Cheryl Blaney is an energetic, independent 65-year-old who knows things can change, and is prepared if they do.
"I have a suite downstairs [in my house]," the 91原创 resident said.
"I have tenants in it at the moment, but I could have a caregiver in it if I needed to."
Planning ahead for life transitions is key, said Blaney, who owns and operates NEXT Chapter, a service that helps seniors when they need to make the move from their homes to smaller accommodations.
In her house, Blaney has a dining room suite that has been in her family for generations. Passing on possessions, she said, is a stress-free way of downsizing, or as she prefers to call it, "rightsizing," for seniors and their families.
"Rightsizing is really a declutter," Blaney explained.
"Downsizing is getting rid of a lot of stuff and there is a difference, To rightsize, you open your kitchen drawer and you put everything on the counter [and, for example see] I have three potato peelers and I have four sets of tongs."
Rather than just throw the excess items away, Blaney coaches clients to donate rather than send it to a landfill.
"I'm so anti-dump," she commented, "very anti-garbage."
"It's about finding a new home for it, right down to the half-empty shampoos and conditioners and all the rest of that. We box all of that up and we take it to the [homeless] shelter."
When it comes to decluttering, it doesn't have to be anxiety-inducing, she said, so long as people can avoid becoming overwhelmed.
"There are ways to make the whole process, I guess, easier and less stressful simply by breaking it down into pieces," Blaney explained.
"You start with one drawer, or one cabinet, or one cupboard [and] take everything out onto the table."
Blaney learned a lot about helping seniors make the move from their homes when she helped her ailing parents move into supportive housing.
"While they'd been in their house, they have accumulated 60 year's worth of stuff," Blaney recalled.
"I found it very stressful with my mom and dad, simply because they wanted to hold on to everything."
Blaney said the first question that usually needs to be answered is whether clients can remain in their home, with some modifications, to allow aging in place.
"It [can mean] bringing in companies to put things like grab bars in the shower, sometimes bars down the hallways if they have trouble transferring from one room to another, widening doorways if they're wheelchair bound."
But there still may come a time when staying in place is no longer an option.
During the years since Blaney started her business, demand has risen.
"We have six contracts on the go at the moment and strangely enough, they're all in the same situation. They're downsizing now because they know that they're in this great big house, they don't need it anymore, their children are grown, and they're in their mid- to late-70s. They know that it's time to make some plans for the future."
