Moving Forward: abiRiver Consulting
At abiRiver Consulting, a fresh start means carefully packing up the past, moving into the future, and guiding clients home. Owner Therese Johnson doesn’t just bring boxes to the table, she brings a wealth of tools, including a real estate license, emergency management skills, crisis intervention experience, and donation/ auction expertise. She also arrives with a dedicated team of movers and healthcare professionals who specialize in patience, organization, and most importantly, compassion. While her team helps clients prepare for exciting new chapters, they also help clients cope, walking beside them through the challenging chapters they never saw coming. When life is too heavy to carry, abiRiver is a helping hand — ready to plan, pack, and prepare clients’ hearts for a new homecoming.
by TRACY NICHOLSON
photos by DAN FRANCIS PHOTOGRAPHY
As Therese Johnson explains, their job is all about ‘simplifying your next chapter.’ “We laugh with our clients, we grieve with them, and we empower them to move on to their next chapter with the things they cherish the most, without the burden of decision-making.” Johnson’s business is the only service in the area that helps people declutter, reorganize, downsize, pack, move, unpack, and sell real estate in one well-wrapped package.
During the pandemic, amid uncertainties of what the future would hold, Johnson’s business started with an expansion of her real estate services, discovering a demographic of clients overwhelmed with the burden of decision-making. Combining her real estate skills with her experience in emergency management and crisis intervention, she found a way to ease the stress of relocating and carry the burden of difficult decisions for them. Many of abiRiver’s clients face major life changes, whether a new home, downsize, divorce, loss of a spouse, or loss of a parent. Others have encountered health issues that have drastically changed their lifestyle, now having to decide whether to transition to senior living or age in place, adapting their home for safety and accessibility.
CARING FOR CLIENTS
When it comes to caring for her clients, Johnson is prepared for just about anything. For 12 years, she was a critical care paramedic in rural North Dakota and Minnesota, which taught her how to problem-solve in high-pressure situations with limited time and resources. She was also part of the ND Medical Volunteer Corp and has a background in Emergency Management, certified in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) through FEMA.
Johnson isn’t the only one at abiRiver who has a background in healthcare. In fact, nearly everyone on the team has a background in healthcare or social work in some capacity. Jillian Belling is a part-time RN who has been part of abiRiver from the early stages of its growth. As team lead, she gets clients started with a consult, then researches and orchestrates the next steps for decluttering, organization, and problem solving, putting forth the same level of care towards clients that she does toward patients.
In this business, emotions run high, so her team of professionals tread lightly, personalizing the experience to ensure a dignified and safe space for change. AbiRiver works with anyone who needs guidance, clients who may be dealing with everything from diagnosed or undiagnosed ADHD to Alzheimers; creating a process that involves reorganizing in a way that makes the most sense to them. Their team walks clients through organization, real estate, auctions, estate sales, donations, packing, moving, and downsizing. Although abiRiver has a streamlined process, each time it’s tailored to the client’s long-term needs, stage of grief, health, profession, or neurodiversity. Johnson, a licensed agent in Minnesota and North Dakota with Dakota Plains Realty, will even manage home repairs, staging, and preparation to assist sellers with listings.
To interview Therese, we met at the home of Joanna Wichmann, a beautiful three-level Dabbert Homes “Sarah” model. Joanna is Therese’s friend and client — abiRiver helped her family of five transition into this home in 2022.
TREASURES & TRINKETS
Adult children often struggle with the weight of one day cleaning out their parents’ home, equating to a lifetime of memories and most likely several generations of inherited items. The process can be a full-time job; deciding what stays, what goes to whom, and what items get sold or donated.
At the heart of abiRiver is finding creative ways to honor the legacy of loved ones without overwhelming family members with trinkets, china, and century-old furniture. “I encourage clients to make beautiful memories with their beautiful things and let go of the things that no longer work for them,” said Johnson. Further explaining, she said sometimes one house becomes a storage unit for multiple families, absorbing cherished items from several family members who have passed away.
“A lot of people assume kids and grandkids are going to take things, but very few will,” said Johnson. “They end up holding onto these things for many years, thinking ‘when I downsize, they’re going to take this.’ So, we really encourage people to start those conversations now with their kids or grandkids. If they’re really interested, have them take items now. Set deadlines, so that you’re not just a storage unit for them.”
REASSIGNING VALUE
In Johnson’s experience, there are plenty of people out there who would be happy to cherish these items, but it might not be the kids and grandkids. Her solution is to ‘reassign value,’ finding someone who will enjoy that piece as much as they did. When there are high-value heirlooms that don’t have a taker, her team works with collectors, estate sellers, auctioneers, eBay consignors, and antique dealers who help abiRiver sell and determine values.
“Part of reassigning value is educating people,” said Johnson. “Just because it’s 100 years old doesn’t necessarily mean it’s valuable. So, we help determine whether it’s worth finding a buyer or letting a child or grandchild just take it. I really encourage people to use their beautiful things, not store them away. When it comes time to hand them to another family member, they don’t realize the significance of those pieces because they’ve maybe never seen them or haven’t been allowed to use them, so there isn’t an emotional connection.” She encourages people to have those conversations now, show or use items during holidays or family gatherings, and let go — giving permission for family members to take items home.
“I really encourage people to use their beautiful things, not store them away.”
REPURPOSE
Belling encourages clients to use things they love in different ways, even if it’s not for the intended purpose. If they’re not highly valuable, she believes it’s ok to have some fun, paint them, and let the kids play with them. Most importantly, she urges clients to let people enjoy them in their own way. “I find that’s harder for a lot of older generations, to see that they might not use it the same way they did,” said Belling. “It’s just giving it a different kind of value by using it differently.”
One of their clients gifted her teacups with candy and ribbons for birthdays. “That helped her let go of things. We don’t want to throw things away,” said Johnson. “We work really hard to keep things out of the landfill. We would rather repurpose, sell, donate, or find somebody who will use it.”
PLAN AHEAD
In this business, timing is everything and planning ahead matters, especially when confronted with a crisis. “I tell people to call me before they’re planning a move because the more we can plan ahead and get those steps lined up for them, the easier it is for them to make decisions,” said Johnson.
“We want to make sure they’re not making decisions in a crisis or under stress because they have to.” The team at abiRiver talks through plans and timelines, then deciphers what’s important to their clients and what parts of the process are the most stressful for them. “I could alleviate some of that stress if we have a couple months to plan,” said Johnson. “I always tell people we’ll go as fast or slow as they need us to. We can just pick away at things a little at a time so they’re clear-headed and not making impulse decisions.”
AbiRiver also ensures clients aren’t bringing things into apartments that don’t fit, which can create safety issues and obstructions that are difficult to navigate around. “We’ll do an entire layout for them, so they can see where the bed is going to go, where their dressers will fit, and which couch they should take. We try to look ahead as much as we can to see what the obstacles might be before we start planning. Sometimes there’s memory loss involved, so we need more time with them.”
Johnson is a member of the National Aging in Place Council and tries to keep people in their homes as long as possible, but only if it’s the safest place for them to be. “That might mean planning differently when purchasing a home, making changes to their home, or just walking them through those decisions, figuring out the safest place for them right now,” said Johnson. “If they’re not able to navigate their home safely or keep up with the maintenance safely, they may be losing value on their biggest asset.”
NAVIGATING CHANGE
For local artist Ann Westra, abiRiver has been the calm amid three emotional transitions. Two years ago, Johnson’s team helped her downsize and move her mom into senior living. Last January, Westra reached out again, this time after her husband Tom, a retired firefighter, was undergoing treatment for cancer. The couple needed help moving out of their home into a more accessible place. Unfortunately, her husband passed away just before the move. AbiRiver once again stepped in to help pack, organize an estate sale, find a buyer for her home, and get her settled into 55+ living. “Being retired and without kids or extra help, she was able to really focus on grieving, knowing that the burden of decision-making was taken care of, and we could guide her step by step,” said Johnson.
“I don’t think I could have done it without her, I knew I was going to get emotional,” said Westra. “After you’ve been in a house for 34 years, you don’t even know what you have anymore. There was just stuff in boxes, and I just said, ‘Get rid of that, get rid of that.’ Therese and Isabelle actually looked through the stuff and said, ‘Are you sure you want to get rid of this? No… I didn’t even know what was in it.”
“They actually care; it’s not just pack and go, it’s very thoughtful. She takes most of the stress out of it,” added Westra. “It’s still a big deal after 34 years in one place. Getting rid of everything, it’s just overwhelming. I thought it was overwhelming when we moved my mom, who just had a two-bedroom apartment, and then when it was the house, I thank God we found her before that. When I needed it, I knew it would help me immensely because I don’t even think you can have family help you with that, it would be too stressful.”
Facing a new life on her own, abiRiver returned often, helping pull Westra’s art room together by carefully organizing and labeling art supplies. They’ve also helped her hang and display art, instead of storing it away. “I just said I don’t even know how I want it put together,” added Westra. “Obviously, it comes with experience, but you also have to be a special type of person I think to work with people who are under stress.”
“This is a big chapter, a big change. We’re just making sure we give people time and space for that grief,” said Johnson. “I have stories that make us laugh and stories that tug on our hearts,” added Johnson. “But all of our stories are of clients who needed an extra hand to hold and shoulder to lean on. We’ve been really lucky to be able to share these moments with our clients, where they confide in us but also share with us the memories of past lives.”
DIY TIPS
Overwhelmed with organization? Belling says to start small. “Start with just one drawer or one corner, don’t try to do the whole garage in one day. Make one corner of your house something that you love, so when your eye catches it, it makes you just smile,” she said.
If you’re relocating, Johnson’s advice is to use boxes, not totes, especially if movers are involved. “Totes have awkward shapes, so they don’t maximize space and most things don’t fit, so they are more likely to get broken,” she said. “But also, just label your boxes with the room it came from or which cupboard it came from, so you can easily find things later. My biggest tip when planning a move, is to focus on the things you love,” said Johnson. “Don’t worry about what’s garbage or what you can sell or donate. So much energy goes into those decisions and it’s exhausting. If you can focus on what you love, I can deal with the rest.”
NEED A HAND?
abiRiver currently serves the Fargo/Moorhead region, Otter Tail County, Becker County, and surrounding communities, including Grand Forks and Bismarck.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
abiRiver Consulting
C. 701.430.9209 | O. 701.566.7080
abiriver.com | dakotaplainsrealty.com
FB: abiRiver Consulting
Insta: @abiriverconsulting