If you’re in the middle of figuring out who to hire for a move, a downsizing, home organizing or decluttering project, or tackling that storage unit you’ve been paying for, you’re lucky, because you know about the senior and specialty move management industry.
Hopefully you understand what makes us different from a “senior mover”.
When you hire a moving company, you’re hiring people to transport your belongings from Point A to Point B. What happens before and after is largely on you.
Senior and specialty move management is a completely different animal. We come in before the truck ever shows up. We help figure out what’s going to the new space, what goes to the family, what gets donated or sold. We measure furniture against the new floor plan because nothing is worse than arriving somewhere with a couch that doesn’t fit through the door. We coordinate with the movers, the donation centers, arrange for the sale of items and when needed, take care of getting your home cleared out for the next owner. On moving day we make sure things land where they’re supposed to land.
Then we help unpack and set up the new space so it actually feels like home. Not boxes stacked against a wall that you’ll live out of for the next three months or boxes taking up garage space. The day you move in, you will almost always be able to park in your garage – unless your garage was filled with “garage stuff” from your last house.
The other thing senior move management handles that nobody talks about is the emotional side. Downsizing is hard. Leaving a home you’ve lived in for thirty years is hard. Going through a parent’s belongings after a loss is really hard. A good move manager has seen all of it and knows how to hold space for that while still getting the job done.
What I am excited about is what makes Silver Linings Transitions the move management and home organizing company we are.
We are excited to announce we’ve just been named a finalist for the 2026 San Diego BBB Torch Award for Ethics.
What Is the BBB Torch Award — and Why Does It Matter?
The Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics is not a participation ribbon. It’s given to businesses that demonstrate an unwavering commitment to ethical practices across every dimension of how they operate. They consider how they treat clients, how they treat their team, and how they show up in their community.
Out of an applicant pool of over 5,000 businesses in San Diego, we stood out. Silver Linings Transitions has spent more than 12 years developing a culture and procedures that have come from serving and educating thousands of San Diegans about letting go of belongings, decluttering, organizing and moving.
Our founder Jami Shapiro started this company in 2014 following a cancer diagnosis, after transitioning from a career in real estate. Realizing she wanted to live more purposefully, she left a thriving real estate business to serve people. When she went looking for help, the first person who reached out was a stay at home mom who’d found it challenging to re-enter the job market after taking time off and still needing flexibility to raise her family.
Slowly, the team grew each employee with their own story, their own skills but each of us with the desire to serve.
We Are A+ Accredited
Anyone can call themselves a “senior mover” but Silver Linings Transitions has been part of an industry that is self regulated and requires its members to uphold its ethics and best practices. Within NASMM (the National Association of Senior and Specialty Move Managers) we have earned our A + Accreditation a distinction only 10% have.
Company founder, Jami Shapiro, CSA serves as President of the NASMM Board of Directors which both recognizes the trust and confidence her fellow NASMM members have but also means the company needs to stand out and reflect this position within the organization.
When you’re trusting someone with a parent’s belongings, a lifetime of memories, and one of the most emotionally loaded transitions a family goes through, you deserve to know who you’re actually hiring. These credentials aren’t mentioned to impress. They’re mentioned because you are inviting “strangers” into your home.
We Don’t Do Estate Sales — and That Decision Is Rooted in Your Best Interest
This one surprises people. Many move management and downsizing companies offer estate sales as part of their services. We don’t and it’s a deliberate choice.
When we see other companies bundle estate sales into their downsizing services, we notice a conflict of interest: the more items they put in the sale, the more commission they earn. That dynamic doesn’t always align with what’s best for the client.
The reality is that the resale market for most household goods is not strong. After factoring in the estate sale company’s commission which is typically 35–50% of gross sales, many clients walk away with far less than they expected, or nothing at all. This is especially true when you factor that many companies will hold a reserve amount to cover their time and effort in holding the estate sale.
Instead, our approach is to help clients keep as much money as possible by identifying what actually holds value. Our team member Christine Bowman has over 30 years of experience in this space and maintains a network of buyers across virtually every category — from silver to fine art to first editions. She’s helped clients recover a $100,000 rare book and a $15,000 piece of art that might otherwise have been priced for $20 on a Saturday morning. For everything else, we work with vetted buyout companies, consignment options, nonprofit donations, and community gifting — always with an eye toward keeping items out of landfills.
Our goal is never to move things quickly for our own convenience. It’s to find the right outcome for each item — and to be honest with clients about what that actually looks like.
While we work with everyone, we specialize where others don’t: Seniors, ADHD, and Chronic Disorganization
What often looks like stubbornness, avoidance, or an inability to “just let go” is frequently rooted in how a person’s brain is wired. Jami’s own late-in-life ADHD diagnosis — and a strong family history of chronic disorganization — completely changed the way she approaches this work.
She pursued training as an ADHD Coach through ADDCA and became a Level 2 Specialist with the Institute for Challenging Disorganization. Our entire team is trained to meet clients where they are — not where we think they should be.
For seniors especially, this kind of understanding is rare. And for families watching a parent struggle with a move that seems like it should be simple, it often makes the difference between a process that feels impossible and one that actually gets done without unnecessary pressure.
Transparency That Goes Beyond the Invoice
We keep clients informed at every step with clear pricing, detailed records, and progress photos throughout the process. If there’s going to be an overage, we discuss it and get sign-off before it happens. There are no surprises on a final bill.
When mistakes happen, and they occasionally do in any service business, we bring them to the client’s attention immediately and make it right. No team member has ever had their pay docked for an honest mistake. We’d rather build a culture where people feel safe being upfront than one where they hide problems out of fear.
After every move, we leave fresh flowers and a handwritten thank you card. Sometimes we frame a photo or arrange a special keepsake from one of our team members. It’s a small gesture, but it’s also a reflection of what we actually believe: that how you leave someone feeling matters.
Community Isn’t a Side Project for Us
Jami speaks regularly at libraries, senior centers, and lifelong learning programs throughout San Diego including San Diego Oasis on topics like downsizing, letting go of belongings, and the largely overlooked connection between aging and ADHD. Her podcast, Grandma Has ADHD, reaches seniors, caregivers, and professionals across the country navigating these same conversations.
Team member Christine hosts free Paint & Sip events at senior living communities and for San Diego Oasis.
If You’re Trying to Choose the Right Company, Here’s What We’d Suggest
Ask any company you’re considering a few honest questions:
- Are you accredited by NASMM? If so, at what level?
- Do you offer estate sales? If so, how are you paid and how does that affect your advice?
- How do you handle it when something goes wrong?
- Do you have experience with clients who have ADHD, hoarding tendencies, or cognitive changes?
- What happens to the belongings that don’t make the move?
The answers will tell you a lot.
We’re proud to be a BBB Torch Award finalist. But more than that, we’re proud of the work that earned us the nomination and the clients, families, and referral partners who trusted us enough to make it possible.
NASMM (The National Association of Senior and Specialty Move Managers) is embarking on its 25th anniversary.
If you’re navigating a transition — for yourself or for someone you love — we’d be glad to talk.
Silver Linings Transitions | 760-522-1624 | silverliningstransitions.com