When people start reaching retirement age, they consider downsizing to a smaller home. Whether their children have moved out of the house, or they don’t want to be burdened by the amount of “stuff” in their household, or they are forced to move out of their homes due to a health issue or family loss, downsizing and moving is common among senior citizens. This is the reason that “Senior Move Managers” exist! Senior Move Managers are senior relocation advisors but are experts in helping seniors downsize and move – whether it’s to a new home, a new state, or down the road into a nursing home.
What is a Senior Move Manager?
A Senior Move Manager is a project manager who specializes in managing moves for seniors. The National Association of Senior Move Managers is a trade association with an organizational accreditation program where members must follow a strict code of ethics to ensure integrity when working with seniors. MiniMoves is a proud NASMM partner. The mission of NASMM is to “facilitate the physical and emotional aspects of relocation for older adults” with compassion and integrity. They understand how overwhelming and emotionally-taxing a move late in life is and most Senior Move Managers came into the profession because they saw how challenging these moves are through their own personal experiences.
Benefits of Using a Senior Move Manager
There are several reasons why using a Senior Move Manager with small moving companies is beneficial to the moving process of your older loved ones.
- No financial exploitation
There are strict ethical codes used by managers, so you never have to worry that your loved one is getting taken advantage of when they use senior moving services. A moving company that is not a member of NASMM may take advantage of a senior by overcharging or underserving them simply because they might have memory loss, hearing or sight loss, or are simply out of touch with the current standard moving expenses.
- Provides dignity to your move
Instead of family members swooping in and either throwing out 50 years of belongings or taking what they want with no regard for the sentimental value, a Senior Move Manager will meticulously help a senior move in an organized manner. Senior Move Managers know it takes a long time to accumulate possessions and will go through this process with the seniors – whether it takes weeks or months! There is a level of respect.
- Decrease family members’ stress
This is an obvious, but extremely important, benefit to hiring a Senior Move Manager to relocate your senior family member. A Senior Move Manager helps make the transition smoother and reduces the emotional baggage that comes along with relocating a senior. It also helps keep family members from fighting with each other about what’s best for the senior.
- Anticipates all challenges
Relocating a senior family member is not something one goes through every day. So, there will be bumps and challenges along the way that may not be anticipated! A Senior Move Manager is an expert in this area and does this for a living. They have seen it all, and anticipate for all the challenges while taking on the burden of solving those problems. This, alone, reduces stress on everyone.
MiniMoves: The Small Move Company
MiniMoves partners with NASMM because we support the work that Senior Move Managers do. The benefit they provide to families is invaluable. As a small-move moving company, MiniMoves is not only comfortable, but also very experienced, with relocating seniors. Because we don’t charge a minimum weight to move even just a few pieces of furniture or boxes, MiniMoves is one of the small moving companies that are cost-effective in senior moves.
Additionally, our professional and experienced movers are meticulous when packing mementos, artwork or glassware to ensure the belongings arrive to their destination safe and intact. Not only is MiniMoves the experts in small-moves, but we are also able to handle multiple shipments. For example, if your senior family member is downsizing to a nursing home, and has family living all over the United States, we can cost-effectively come and move one piece of furniture to a daughter in California, another piece of furniture to a cousin in Texas, and yet another piece of furniture or box to a sister in Massachusetts. This makes working with MiniMoves easy, affordable, and stress-free!
If you are a Senior Move Manager, or you are interested in working with a Senior Move Manager who specializes in small moves, contact us today to learn how we can work to make your loved one’s move stress-free.
