Plymouth Housing serves people from all walks of life with unique stories. Every Plymouth building is home to those who have previously experienced chronic homelessness. Some buildings house people who come directly from being unsheltered while others are designed for current Plymouth residents who have made progress in their life journeys. We call these Housing Options Program (HOP) buildings, and they house long-term Plymouth residents who have gained stability and independence with support from their housing case managers. Plymouth has two such properties, Sylvia Odom’s Place in Belltown and the newly opened Kristin Benson Place in Uptown.

Moving into a HOP building is a significant step in a resident’s journey out of chronic homelessness. Just as moving to a new home presents new opportunities for any of us, it also involves a lot of moving parts like packing, changing addresses and contact information, learning about your new neighborhood, and figuring out how to get around. For Plymouth, supporting multiple residents’ moves is a logistical feat. How does Plymouth move dozens of people and their belongings from one site to another in the short period of time where we often have to meet funding and regulatory requirements?

Enter Bee Organized Seattle.

The professional organization company, with franchises across the US, partnered with Plymouth Housing throughout the fall of 2021 to help residents organize, declutter, and move into Kristin Benson Place.

We sat down with Suzanne Allbee, Owner of Bee Organized Seattle, and Kristi Isensee, a “Bee” to talk through our partnership. Read on to see what Suzanne and Kristi have to say about the universal pride we take in our belongings and our spaces, why it’s important to listen with empathy, and what everyone in our community needs to know about people who’ve previously experienced homelessness.

Thank you to the wonderful Bees of Bee Organized Seattle for making these moves to Kristin Benson Place possible and for helping Plymouth’s residents feel more at home.

Plymouth Housing: How has Bee Organized partnered with Plymouth over the last several months?

Bee Organized: “When we started working with Plymouth in early September, we were scheduled every Monday and Wednesday to help whoever was on the docket to move on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We were there to help residents prepare to move to their new home at Kristin Benson Place. We helped inventory their things, we made sure everyone had support organizing their materials and had everything necessary to set themselves up for success in their new apartment.

But more than that, we were able to listen to their stories, empathize with them and hopefully provide a sense of calm in the midst of their move. We wanted to make sure everyone was prepared and ready to go during this change. We also got to know several of the housing case managers and were thankful for their support and help tailored to their tenants during the move.”

PH: What does Bee Organized do and what does it mean to be a “professional organizer?”

BeeO: “Bee Organized was founded in 2015 in the Kansas City area and we launched Seattle in June of 2021. The bottom line of a professional organizer is helping a person create a home environment that is stress free and allows them to just spend more time on the things that matter most. We all want to live in a home that is free from stress. It’s about creating that environment that feeds your soul, that provides a sense of calm. We worked to help take the anxiety out of the transition residents were experiencing moving from point A to point B, which is a major life transition for any person.

Moving is stressful for anybody, but compound that with a person who has previously experienced homelessness. They can have big barriers; holding on to everything they have, keeping important documentation and all the essential things that identify who you are as a person.”

PH: Why did Bee Organized choose to partner with Plymouth Housing?

BeeO: “I think one of the reasons that we aligned so well with Plymouth Housing is the basic cornerstone of our beliefs and our values. Bee Organized was founded on the cornerstone of three ideas: to be compassionate, to be confidential, and to be judgment free. We take those values to every job and every situation, without question. All our employees are some of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met. And that’s the same with the housing case managers and all the staff at Plymouth Housing. There’s this level of compassion, empathy and understanding that you need when interacting with the tenants of Plymouth. You can always teach skills, but you can’t teach empathy or compassion.”

PH: Is there a specific anecdote that comes to mind when you think of a positive moving experience over the past several months? What did you learn from that person?

BeeO: “I remember the very first tenant I worked with used to be a professional chef. He had all of this gourmet kitchen equipment; things that I wish I had. That was his passion, he loved to cook. Another tenant was a musician, he had six or seven guitars and so the concern around moving his guitars was a big deal. We had to make sure that they were packaged well, and he carried them himself because they’re his pride.

So, what did we learn? People, no matter where they live, all have a sense of pride or passion that drives them. We all have things that make us proud, that give us our identity, that are uniquely ours. It’s understanding those stories and being able to listen to people with empathy, with compassion, and not being judgmental. That allows us to customize our approach and treat people with respect.”

PH: What did you know about the work Plymouth does before this partnership and what’s been the most impactful lesson you’ve learned about our mission?

BeeO: “Kristi and I both had a level of awareness of what Plymouth Housing did, but I think interacting with the tenants really gives you a sense of the depth and variety of the population they serve. It underscores the need for housing in our community. It also helps me understand how essential housing is to navigate our society.

But what changed for me was being in the space and learning more about the residents firsthand. I would encourage others to volunteer and meet the people at Plymouth to really understand what it’s like to experience homelessness and why it’s so critical to have a home. It was a surprise to learn that a tenant had been in their current space for seven years, for 10 years, for 13 years. That’s a long time.

When you learn a little bit about someone who has experienced homelessness, everything changes. Fundamentally, it does.  You learn about their talents, their gifts, their challenges, their hopes and fears and you realize we have more in common than we thought.

But it also is important to understand that there are thousands of others in King County without a home, who are just like the people here at Plymouth. If we’re able to connect with the lived experiences of everyone here, then we can do that with literally anybody else, with the hundreds of people that are experiencing homelessness in our area now.”

PH: Now that you’ve been inside a Plymouth building and worked directly with Plymouth residents and staff, what message do you have for the community to inspire them to support the mission?

BeeO: “I think meeting people’s basic needs is critical. I don’t know how anyone can lead a successful life and reach their potential if their basic needs aren’t met. Having a permanent home with a sense of community that makes you feel comfortable and safe, that’s the core need.

If you think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you need shelter and safety before anything else. You need to be safe; you need to have food and water. That’s what the housing first idea accomplishes. It says, ‘let’s just make sure that their basic needs are met.’

I think we have unfair expectations for people experiencing homelessness. Anyone could be in that situation at any time. I’m thinking of one resident in particular. He had cancer, he was a working musician, the medical bills started piling up and he lost his home, and the next thing you know he’s on the streets.

That can happen to anyone. At any time. It’s not by any choice of his. That’s what I’m thinking about having had this partnership with Plymouth. Any time I might encounter someone who’s experiencing homelessness in our community, just imagining what brought them there and having empathy.”

PH: Your website states, “our home should be a sanctuary…where we feel at peace, welcomed and relaxed.” We agree. As you’ve worked with our residents, what do you think home means to them?

BeeO: “I think for some of the residents I’ve gotten to know, home creates a sense of stability and social safety. Home should be a place where you are calm, that gives you a sense of an anchor, a space that you can just relax and be yourself. Hopefully, having a community and connection with your neighbors, whether that is across the street or down the hall, that’s valuable to most of the Plymouth residents.

Pride also comes with having a home and living in a space that they can feel good about. That’s something we all want, regardless of our living situation. We all have pride in our possessions and our home. We have respect for the idea of having a space that is uniquely yours, that allows you to be uniquely yourself. Your space reflects who you are, feeds your soul and makes you feel calm and relaxed.”

PH: What else should people know about Bee Organized?

BeeO: “There are several companies that do the same thing we do; there are about forty professional organizers in the Seattle area. What separates us at Bee Organized is that we are really driven by this idea that people deserve a home that helps them feel good, that relieves stress and allows them to focus on things that matter to them, whether that is a hobby, family, and friends or, whatever is important to that person.

Our cornerstone is to be compassionate, judgment free and confidential with our clients or whoever we are working with. It’s a very intimate experience working with Plymouth’s tenants, or any of our customers because you’re going through their belongings and those things are very personal.

We go in with the idea that we’re here to help and we won’t judge anyone for what they own or don’t own. I think that that’s the biggest differentiator when you look at the professional organizing market in general. We don’t want to just organize your office or make sure your kitchen looks good. We want the end result to make an impact on how you feel in your home, and that you feel positive and heard during the process.”