Certainly moving can be a stressful thing at any point in your life. Now imagine that you are 80 years old and moving out of a house that you have lived in for the last 50 years. Where do you even begin?
That's where Trudy Forsyth comes in. Forsyth is a project manager for Transitions, a Winnipeg-based company that refers to itself as a "move facilitator." The company offers a full-service package to help people move out of their homes and into a new one.
"People are just so overwhelmed, they don't know where to start," explains Forsyth. "They are so appreciative when we come in and do it all."
Doing it all is just what Transitions offers its clients. The company covers just about everything associated with a move -- from packing and getting rid of unwanted items to hanging pictures and arranging for cable installation at the new house.
Their main client base tends to be people in their late 70s and 80s who are moving out of their home and into a retirement home, Forsyth notes. And it's often their adult children who call in the Transitions team to help with the move.
"With more people living away from their parents, there is a real need for help," says Forsyth, who regularly gets calls from people living in places like Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto to move their parents. "For others, the children may live here but they are very busy."
There's also the emotional aspect of moving someone out of the family home, which they may have lived in for decades.
"It's easier sometimes for us to go in and help them downsize rather than family members," Forsyth points out.
So what does the Transition team actually do? The first step is an assessment of exactly what needs to be done. For many people who are moving out of their house and into a retirement complex that usually includes a purge or downsizing of items.
"We have a saying that they should only take what they need, love and want," says Forsyth. "I always encourage downsizing or decluttering."
Once they decide what items they want to take, Forsyth drafts a floor plan of the new residence and sketches out exactly what will go where. Then they oversee the packing and book the movers. They may also help with arrangements to sell the house and get rid of any unwanted items by holding a contents sale or donating items to charity.
"What we do is get everything ready to move, but we don't do the physical move ourselves," Forsyth explains.
On the other end of the move, the Transition team ensures that the new house is all set up to move right in and start living. That means making the beds, placing the furniture and hanging the pictures on the walls. Forsyth encourages her clients to go out with friends during the morning of the move when everything is being done.
"When they walk in it's much easier to have everything in place," she says. "It's just like home, but in a different place."
Forsyth will also work with clients to take care of address changes, take utility readings and get cable and phone lines set up. She'll also arrange for the cleaning of the old residence.
"They don't have to worry about a thing," she points out. "We try to make it as less stressful as possible."
According to Forsyth, the average move costs about $3,200. That's for the whole package -- from packing everything up and taking care of things in the old house to moving someone into their new place and setting things up there. The cost does vary depending on how much stuff someone has and how much of it they plan to take with them in their move. That, of course affects, timing -- how long it will take to pack and unpack and how long it will take the movers to move everything in and out.
Company president Dawn Rennie created Transitions back in 1999 to help the seniors' market with moving. And after almost a decade in business, the company is still going strong.
"There is definitely more demand out there for this kind of service," says Rennie. "With the demographics of an aging population, it's constantly growing."
With the Winnipeg market well in hand, Rennie has decided to broaden her market. Seeing opportunities to expand her business, she has moved to Calgary to develop Transitions in that booming market. She has also sold the rights to open a Transitions office in Brandon, which is already open for business. And her growth plans don't stop there.
"I am looking at further expansion for throughout Saskatchewan and Alberta," Rennie notes.
While seniors are the majority of their clients, Forsyth says they have done moves for other people. In fact, she recently worked with a couple in their 30's who both had very busy jobs and just didn't have time to move themselves. They hired Forsyth, left everything and went on vacation. When they returned, Forsyth had moved them out of one house and into a new one.
Now that's the way to reduce moving day stress!
