different reasons.
(door creaks)
(soft mysterious music)
- I am horrified, is the first word that comes to mind.
Floored by the filth
and the smell is overwhelming.
Oh, geez. Okay. It smells really bad.
- [Dorothy] Yeah, it does. It does.
- Do they do anything in here? Do we know?
Did she indicate that she cooks in here, and does-
I mean, the stove obviously looks like it can't be utilized,
but I mean, I wouldn't want to even cross this,
this entry right here.
And that's the way that my grandparents live every day?
It's not some make-believe place
that's been made to purposely scare people?
It's insane.
Oh my gosh.
- [Dorothy] I want you to step in and really see
what's going on there.
- Hmm. Okay.
(sighs) Yikes.
It's hard to even- - Let Stella take a look.
- Have words on, on having your brain process.
It leaves me speechless.
I have no words for how bad it is in there right now.
- (sighs) Oh.
It's, it's disgusting.
- They use that toilet.
- It's, it's disgusting to me.
I have no words.
- You have no words?
- Yeah. - This house is not livable.
There's no reason why anyone should be in here.
- Yes. - For anything.
- [Stella] This is the bedroom, I guess?
- [Dorothy] I believe so.
- Okay. There's one little standing spot.
- [Dorothy] Well, all right, keep moving in.
I want Stella to come in.
- How can you get in this bed?
He's, he just had an accident.
I mean, there's just no, no one should live like this.
- Okay. And right over to the left here.
- Oh gosh, is all his hospital stuff.
- That's all his hospital stuff.
His bandages, you know, all of that.
- Yeah.
It's not healthy.
It's, it's not sanitary.
He can be very easily back in the hospital
with an infection or something.
- [Stella] Yeah, exactly.
- With all this stuff he's exposed to
and the way he's living.
The living room, presumably?
- Living room. - My God.
- Wow.
My eyes are burning, my nose is burning. It's horrible.
It's just garbage and dirt, and it hasn't been touched
in many, many years.
- This is disgusting. - And I see-
- And no one should live like this.
Just heartbreaking that they let it go that long.
It really is.
I just don't know how you could live like that.
I just, I don't know.
It's beyond-
- No one should have to live like that.
- No. Never. - I mean.
- I'll take all the criticism you wanna throw.
All right? - It's not criticizing.
- I respect that.
I deserve that, and everything else.
And I'm not holding it against you for saying it,
because it's honest to God's truth.
- It doesn't come from a place of criticism.
It comes from a place- - [Both] Of concern.
- Yeah, it's more like, I wouldn't let my dog
live like that, let alone a person.
I just wouldn't want you to live like that. I really don't.
- We actually never invited anybody into the house,
because basically, I was ashamed of it.
- Okay.
- I was, I was.
And that's the reason why I didn't ask anybody to come over.
That's basically it, I was ashamed of the house,
so I didn't want nobody here.
- Montie is stuck in a little bit of a shame spiral.
And it seems like Sherry will join him sometimes in that,
which means that because they're ashamed,
they don't believe they deserve more,
and because they don't deserve more,
they believe they can continue with life as it is.
- Did it ever occur to you to ask for help?
- I know I've offered to come and help you several times.
- I know you did. - I know you have.
- But we didn't, Stella, we didn't want you to have to come
from Arizona and clean up our mess.
And that's exactly what it was.
- No, I would've helped you.
And you know it. - I know. I know you-
- Yeah, I know. - I know you would.
You're family. - I know, honey, I know.
- Family helps family, always. - Yeah, I know.
But I was ashamed to ask you, actually.
Oh, come here, baby. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. Okay.
- It's okay, sweetie.
- It's just so much. I just...
- Love you too.
- I love you too, Grandma.
- You know I love you, Dad. - I know it.
- And I would do anything for you.
- I know you would.
- Shame is a prison, right?
It really, it keeps people out
and it keeps people stuck inside.
And so, one of the things that we wanna do
is help release you from the prison of shame
that you've created, right?
That keeps you all stuck inside of the shame,
and that keeps all of the people who love
and wanna support you, locked outside.
- Mm-hmm.
(rapid pulsating music)
- Not cleaning it up is not an option at this point.
But when you start trying to get rid of the tractors
and the trucks and the things that don't work,
that's where you're gonna have problems with.
You're gonna have the most problems with Montie.
(daunting music)
- The logistics on this whole project is so huge
because we need auto salvage, we need to have tow trucks,
we need to have skip loaders, we need to have forklifts,
we need to have crews.
I'm going to call a morning meeting
and get everybody together so we're on the same page.
(dramatic music)
Good morning, everybody. (laughs)
- [Group] Good morning.
- I'm so glad to see so many people.
Why? Because we need so many people. (laughs)
- Oh, yeah.
- We've got our Junk Dog team here.
We've got our Boss Organizing team here.
Ah, and we have one special person
who's really going to be able to help us out here.
(gentle music)
- Hi, Mom. - Hi!
- Hi, Dad. - Hi.
- [Dorothy] Here's Brenda.
(Sherry and Brenda laugh)
(gentle piano music)
- Let me hug my daddy.
- [Montie] Long time, no see.
(Montie and Brenda sniffle)
Miss you.
- Here to help.
(Montie sniffles)
- Brenda, welcome to the group.
- Hi, and thank you.
- And you haven't seen them in a while, right?
- I haven't seen 'em in 20 years.
Big gap. (laughs)
- We've gone as far as we possibly can
to bring in as much emotional support for you,
for the whole family.
- That was a large one right there.
- You wanna? - Aww.
- Daddy. (sniffles)
I love you, Daddy. - Love you too.
- Seeing them receiving Brenda with such a warm welcome
is really so exciting.
As human beings, we're social people.
We depend on community. We depend on our support systems.
I think this adds a bit of an extra incentive
for them to continue through this process
and really make a change.
Look around, because this is your family.
And we get really caught up in thinking
that other stuff matters, right?
But this right here, this is what matters.
- Yes, it does.
- And if you have a hard time letting go of other stuff,
hold onto that.
That's what you're fighting for.
- I will. I will. - That's your family.
That's what matters.
- You see all these hands, everybody's holding hands here.
Look at that.
- Mm-hmm, and they're holding onto you.
- We love you, Dad. - Mm-hmm.
- We love you too.
- We love you so much.
We love you, Mama.
- Love you too.
- I've laid in bed thinking about some of the things
behind us and everything else, to go in that dumpster.
- Mm-hmm.
- And it takes a lot out for me to say,
"Throw it in that truck, trailer."
That's my livelihood.
- Mm-hmm.
- 74 years old.
I'm not gonna quit working, can't quit.
I wanna go back to work.
I wanna throw these away and go back to work.
I'm not gonna stop working, until I'm down there.
- This is a hard process, and any one of us would struggle.
Right? So the struggle is expected
and we're gonna get you through it.
You know it's hard.
- Well, in order to deal with it,
we need to have a plan in place.
- Right. - Right?
And I want to be clear that we're here
because there is a crisis, all right?
You have code violations. You've paid-
- Numerous fines.
- Numerous fines for the code violations.
And that's still outstanding.
And we need to make it so that you are no longer
having to deal with these code violations.
Today, because we have so much,
we're going to focus on this back part of the yard,
all the way up to the house.
- Okay.
- All right? - Yep.
- Perfect. Strong, deliberate. That's great.
So I want all my Junk Dogs and Boss Organizers
start walking, family behind us.
Go with determination.
(tense music) (items clatter)
It's now decision-making time.
It's the first moment where you get to make some decisions.
We're going to make decisions as to what's gonna go
on the metal bin and what's going to go for trash.
Green is for the metal, the scrap metal.
Orange is for what we're going to trash. Okay?
The wood?
- All trash.
- Trash?
(paint spraying)
- [Montie] Keep.
- Okay, I'm moving over here.
- [Montie] Metal.
(paint spraying) - Thank you.
Hold it up to Montie and Sherry, see if it can go.
(tense music)
- [Sherry] Go.
- Keep, throw.
- Go.
- Bottle stays.
Can can go.
The orange sink can go.
Ladder can go too.
(tense music)
- Sherry, you're doing a good job comforting him.
- It's all right.
- Montie, how hard is this for you?
- Hard.
- Zero is "super easy." 10 is like, "I barely can stand it."
- Ten.
- Shikes. Then let me do this.
You're doing a great job.
I can already see Montie, you know, shifting with his hands.
This is one of his nervous ticks,
so I can tell when he's starting to get upset.
That first hour was delightful. The honeymoon is over.
- All that stuff is rusted out in that trailer.
- [Montie] It was rusted out when I put it in there.
- That's a hose connector. Like a fire hose.
- This right here is over 300 bucks.
It's all brass.
- What are you gonna do with it, Dad?
- [Sherry] We're not gonna throw it away.
- No, I'm not gonna throw it away,
'cause I need to use this Tuesday.
- Dad. - What?
- Come with me, please.
- Come with you?
- That stuff in the trailer really needs-
- I don't care what's in the trailer.
I know what's in the trailer 'cause I put it all in there.
- Don't yell at me, dad.
- It's staying right in that trailer.
I don't care what anybody- - It is rust.
- I don't care!
- It's rust! - I don't care!
- [Brenda] Dad!
- I've had it. I've, I've had it.
- Dad. - I've had it, no.
- Dad. - No.
- Don't get mad at me. - I'm not mad at you.
- Show me. - I'm not mad at you.
- [Dorothy] Tell me what's go-
- I'm mad at- - Don't leave.
I'm not mad at you. I'm just leaving.
I'm (bleep) mad. (bleep), people wanna tell me what I got.
Everything is in that stinking trailer!
(intense music)
(items clatter)
- Here, sit on these rubber boots.
What happened?
- People wanna tell me what they want,
they wanna throw away.
- Who was telling you?
- Kids.
- Your kids? Okay.
- I told 'em everything that's in that damn trailer
to leave alone.
- Okay.
- Everything that's in that trailer.
I don't know how much has gone in the bin.
- Nothing from the trailer.
Nothing from the trailer's going in the bin so far.
- They started taking it and I stopped 'em.
- People are just all over your space.
Here's what I know.
My team is trained not to put anything away.
Your family hasn't been trained yet.
I will train them. (laughs) Okay?
- I know. And then they wanna know
why I want to keep everything, "It's rusty."
Well, yeah. What do you expect from it being worked outside?
It's parts have stayed outside.
The tractors have been outside.
The tractor was rusty when I took it apart.
- I know.
- They don't know what it's like-
- Nope.
- To turn around and have to keep things to keep working.
They all have got a good job or whatever they do.
- Yep.
- Where I work at, I'm my own boss.
Nobody tells me, "You have to do this this way, or else."
- Here's what I'm observing.
You're losing control of your stuff.
- Basically.
- And it feels- - People are working
in too many different directions, moving things.
- So, because you feel out of control over this process,
and you feel like you're losing control of the stuff,
you're holding on tighter,
and trying to take back control of the process.
If every item had to go through him,
we would never be able to help him clear out the space
in an efficient and productive way.
So we wanna get him on board with trusting the team.
And we're trying to help him understand
that he's going to have to let go
of a lot of the things that he finds valuable,
because they are still getting in the way
of him being able to live happily, healthily,
and productively in this home.
(dramatic music)
(metal clangs) (intense music)
- Stay.
(tense somber music)
- Hello. - Hi.
- Hi. My name's Tim Mesen, code enforcement officer
with the county of San Bernardino.
- Montie Brown. - Montie, good to meet you.
- Hi, I'm Dorothy, the organizer.
- Hi, I'm Tim Mesen. Good to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
Okay. You're here.
- Yes. Yes. (Dorothy laughs)
Just kind of seeing what we have.
- Absolutely helpful to speak directly to code enforcement.
I need to know exactly what it is Montie and Sherry
need to do in order to comply,
so that we can make this property a yes for you.
You know, my team is here to carry out the compliance.
- Okay. - So in terms
of the outer property, can you be very specific
and tell us exactly the kinds of things
that need to be done?
- I can, yes. So, the exterior of any property
and interior of any structure must be maintained in a clean,
safe, and sanitary condition.
So, we have accumulations of a lot of equipment,
accumulations of weeds that can be potential fire hazards,
auto parts and things have a lot of fluids that can leak
into the ground and are hazardous to the environment.
But really what we wanna see is the area cleared
down to the dirt.
So all of the machinery, things like that,
things not normally associated
with a residential neighborhood need to be removed.
- I have to have clarification.
When we look back over your left shoulder.
- Yes. - Okay, I've got some cars,
I've got a truck.
Monty would like to keep his trailers and his cars here
and we want to get them squared off neatly
and parked back here.
Is that acceptable?
- So, per what the ordinance says,
we would require any vehicle that remains inoperative
to be stored inside of a garage,
and stored in a manner that isn't going to prevent
emergency personnel from accessing the property.
- [Dorothy] Montie, how you doing?
- I'm good, good.
- Yeah, I know that's not true.
Montie, I'm gonna, I, I see you, hun.
(Montie mumbles)
I'm holding your hand for a second.
You're good?
- I'm good. I'm good. - I got ya.
I have to keep going 'cause I want-
- Go ahead. - You wanna comply, correct?
- I, I have to comply.
- What's going on, Dad?
- Nothing. - Nothing?
It's gonna be all right.
I promise you it's gonna be-
- Oh yeah, mm-hmm. - It's gonna be better.
- Okay.
- [Brenda] I love you, Dad.
- Basically what you're sitting around saying,
you might as well bring a skip loader
and throw out everything in the damn dumpster.
- We're gonna get it- - But then-
- We're gonna get it figured out.
- I can't do my job.
I may be 74 years old, but I still work.
I still maintain tractors, I still work on stuff.
Your turning around telling me, I can't work no more.
- I hear you. I, I understand, sir.
(slow somber music)
- Might as well just shrivel up and die.
- I don't want that for you, Montie.
Can we create a station, you know, near his garage,
where he's got a workstation for some of these things?
- So they would actually have to be stored
on the interior of the garage.
I think if the garage is cleared out and organized,
that he'd be able to store some of the tools,
some of the parts,
the things that he needs to repair the tractors,
within the structure itself.
- And I'd love to see that.
You can't even get in your garage.
It'd be so great if you had like two-
- I don't want nobody in my garage.
- Right. - But myself,
and I know how to get in and out of it.
- Right.
I know you're getting mad.
- I keep it that way
because of the stinking thieves we have around here.
I keep it disorganized.
I organize it, they might as well just walk,
just open the gate and walk out with everything I got.
That's the reason why I keep a lot of this like it is,
because they can't find it.
- Code enforcement is here, and of course Montie's triggered.
He's frustrated, he's upset
and this was to be expected.
He gave us a really good glimpse into this behavior
when he talked about not liking it when he's threatened.
Can we get rid of the other vehicles,
or can we get the garage cleared out
so that we can put vehicles we wanna keep in there?
- You can't clear out enough room in there
to to store my '62 Ford one ton.
- This is what we talked about, right?
It's gonna get hard.
- Oh, I know.
- It's gonna get hard.
And this is the first of many times
that you're gonna feel like something
that's really important to you,
that you've been holding on for so long,
that means so much, that's such a big part of your life,
has to go.
It's just one of a thousand of these decisions
that you're gonna have to make here.
- That's just like, one of the vehicles that we got,
we had when we got married.
- Okay, so is that why you're trying to hold onto it?
- It's got sentimental value too.
- Okay.
So what can we take from the truck that you can hold onto
that will remind you of the truck you got
when you got married? - Nothing.
- You don't need the whole truck. You got the wife.
- Nothing.
Just, I built the bed for that truck and I just, it's just...
- It's a lot of emotional value, I get that.
Montie, we're not discounting that at all.
There's no part of me that doesn't feel like
it matters to you.
I get that it matters to you.
Everything here matters to you and we can't keep most of it.
Otherwise, we can't get you what you asked for
the first day, which is your house and your yard back.
We can't keep everything that matters to you.
- He thinks that he should be able to live
any way he wants to live.
I am taking the code enforcement officer into the house
because they need to see what's happening in there.
At this point, to me, it's a life or death situation.
They need to go in there and I'm going to take them in there
and they are going to see what's happening in there.
- With your consent, I'm gonna take some photos.
(shutter clicks)
Okay.
- [Audora] That's where my mother sleeps,
on that little loveseat there.
- Okay. (shutter clicks)
- [Audora] The bathroom,
I don't think we both can go in there.
Sink obviously has not been used.
There is water, and feces, and urine in the toilet.
- Okay.
My concern is obviously this toilet
is completely non-functional.
They're still using it, which is a problem.
- Okay.
- Officer. - Yes.
- You've seen the house. All of it, or no?
- No, he hasn't seen the back room.
- Well, not the very back room,
but I think that seeing this first entry area
gives me an idea of what kind of thing we're working with.
- At this point, how do you declare this house?
- Oh, it's absolutely unsafe.
It's unlivable.
- Yeah.
- I already knew that. It's horrible.
It's the most, it's the most horrible thing I've ever seen.
Like I never even seen anything like this in my life.
(Audora cries)
- It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
It's your mom. It's your mom.
- It's too much. (cries)
She can't be here no more.
If this house is declared unlivable
and she has to go somewhere else, then thank God for that.
(intense music)
- I've got tractor transmission parts, engines.
Everything under the sun.
I've had code enforcement on me over eight different times.
(dramatic music)
- I went in and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
It's like a horror film, honestly, to me.
(foreboding music)
- Hi, my name's Tim Mesen, code enforcement officer
with the county of San Bernardino.
- Montie Brown. - Montie, good to meet you.
- I am taking the code enforcement officer
into the house because at this point,
to me, it's a life or death situation.
The bathroom, I don't think we both can go in there.
There is water, and feces, and urine in the toilet.
- Officer, how do you declare this house?
- It's absolutely unsafe. It's unlivable.
- This is bad.
I mean, I want them to be able to keep this home,
but if it's like this, I don't want them here.
I'd rather have them anywhere else than here.
(dramatic music)
- We're back again.
- Yes.
- Audora felt very strongly that not only should this space
be reviewed, but your house as well.
And so, officer, can you explain what it is
that you are discovering, and what you inspected?
- I do have some serious issues
with the way the interior of the house is.
I mean, it's not clean, it's not safe,
it's not sanitary conditions.
There are a lot of health and safety things
with fire personnel being able to get in
if something were to happen,
or for you to be able to get out if something were to happen.
And essentially, in the condition that's in right now
is not a habitable structure.
- But we're gonna try to fix that over the next few days,
Dad, that's why we're here.
That's why- - Well, the thing about it is,
you might as well tear the house down
and build it all over again.
- Dad, it's not okay. I'm sorry, but it's not okay.
(Montie sighs)
I love you. I can't watch you guys live in there like that.
We've got to clean that up and make it livable.
- I know it, that's what they're supposed to be here for.
- That's what we're doing. That's what we're doing.
- But I don't need people like that being here.
I'm not- - I understand.
- No, you know.
- Montie has the tendency to push against people
telling him the truth.
It is not a betrayal of him for his daughter to have taken
code enforcement into the home.
But that in actuality, it's a continued support
for all of us as a team in supporting him,
to know exactly what it is that we need to fix,
and to be able to do it in a very efficient way.
I want you to just look at the behavior, right?
Because there are things that we do that welcome people
to tell us the truth, and there are things that we do
to push people off of us when we don't wanna hear the truth.
Right? - I understand.
- And it's the eye contact, and it's the body language.
I get that you're frustrated, and I get that you're angry,
and I get that this is scary.
But you have your daughters here saying,
"We are not going to allow you to live in a place
that's unsafe." - [Audora] 'Cause we love you.
- Do you want a greater gift than that?
(gentle piano music)
(Brenda cries)
- [Montie] Thanks for being here.
(Brenda cries)
- [Dinorah] Oh, it's a good fest over here.
Everybody in, let's go. - [Montie] It'll be all right.
- Go ahead. I see it happening. Everybody in.
- [Montie] I know. I understand. I understand.
- [Audora] So we're gonna fix it.
- Audora is both one of the sadder, and yet more heroic
figures in the story for me.
Because, she is so impacted emotionally
by confronting this visual representation
of her parents' discomfort and danger.
But she is also so brave in being willing to stand up
to them and say, "Enough is enough.
We're not doing this anymore."
She loves you and she didn't know
what else to do, Montie.
Can you hear that?
- I know, I understand.
She made me come to, she made me come to reality.
- Exactly.
- And you've made me come to reality
enough times in my life too.
And I loved you for it because I became
a better person because of it.
Okay? - Okay.
- Okay, so we're just taking care of each other here,
that's what we're doing, okay?
- [Montie] What I'm trying to do.
- Go give him a hug.
- Didn't wanna hurt you.
- Home is where the heart is.
- [Montie] And it's not gonna be easy.
- And we're gonna clear out the house,
and we're also gonna clear out your heart.
Let go of some of that pain.
- This was definitely the lowest, the hardest,
the worst of it, on the decision to have called
and shown the house to code enforcement.
But I'll tell you what, put your trust in us.
- I am.
- We can do this. We can do this.
(metal clanks) (intense music)
We cleared the backside of the property.
(objects clanging)
We filled one entire dumpster full of scrap metal.
We did get rid of one ton worth of trash.
So, a lot got accomplished.
But it's nowhere near enough.
(bold dramatic music)
Family members, organizers, doctors, all of you.
Thank you for being here this morning.
How are you doing, Montie?
- I'm alive.
- You're alive. Sherry, how you doing right now?
- Fine, I think. - Okay.
All right, the more people we have, the better it is.
We actually have one more person who can help us out.
- Howdy. - Hi!
- Hi. (Sherry laughs)
It's been a minute.
I'm Ben.
Stella's my mom, and Montie and Sher are my grandparents.
(Ben and Sherry laugh)
It's been six years since I've seen them last.
- I don't bite. - You don't bite?
(Sherry laughs)
- I'm here today to surprise my grandparents with,
I guess, my assistance, my help.
- Okay. Well, family, thanks for showing up.
We've got some things to do.
We're still in a crisis, and we've not hit the house yet.
So we've got things to think about.
This isn't me speaking to you.
This is code enforcement.
Montie, you got it? - I got it.
- Okay. So I'm gonna bring us back to the crisis at hand.
We're going to move to the front yard.
- Right.
- That front yard is going to be clean as a whistle.
But that means we've gotta move cars, vehicles.
- I understand. - So on.
- If they run and they're operable, they stay. Okay?
What we have to deal with is the crane,
which doesn't run currently, the utility truck.
Family members, you good with that?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Because if we don't get the vehicles that aren't running
off this property,
they're not gonna come into code compliance.
And that's what we're trying to do here.
- Do you have any other concerns?
- If we don't come into code compliance, I mean-
- Our parents will live in an adult home.
- Bad things could happen, for sure.
- I know what's gonna happen, because I already-
- You're not gonna put me in an adult facility, (bleep) you!
- Don't, Mom, nobody said you're-
- (bleep) you. - We need you, sweetheart.
- [Audora] Mom.
(daunting music)
- [Dinorah] Sherry? - [Sherry] (bleep) all of you.
- Hey. Can we stop for a second? Just take a breath.
I just need you to breathe.
You don't have to talk if you don't want to,
just take a breath.
So, Sherry believes that she hears something about
being put into an adult care facility.
Just take a breath.
She doesn't take the time to clarify, and storms off.
In many ways, this is what I've been waiting for,
is a reaction of any kind from Sherry,
to the experience that we all know to be difficult.
- Mom. - No.
- Just, just give her a breath.
Stay. Stay. - No. She's my mom.
- I know, stay. Just give her a breath.
- My mom and I are close and I, we need to be honest here.
I mean, I have never said
you were going to an adult facility.
Have I, ever?
- No. - No, never.
So why would you say I would say that to you?
I wouldn't even allow that to happen to you, Mom.
You know that.
I'm not gonna allow that to happen to you. I love you.
You're getting very mad at me about something
that I never said and would never allow to happen.
Nobody can force you to go to an adult facility, Mom.
Nobody can do that.
You have your mental faculties. You're a healthy woman.
- And I'm not crazy. - And you're not crazy.
So no, you can't be put in any,
nobody can force you to go anywhere.
And you know what?
Over my dead body is anybody gonna force you
to go anywhere, you know that.
You know that, Mama.
Don't, don't make something outta this that it's not.
We're just trying to help.
- This is an opportunity for Sherry and her daughter,
Audora, to clean up that misunderstanding.
But this is also an opportunity for me to talk to Sherry
about some of the communication gaps that I'm observing.
I wanna hear from you because what I have found interesting
about this whole process, is that I don't hear from you.
When you speak, when you respond,
it's often reacting to whatever Montie's saying,
or reacting to whatever Montie's feeling.
I see you do a lot of soothing of him,
and I see you being present for him.
But I haven't gotten a sense from you
about what this experience is like for you.
And I'm wondering if maybe that's why
this sort of outburst just occurred.
'Cause you've been holding in your feelings
about all of this for so long that it got triggered
by this fear that came up.
- The things that went into that dumpster
are worth a lot more than scrap.
- [Dinorah] Mm-hmm.
- And, the thing is, you, all of you look at it like junk.
I realize that.
But the thing is, they don't make that stuff no more.
You can't buy it.
- So it's not a question of whether or not
what we're throwing out is valuable, you're right.
We're getting rid of things that are totally valuable,
but we're trying to make space for the things
that are more valuable.
- Yes, I understand that. - Does that make sense?
What's more valuable, that we're making room for?
- The family.
- Good. - The family.
- Yeah, I wanna encourage you, with me, with Audora,
with anybody that can be supportive, to start speaking up
as you're moving through this process.
Dorothy's a great listener as well.
Whatever you're feeling as you're going through
the process, actually express it, verbalize it.
We're not gonna break, we're not gonna bust,
we're here for that.
Because when you don't do that, any little trigger, right?
That activates your fear or that activates your anger,
turns that faucet on.
And you end up in a situation like what just happened,
when you could've just turned to Audora and said,
"Wait a minute, we didn't talk about that."
And she would've said, "Yeah, I'm not doing that,"
and it would've been over. - No, yeah.
- But instead, that response that you gave her,
the communication between you,
was not really about that moment.
It was about all the stuff you've been holding onto.
- Yeah. - Right?
- You gotta let your feelings out, Mom.
- So in the next few days,
let's start hearing more from you.
Tell us what you need.
That's the behavior we're practicing.
Ask for what you need.
All right, let's exercise that muscle.
- I'll try.
(uptempo somber music)
(truck beeping)
- This is the crucial day, in that
we will know whether or not we can do this entire project.
Either it's gonna work or it's not.
Watch your backs.
We've got like, 30 people working on this project.
Service people, organizers, junk teams. It's bananas.
(bold daunting music)
We've got forklifts.
Tow trucks.
All moving around on this little property.
In fact, we have stuff going on on the inside,
and that is that nasty bathroom.
We're not only replacing the toilet,
walls are being taken down.
We also have to replace the floor.
We've got band saws going.
We've got cutting, we've got everything happening.
Montie needs to move some cars, get them started.
(engine turns over)
(mysterious music)
And the family members are a little bit slower
to move and help out.
But they are there supporting Sherry and Montie.
And to me, that matters more than anything.
Them being together as a family,
while we're doing the work around them, that's perfect.
That is a ten for me.
- But look at all this.
It's amazing. - Yeah, I know. I know.
- It's so amazing. - I know.
- I'm just, I'm just so happy.
- Backyard, done. Front yard, done.
(dramatic music)
Family.
I don't know if you're as tired as I am.
It has been a mighty, mighty day.
And we have processed around 16 tons worth of cars, trucks,
vehicles, metal, you name it, tires.
It has been an enormous job, and then comes tomorrow.
So, if you thought today was difficult,
Sherry, you're on duty tomorrow. - I know.
- Things are gonna be coming out.
We have one day to clear the house.
One day to sort what you're going to keep,
and what you're gonna get rid of.
- Yep. - And that's it.
This is going to be a sleepless night for me,
because we have the entire house, the front porch,
all of it, that needs to be gutted.
It really can't be done in a day.
And yet I'm going to ask that it be done in a day.
(bold determined music)
(trimmer buzzing)
- I hate waiting until day three in order to start the house.
Usually on day one, we're starting the house.
But we had no choice, 'cause we had to be in compliance.
I honestly don't know if we can do it.
Welcome. Good morning. (laughs)
- [Group] Good morning.
- How many of you thought that the last two days
have been pretty darn difficult?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Show of hands? Yeah, exhausting.
Then let me just introduce you to what today's gonna be like,
because it's double that.
We have to get in that house, and you have to make
so many decisions, Sherry.
- Yeah. I know.
- Thousands and thousands and thousands of decisions.
- [Sherry] Right.
- And it's gonna be in just a matter of hours.
- Okay.
- Out comes the porch, entryway, kitchen, dining room,
living room, bedroom.
Things are going to be put into electronics
and all sorts of different categories.
- Yeah.
- Remember, we've talked about criteria.
Everything in your home and on your property
is valuable to you.
So you need better criteria.
Can I get rid of it to make space for something
that's more valuable?
My health, my family.
You're getting rid of things that are valuable,
to make space for other things that are more valuable.
- Yeah. - Okay?
- Then let's just get to work. What do you think?
- Yes, let's do it. - All right? All right.
Let's go.
Start laying out the tarp, and then we're gonna get
all the other tarps going down that side of the road.
And remember, I want them precise. Okay?
Everything goes over to the tarp.
Everything from this porch goes to the blue tarp.
(indistinct conversation) (items rustling)
In order to clear out this house,
it would generally take about nine hours.
I need to do it in half that amount of time.
So, it's like, beat the clock, beat the clock.
So, we're on it.
(tense anxious music)
Give a time on how long it's gonna take
to do the entryway, please? - [Worker] 30.
- 30 minutes to the entryway. In we go.
(upbeat music)
Thank you.
Put that in decorative, decorative.
- In drop zone.
Right here.
(items clattering)
Send it on out.
Entryway was stated for 30 minutes
and we got it done in 26.
(tense pressing music)
For a kitchen and dining room, how long is it gonna take?
Okay, I'm gonna say 45.
- [Worker] I like 45. - I like 45.
So we're going for 45 minutes. Let's go.
(tense music)
Trash, sorry.
(indistinct conversation)
- Marty, bag. - Clothes.
- Drop zone.
The dining room was slated for 45 minutes.
We got it done in 30.
And now we have big pieces of furniture
for Montie and Sherry to review.
It's time for you to do some sorting.
- Okay. - All right?
So the first piece is this big desk
right here in front of you.
- Uh, out. - That's a double down.
Love it. Thank you.
- You save the chair. - Save the chair.
- [Sherry] Yeah.
- The couch that you used to sleep on.
- Yeah, I guess it has to go.
- [Audora] It has to go, Mama.
- Okay. Very good.
Magazine rack? Thumbs up or thumbs down?
- I never use it, so I guess it could go.
If somebody wants it, they can have it.
It is an antique.
- This was in the kitchen.
It's awfully cute, but it is full of grease.
- Yeah. - What do I do?
- I need a cabinet to put my utensils in.
- Can't we get her a better one?
One that's not dirty, Mom.
Like I can, I can get you something better than that.
- Okay, fine. Then throw it away.
- Those are the large pieces. Great job.
Thank you. - You're welcome.
- All the tarps are lined up.
Sherry and Montie are starting to make decisions.
Ben and Montie, I'd like for you to work on this pile.
Sherry, you're gonna go with your daughters
down to the paperwork section.
It's all the way down.
- [Montie] Throw it.
- This is (indistinct). - Throw it.
Throw it.
- [Ben] Where'd you put the other ones?
- Keep. Throw it.
Put it on the metal pile.
- All right. Where's the metal pile? This the metal pile?
(metal clatters)
- Sherry on the other hand,
has about 12 tarps to go through.
That's a lot. Those are so many decisions to make.
- Toss, toss.
Ah, no. (laughs)
- Daughters have to be empowered
to do some of the decision making.
And in fact, they are.
They got to go through all the clothes.
And yet, we have things still going on in the back.
I have them putting metal
into the new metal bin that's there.
(slow somber music)
- I didn't think I could see that bin drive outta the back,
back there this morning.
(Dinorah groans)
That was the hardest thing I ever seen.
Wasn't the loading of it, but seeing it totally leave.
And know it's, it's gone.
I don't have it anymore.
And it, I, it's stuff that I...
I gotta focus to do some other way.
To fix whatever I'm gonna finish up on,
that those were gonna repair.
- I know you said goodbye to a lot,
and everything in this hoard served you well for years.
- Yes.
- And it's hard to start fresh.
- Yeah. - But it's also exciting.
You get to build it differently this time.
- Yeah. Do things different, different.
In a different ordeal, in a different route.
- Yeah.
Takes so much courage. So much courage.
You're doing excellent.
Yeah? - Yep.
- Okay.
- So, I really wanna encourage Montie
to give himself a lot of credit,
to see himself more as the hero of the story.
Because he hasn't just kept from being an obstacle.
He actually has been helping to facilitate
the progress that's been made.
I am so incredibly proud of you.
So incredibly proud of you.
- I'm proud of myself. I didn't think I could do it.
- You need me, you call for me. Okay?
- I will. I will. - Okay.
(slow somber music)
(uptempo music)
- There you go. Thank you.
Everything's going on inside and outside of the house.
It's crazy.
(uptempo music)
People are coming out from the house
like they have ash all over them from a fire.
But in fact, it's just dust from a hoarded home.
(dramatic uptempo music)
(deep somber music)
- [Montie] That's off my bed.
That's what I cover up with at night!
- Dad, we can- - I know, I just-
- We can replace it. We got new stuff.
- I know. God.
- [Brenda] Daddy, come on.
Be reasonable. - You know, no.
What I can't understand is, everything's gotta,
everybody says, "Eh, it can all be replaced."
That thing's only four months old.
It's (bleep).
Everybody thinks that (bleep) money can buy everything.
No! - No, Dad, Dad.
- I'm not- - Calm down.
- I'm not- - Dad!
- Let him be.
Let him be, let him be, Brenda.
(soft tense music)
- That's what everybody (bleep) thinks.
- What do you want?
- Everybody thinks money can buy everything,
but I'll tell you something. - No, money can't-
- No, no!
You're going that way.
I'm not, I'm not taking that. That's (bleep).
- You got stuff to replace it,
that's what I said. - I don't care!
That's not the idea.
- Where are we going?
- I don't (bleep) know.
You see that, that brown blanket?
That's what I cover up with at night.
- Okay. So do you-
- And it, it burns my ass
to turn around and see it right there.
And what am I supposed to sleep in tonight?
- Okay, so- - I can't-
- Wait. Wait, wait, wait. - We can buy a new one.
- So- - (bleep).
- Okay, so really quick.
- That's, that's brand new to start with.
- Okay. - It's not old.
- So we've been practicing something.
We've been practicing asking for what we want. Right?
So, do we-
- I'm not, I'm not asking for new.
- But do we want this blanket?
- I do!
- Okay. So all you have to do is ask for it, Montie.
That's it.
- Money can't buy everything.
- Money doesn't buy everything.
- Thank you. I appreciate that.
I appreciate that.
- And Montie, it looks like one of the crew members
made a mistake.
- And I apologize for hollering at her.
- It's okay. - No.
- [Dorothy] And it's bound to happen over these days.
- Let's get things done- - Wait, wait, wait.
- That's supposed to be getting done.
- Wait, no, no, because this was important what happened.
You have this behavioral pattern going on in this family.
We hold it in. We blow up.
We apologize. We move on.
We hold it in. We blow up.
We apologize. We move on.
Do you know this one?
- I don't wanna have to, I don't wanna have to apologize.
- [Dinorah] Exactly. That's it.
- All you had to do was say, "Dorothy, Dorothy."
And then I stop it.
- Yeah. And I think the bottling in, right, is the water.
And it just gets to a point that any little thing
that touches the faucet, pshh!
- I understand. - Right?
And so, we're not gonna solve it today,
but we're going to acknowledge it today,
as something to continue to work on, right.
Just ask for what you want. We'll bring it back.
'Cause if you want it, we're gonna give it to you.
We are not trying to take away the things that you want.
We're just trying to make space for the things you want more.
- I've had to work for every (bleep) damn thing I have.
- [Dinorah] I know.
- It's gotta be dry cleaned,
so you might as well just pitch it in the damn truck.
- No, no. No. - No, no.
- There is a new one.
There is a new one that Montie helped us save.
We will use that one if that's all right, Montie. Okay?
- And it represents the same thing.
Because this is what you're saying to me.
This is a symbol of my sweat.
Yeah? Yeah. - Yeah, it is.
- And your sweat is valuable.
- One way or another it is.
- Yeah. So here's what we're gonna do.
The other one, which is also equally a symbol of your sweat,
will be preserved.
- Thank you.
- We know that we cannot replace all of your hard work
with just new things, we know that.
- No, and I don't want, I don't want...
I don't want free gifts, I don't want that.
- But that's not free. You earned it.
We talked about this yesterday. It's not charity.
You don't have to work so hard for every single thing.
It is all right for people to show you mercy,
and kindness, and grace.
That's okay.
- Dad? - Yes.
- You've helped us out a lot.
You served our country. - Mm-hmm.
- You helped raise me. You help raise my kids.
- Mm-hmm.
- Let us help you.
I know it's hard to watch this.
- I don't want charity. I don't want charity.
- This is not charity, Dad. - It's not charity.
- This is not charity, this is love. Accept some love.
- You got me in- - Were you doing charity work
when you were serving our country?
Is that what you were doing?
- [Dinorah] You gotta let us help you.
It's our turn to help you. - I am. I am.
- Okay. - But I, I just...
- I know, it's hard. I get it. I get it.
- It's hard to- - I get it.
- Montie? - Yes, dear.
- On behalf of the team, sorry about that.
We're on it.
- I'm sorry, it-
- No, no, no, no. - That's fine.
- No, no, stop apologizing. Remember?
We did this yesterday. - Here we go.
- What are you gonna offer her? Not, "I'm sorry."
Thank you. - Thank you.
- Yeah, that's it. - Thank you.
- No shame. Gratitude.
(gentle music)
- This is a really big day.
I feel very anxious, 'cause I just need to get this done
and we only have hours left to do it.
I have my organizers pulling out boxes from the entryway
because there are still 25 more boxes to sort through.
I've gotta get the family to sort through all of this.
Particularly, Sherry can go through each one of them
so we still know what to keep and what to get rid of.
- Trash. - [Sherry] Oh, throw 'em away.
- Trash, trash. - [Worker] All right, and...
(deep foreboding music)
- And I've got all my junk crew working in the back
to finish up the last of the metal piles.
(metal clatters)
Then I have my Junk Dog team
clearing the front of the garage.
Meanwhile, our contractor has been doing the bathroom.
We've got a toilet that flushes.
We have a new sink that's no longer hanging off the wall.
I've got housekeepers scrubbing the walls, all the floors.
It's a crazy, maniac kind of chaos.
(daunting music)
So now, the time has come where we wanna see
if we are able to meet code enforcement's criteria
for this property.
So, I think we've got Officer Tim.
- Hi, Dorothy. - Hi.
Thank you for being here.
- Absolutely, good to be here. - Glad you're here again.
- Montie, Sherry. - Hello.
- Okay, everybody, I'm going to walk with you,
show you what we've done, and we'll be back in 10 minutes.
- Okay. - All right?
- All right. - Shall we?
(tense somber music)
We've cleared all the brush,
we've taken all of the car parts, if you will.
Basically, this is his work area.
I just hope that code enforcement
will give Montie and Sherry
more leeway, given all that we've done.
(door creaks) Okay.
So this is the front entryway.
A safe kitchen.
Take a look into the bathroom,
'cause that was one of the nasties.
- Yes, I remember.
- Brand new toilet.
This is now an actual bedroom, for both of them.
(tense music)
Come on into what appears to be a living room.
- Wow.
- Well, we've done it. We've done our walkabout. Yeah?
Your thoughts, officer, on where we stand on the backyard.
- So, while there are some, a few things left
that may need to be taken care of, you're about 90% there.
I'm certain that we're going to be able to continue
to work with you in order to achieve all this.
- Basically, we're doing okay here?
- Yes, you're doing, I would say you're doing better than okay.
(group cheers)
- Yes. - Thank you.
Next part then, is what you saw on the inside of the house.
- From a habitability standpoint,
the structure has absolutely been restored
to a habitable condition.
You have your- - Oh my God.
- Yeah, go ahead, clap. Absolutely.
- Oh my God.
- The avenues of egress have been restored.
Windows are functional.
None of the doorways are blocked, they open.
The fire hazard of all of the papers
and other things that I saw, it's gone.
(Audora crying)
- So that means we're okay?
- Thank you, Jesus. - On the inside?
- It is in habitable condition.
- Okay, we'll take that as a yes, family.
- Yes! (group cheers)
- Can I get a high five from you?
- Absolutely. - (laughs) Thank you so much.
- You guys did good work. - Thank you.
- They get to stay in their house!
- Yeah. Oh, sweetheart.
Oh, sweetheart, oh.
- (cries) Thank God they get to stay here.
- Oh, sweetheart. - I was so scared.
- Thank you, sir.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Yeah. He really is on your side. He really is.
- Absolutely. - Thank you.
- I appreciate it. - Thank you.
- Sherry.
- We see a very different Montie
responding to code enforcement this time.
- [Sherry] Thank you very much.
- Moving out of a position
of victim, and really become less belligerent,
more accepting, more welcoming.
- I have another surprise for you
and it's behind this truck.
(truck engine revs)
- Aw. - Oh, how pretty!
Oh, my goodness.
- Oh, that looks so pretty.
- Oh my goodness, Mom.
Oh, it's beautiful.
- That is beautiful. Yes, that's so pretty.
- You guys can have a candlelight dinner right here.
You can actually see your house.
- Yeah, I see the house. - Yes.
- [Dorothy] Come on, let's walk into the space.
- [Audora] Oh, these cute little curtains up here.
- Oh, my goodness.
(gentle piano music)
- I didn't even know there was windows in here.
- Look at that. - Oh my God, Mom.
Are you gonna cook in here?
- It's even got an oven.
Ooh.
- Look it.
Mom, you have a kitchen!
Wow. This is like a whole different place.
Are you kidding me?
- [Dorothy] Maybe it's a tea party.
- This is not real. - Oh my God.
- This is not even real.
- Oh my God.
You're crying.
Oh my gosh.
Mom, you have a home.
You have a home now, Mommy. You have a home.
(Sherry cries)
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- You're welcome. - Thank you.
- Come on and see your bathroom.
- Oh my God.
(gentle uplifting music)
(Sherry cries)
- [Montie] No more pans to flush the toilet.
(Sherry sniffles)
- It's a home now.
- Oh my gosh.
I was terrified of this room. Like, terrified.
It's not even the same room.
- [Dorothy] Go on in and see the bedroom.
(gentle uplifting music)
- Oh my goodness.
Oh my goodness.
- It's fantastic. - Fantastic.
- Good, good. - Fantastic.
- Sometimes you have to let go
without knowing what's coming.
- Try to put it on my head,
but it's gonna take a little while,
for what I've let go of.
- Mr. Montie, I wanna acknowledge you,
'cause I saw what you just did.
You almost said, "what I lost," and you replaced it
with, "what I let go of."
I saw that, very nicely done.
It's such a beautiful transition to see.
There's been a shift in his perception of the process,
from having things taken away from him,
to being able to release things that weren't helping him.
- Oh. Oh, my.
(gentle music)
Oh, that's beautiful.
- Oh my gosh.
- It hasn't looked this great for years.
- You have a living room.
You guys, sit down.
How does that feel?
- Feels good. - That feels so good, huh?
- Yes, it does. - Oh, my gosh.
- It's a home.
- It's a home now. - It's amazing.
- I don't have to worry about you being in here.
I was so worried about you.
You guys are gonna be good now.
- You know, at any moment you could've stopped us.
You didn't.
- Why stop something in the middle of a stream?
You'll drown.
Just keep going.
- Was it worth it?
- Yes. - Yes.
- Yeah. - 1,000 fold.
- We spent a lotta time talking about focusing
on what you gained.
Look at what you gained.
- Yes.
Doors are always open now, for 'em. Anytime.
- And we'll be coming.
- I hope so. - We're gonna come.
- So, for us, this is a bit of an end.
But for you all, this is a new beginning.
(soft tranquil music)