The challenge
Mary* had a large collection of quality sewing and craft supplies collected over 30 years. With a serious passion and talent for crafting, Mary had collected quality tools and materials for a wide variety of crafts from decoupage and sewing through to her all-time favourite, stamping and card making. A passion she shared with her mother and daughter. Mary’s craft collection was so vast that she was storing everything in her craft room, a storage room under her stairs, as well as in her family’s double garage. Mary is very creative and talented, however, her MS diagnosis 10 years ago meant that Mary has gradually had to scale back on the types of crafts that she is physically able to do. Letting go of her passion is heartbreaking for Mary, as is the thought of losing the connection with her deceased mother. The way her craft supplies were currently stored meant that Mary was unable to access or use them without support which meant she wasn’t crafting as much she wished as she didn’t want to burden her family. Her family also needed access to their garage. Mary had come to accept that it was time to let go of the craft items that she knew that she was no longer going to use in the future.
The solution
With impaired mobility, Mary was physically unable to sort or lift any of her craft supplies independently. So together we went through each item, discussing her needs and the importance of each item to her life moving forward. It is was important for Mary that her valued craft supplies were donated to a group that would truly value and appreciate them. After a lot of research by myself and careful consideration by Mary, I organised for the majority of her craft supplies to be donated to the Koomarri Upcycling Studio who run community classes in art and upcycling for people with disability. The team at Koomarri, along with class participants were overjoyed and overly grateful. Donations were also made to the MS Society Op shop. We purchased new shelving for Mary’s craft room and I neatly organised Mary’s remaining stamping and card making supplies in her craft room in a way that was easily accessible and visible for Mary.
The results
Although the process was emotionally challenging for Mary, she is feeling relieved that the task is no longer looming and now has a workable space and the ability to enjoy her card making whenever she wants without the help from family members.
* Permission has been granted by the client to share their story. Names have been changed to respect their privacy. The Organising Bee will never share photos or client information without permission from the client.
