Business & Professional

ENTREPRENEUR I ON THE COVER

Moving With Ease

Gentle Transitioning — a business that
helps seniors downsize their homes.

She'll Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer

I is been more than a year, but Esther
Hurwitz clearly remembers the
daunting task she and her sisters
faced in arranging to empty their mom's
longtime home after she moved.
"Thinking about 'all that stuff' still
makes me queasy:' said Hurwitz of Ann
Arbor. "You almost don't know where to
begin. The thought of it is overwhelming."
Gloria Hurwitz had moved from the
Farmington Hills home she and her late
husband bought 26 years earlier to the
assisted living facility, Regent Street of
West Bloomfield. Her daughters — two
live out of state — were trying to figure
out how to sort through and pack up what
was left in the home when help came from
an unlikely place.
While on Facebook reconnecting with
Linda Kovan of West Bloomfield, a friend
from third grade, Esther learned that
Kovan's business, Gentle Transitioning,
would move, donate, sell or dispose of
everything in their mom's home for them.
They hired Kovan and her partners
— Amy Weinstein of Birmingham, Janet
Stein Mutchnick of West Bloomfield and
Anita Knatz of Brighton — to get the
home ready to be sold.
"Linda and her crew went through what
was left, hauled away all the obvious junk
and put aside things they found that we
should go through, such as mementos and
photos:' Esther Hurwitz said. "They staged
the house for sale by rearranging the fur-
niture and clearing out the rooms. It was
such a relief to have people I trusted go
through things for us:'
The women also arranged for an estate
sale, and donated many items, including
1,000 books given to Bookstock Used
Book and Media Sale, which supports edu-
cation and literacy projects.
"I was there to pick up last-minute
things and represent the family, but I was
glad to let Linda direct what was happen-
ing," Hurwitz said.

Who's Moving?
With increasing life expectancies, the U.S.
Census Bureau's 2004 report estimates
Gloria Hurwitz is one of 36.3 million
Americans 65 years and older, the age

group often looking to downsize to small-
er homes.
In Michigan, 642,880 individuals are
between ages 65 and 74, and 433,678
between ages 75 and 84. And many have
children responsible for helping them
move.
"As of 2008, there were 5.8 to 7 mil-
lion caregivers in the U.S. who provide
care to persons over age 65," said Marcia
Mittelman, administrator of the Norma
Jean and Edward Meer Jewish Apartments
in West Bloomfield.

"There are 63,697 older adults in
Michigan who live in group quarters,
such as senior communities, assisted
living and nursing homes.
"Moving from a condo or house into
a senior living community can be over-
whelming and emotional;' Mittelman
said. "It is about losses, including the loss
of one's home and all of the memories
that go with it. It means they will have to
leave furniture and personal belongings
behind."
Although Meer does not endorse any

Gentle Transitioning partners, seated: Amy Weinstein and Janet Stein Mutchnick;
standing: Anita Knatz and Linda Kovan.

specific moving business, Mittelman said,
"It may be helpful to have an organizer to
relieve some of the stress and pressure. In
addition, there may be older adults with-
out family or that have family who live
out of state. An organizer would be very
beneficial."

Creating A Business

Gentle Transitioning was formed in
September 2008 after Kovan helped her
mother move from her large home into an
independent living apartment.
"I was like a deer caught in headlights:'
Kovan said. "My mother had been in the
hospital and was not able to move back
home again."
Kovan realized the task went way
beyond the physical packing and moving,
but would involve downsizing her mom's
furniture and possessions and making
what was left fit into the new apartment.
So she called her friends, sisters Weinstein
and Mutchnick.
"We got a blueprint of my mother's new
apartment and Amy started to figure out
how to incorporate what she would want
to take with her:' Kovan said. "As we were
sitting around a table laying things out, a
light bulb went off. I suggested we start a
company to do what we were doing for my
mother for other people. I then asked my
friend and coworker Anita Knatz to join
us:'
Armed with firsthand understanding of
the emotional and physical issues associ-
ated with such a transition, the women
formed a Web- and phone-based busi-
ness — with a Farmington Hills mailing
address — offering a multitude of mov-
ing-related services.
The partners bring varied experience
and perspectives to Gentle Transitioning.
Kovan, the president, is the front person,
responsible for networking and marketing.
The owner of the KovanGroup, a manufac-
turer's representative agency, she also sells
automotive component parts.
Weinstein, an interior designer with a
talent for space planning, said, "My role
is to provide a furniture layout that can
incorporate all the pieces that are spe-
cial as well as those that are a functional
necessity." She continues to run her thriv-
ing interior design business, AMW Design
Moving With Ease on page 30

March 4 • 2010

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