EPISODE 26- Rogue Organizer Supports Seniors and Veterans with Moving and Decluttering

🎙️ Episode 26 – Team Senior Podcast

How Rogue Organizer Helps Seniors and Veterans Downsize with Dignity

In this heartfelt episode, Jamie Callahan sits down with Michelle Meilicke of Rogue Organizer, a professional organizer who helps seniors and veterans simplify their homes — and their lives.

You’ll hear:

• Why downsizing can be one of the biggest emotional and logistical challenges seniors face
• How Michelle recreates the warmth of home when helping clients move into assisted living
• The surprising link between clutter and mental health
• What “body doubling” means — and how it helps people finally get things done
• Her unique “past-informed, present-focused” approach to honoring memories while letting go

Michelle’s compassionate work helps families navigate change with less stress and more grace — proving that a lighter home can lead to a lighter heart.

🖥️ Learn more: RogueOrganizer.com

 📞 Call Michelle: 541-261-2012
🎧 Listen now: https://teamsenior.buzzsprout.com

📞 For Team Senior resources: 541-295-8230

#TeamSeniorPodcast #SeniorCare #Downsizing #Decluttering #SouthernOregon #Veterans #SeniorLiving

At Team Senior™, our mission is to guide you and support you through the maze of Southern Oregon Long-Term Care.

📞 For Team Senior resources, call: 541-295-8230

Or visit our website for more information: https://www.teamsenior.org/

Transcript

TEAM SENIOR PODCAST

HOST: Jamie Callahan
GUEST: Michelle Meilicke, Rogue Organizer

JAMIE CALLAHAN: Hi, this is Jamie Callahan with the Team Senior Podcast. Our goal is to simplify aging. Society grooms us to plan for retirement, but what about life beyond retirement, where the rubber meets the road? Perhaps you've had a stroke, or you've been diagnosed with cancer, or maybe you're forgetting things and now you have dementia. That's our area of expertise, and we are here to share our insight.

And now, the Team Senior podcast.

Hi, this is Jamie Callahan, and I am in the studio today with Michelle Myki. I am so excited for her to share a little bit about what she does. Michelle, I'm gonna let you jump right in and introduce yourself and tell us what you do.

MICHELLE MEILICKE: I am a professional organizer. I specialize in helping seniors downsize and move into assisted living or move in with their family.

JAMIE: That's so great. It's such an overwhelming task. When we meet with families, one of the first things they say, especially a family that's been in the same home for 20, 30, 40 years, is that the overwhelming task of getting moved out of their current residence is such that sometimes it gets in the way of them being able to move into assisted living because it's so overwhelming for them.

MICHELLE: Absolutely. I deal with it on a day-to-day basis. And if their health is changing constantly, it's an ever-changing situation in a home. I had my grandmother living with me, and for the two years she was there, she went from walker to wheelchair to Hoyer lift, and I was constantly adapting that in my home.

JAMIE: Yeah, we hear that all the time. So, I'm just curious—what motivated you to launch Rogue Organizer?

MICHELLE: I love organizing, for one, but I also love seniors, and I love veterans. I come from a family of veterans, and there's such a huge need for it. I moved my grandmother in, like I said, and I didn't know where the helps were. And now that I know all about them—what Team Senior does is absolutely awesome with all of the referrals that you can give people. So there was just a huge need for it.

JAMIE: Yeah. And to your point, one of the first things that I learned about Michelle when I met with her is that she does have a genuine love for seniors and veterans. She goes above and beyond for them. And so that's important to know.

Michelle, you have a background in healthcare. How did that help inspire your niche in this focus?

MICHELLE: Being able to adapt to people who are under stress—lots of different emotions that are impacting their finances, impacting their healthcare—and just being able to connect with them and having it be a relational transaction instead of a transactional situation. It's more of a relational transaction between us. I really care about people.

JAMIE: Oh yeah. That's so important in everything that we do in the long-term care spectrum—really holding somebody's hand in an authentic way rather than just going through the transaction of helping them connect the dots.

I'm curious to know, and I'm sure everybody is curious to know—tell us a little bit about the key services that you offer to seniors and veterans, like downsizing, packing, unpacking, just the daily living solutions.

MICHELLE: Yeah, going through and helping them manage their things. A lot of things I like to do are go to the person's house that they live in and then go to the senior living place that they may be moving to and really try to replicate what they have and match it up and keep things that make it look similar—putting their nightstand on the same side of their bed and just replicating what's on the walls to the best of my ability, but still helping them get rid of a lot of things that are hard to process. It's emotional.

JAMIE: Sure. Yeah. I would imagine getting rid of things that you've had for, again, 30, 40, 50 years is really difficult. Also, just being able to assess what will fit. Some of the studios in assisted livings are really big. You can get a one-bedroom, two-bedroom—like a studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom—but many of them are just a bedroom with a very small kitchenette. So I would imagine if you're accustomed to sleeping in a king-sized bed, maybe that's not appropriate.

MICHELLE: Exactly. And just that habit of—it's like being a parent and still making a huge dish for dinner when it's only you and your husband now that your kids have all grown up and moved away. So you have way more sheets than you need to have. There's a lot of things that I have an eye for that they don't realize they don't need anymore and they can let go of, and just letting them have a better life in the house that they're going to be in now, enjoying their very best, most favorite items.

JAMIE: Yeah, I can see that. I'm curious to know from your perspective—I know that we share the same sentiment in that downsizing and getting somebody into a place of assistance can really radically improve the quality of life for someone. In terms of your opinion on how organizing—let's say they're not moving into assisted living and you're just gonna come in their home and help them to organize the things that they have—what's your opinion on how that helps manage health challenges and just the overall quality of life?

MICHELLE: Safety is number one—tripping hazards and things they don't realize, like the carpets and the cords. Also, just less to manage is a load off of your mental mind, not just physically. So those things. Also, if you have a lot of stuff you're managing, you're affecting your mental health, not just your physical health.

JAMIE: Absolutely. Regarding veterans, they often face unique challenges—not just because they're disabled, but sometimes there are other things that come into play, like PTSD and things like that, although I do think that's deemed as a disability. How do you tailor your approach to meet the needs and honor their service?

MICHELLE: Listening to their stories. A lot of times when family or friends are helping, they don't have the patience to listen to the stories. So hearing them out—they've been through a lot. And a lot of times the people that I help are totally competent and capable. They maybe just aren't physically able to do the work, or they're physically able to do the work but they're just so overwhelmed mentally and emotionally that they just need somebody to help push that rock over the edge and get it rolling to help them.

JAMIE: Nice. Nice. I've heard you say that you use a "past-informed, present" philosophy for organizing. Can you explain what that is?

MICHELLE: So basically, I am honoring their past so they can have a future that respects that but doesn't hang onto it. Sometimes I'll pull an item out of a drawer and I can see it sparking an emotion that's not a good emotion—something from the past that we need to slow down and be sensitive to. Also, maybe walk through letting go of.

JAMIE: That's amazing. That's really big of you and very perceptive of you. I don't think a lot of people hold that talent in the sense that maybe they don't have the ability to do that.

I've also heard you use the term "body doubling"—a service that you provide. What is that?

MICHELLE: So that's basically going alongside somebody, and it's—again, they have maybe the physical and mental ability, but they just don't have the motivation and they need somebody there to get more done, to have somebody to bounce ideas off of, and also keep them accountable. If I'm showing up at your house and you're paying me to be there, you definitely are not going to avoid doing the task.

JAMIE: I get it. I get it. Let's talk about the Street Dog Project. I understand that you give donations to different organizations. What is the Street Dog Project?

MICHELLE: So they help people who are down on their luck and in need, and their pets. They're trying to help their pets not suffer along with the people that are going through financial hard times. And so they provide food for them, they provide crates, they provide healthcare for them if they need that. So it's a really great program.

JAMIE: You must have dogs at home?

MICHELLE: I do have two dogs at home. I am such a dog person.

JAMIE: What do you have?

MICHELLE: I have a Basset Hound and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Malu and Charlie Brown.

JAMIE: Oh, that's so awesome. Those are great names. Great names.

What's the best way that a senior or veteran or family can get in touch with you?

MICHELLE: I'm not a big fan of red tape, so they literally can just call me: (541) 261-2012. They can look me up online at rogueorganizer.com. A lot of times families are looking at helping their family members, and so it's a good way to get a feel for my personality and my work on my website.

JAMIE: What advice would you give to a listener?

MICHELLE: I would say less is more. Everything that you have in your home, you have a mental Rolodex of, and all those little things are taking up the free space for being creative, getting rest, and really living a quality life.

JAMIE: So the last thing I want to ask you is—and I know because I have found so much value in this over the last couple of years, getting rid of things, downsizing (that's not necessarily for everybody)—but I would ask: if you could give one insight to everyone that you wish that they knew, the link between organized spaces and wellbeing, what is it?

MICHELLE: The link between organized spaces—it's a great question. I can't tell people enough how many people are hiding at home suffering. And the quality of life is affected because they're hiding, because they think that they're the only ones going through something—having a garage that they don't wanna open, they don't wanna have people over to visit because they're hiding with all the stuff in their house. And that's my favorite thing to hear: "I can't wait to have my grandkids over again. I can't wait to show my kids what I've done, and I'm not leaving this burden behind."

JAMIE: Yeah. What a tremendous value you're bringing to people's lives. So I wanna say thank you again, Michelle Meilicke. She is with Rogue Organizer. So rogueorganizer.com is where you can reach her, or you can call her at (541) 261-2012. 

Michelle, is there anything else that you wanna share with us?

MICHELLE: Don't be so hard on yourself. Everybody's going through a lot. There's a reason why you have those things, and it's a dirty secret that a lot of people have.

JAMIE: That is great advice—I think even for myself. Thank you so much. This is Jamie Callahan, and I cannot wait to talk with you guys again next week.

Thank you for listening to the Team Senior podcast. We're here every week sharing new and relevant information. Remember that we're just a phone call away. Team Senior can be reached at 541-295-8230. Until next time, this is Jamie Callahan.