Meet Mary and her team!
Meet Mary Dilly!
Mary has been a resident of Burlington since 1990. Her career has spanned from a legal assistant to events/fundraising/marketing and advertising. Her 40+ years of event planning have given her experience and logistical, time, and project management skills. Mary has been the sole organizer of an annual Christmas Day Dinner since 2006. Her attention to detail in the planning and execution – from fundraising, working with volunteers, food, and presents for approximately 500 guests – ensures the success of this tremendous endeavour each year. Mary has been helping families to downsize for years. She enjoys the challenge of dispersing items compassionately while donating to worthwhile local charities. The main priority for Mary is keeping things out of the landfill.
Mary Serves as a Volunteer on The Board Of Directors With:
The Willow Foundation enhances the lives of seniors and adults with disabilities living in Halton Region’s three long-term care homes through a variety of programs and activities.
Established in 2002, The Willow Foundation is a non-profit registered charitable organization governed by a volunteer board of directors.
Carpenter Hospice is a home in the heart of Burlington that offers both residential-based care to people in the last stages of their lives, and community-based programs for people dealing with grief or a life-limiting illness. It lets residents spend their final days together with loved ones in an environment that is peaceful, comfortable and meaningful. It is staffed by a dedicated team of professionals and volunteers who provide compassionate palliative care to meet residents' every need and ensure that each moment matters.
Carpenter Hospice has been an integral part of Burlington since 2002 thanks to the generosity of the community and is committed to providing support services for those going through life's transitions.
Accolades, Awards & Recognition for Mary
✅ 2024 - Diamond Winner - Best Moving Company/Services - Burlington Post Readers' Choice Awards 2024
✅ 2023, 2022, 2021 - Platinum Award - Community Burlington Votes for Downsizing Solutions
✅ 2021 - Paul Harris Award Burlington Rotary North
✅ 2021 - MP Karina Gould's Community Volunteer Award
✅ 2020 - Rotary Burlington North Paul Harris Award
✅ 2018 - MPP Eleanor McMahon's Canada 150 Award
✅ 2017 - MP Karina Gould's Sesquicentennial Citizenship Award
✅ 2010 - Rotary Paul Harris Award
✅ 2008 - City of Burlington Community Service Award
Mary Is Committed To The Community
In early 2020, Mary learned about a project that was supporting families moving out of shelter and new immigrants with donations of household items. What was lacking was furniture donations so she and a friend decided to do something about that! Three years later, Mary and her friends have now outfitted over 50 families with household items such as couches, beds, dressers, tv’s, kitchen tables/chairs and so much more. Thanks to the Burlington community who donate all the items! This endeavour could never have been possible without the tremendous and generous support of Access Storage for the donation of three storage units.
Mary Raises & Fosters Service Dogs
Since 1996, Mary Dilly has been raising and fostering service dogs in training. She is presently raising her 14th puppy. Fostering a service dog in training is a lot of work but is also a lot of fun. Dogs are taken everywhere – stores, malls, church, movie theatres, etc. to socialize them and teach them proper behaviours in public settings. Mary is proud that all of her dogs, except one, graduated and are working service dogs.
Mary's Annual Christmas Day Dinner
Since 2006, Mary has been organizing and hosting an annual Christmas Day Dinner held at East Plains United Church in (Aldershot) Burlington. It started with 45 volunteers and 35 guests and has now grown to 100 volunteers on December 24th to set up and wrap presents and approximately 100 volunteers on Christmas Day to serve dinner to 350 - 500 guests and then clean up and takedown. It is an enormous endeavour and one which gives Mary such joy.
She says this is her "ticket to Heaven"! Every guest is served a full turkey dinner (or veggie option), enjoys carolling by the volunteers, great companionship and a visit and present from Santa! It is a magical day and couldn't take place without the amazing volunteers!
Meet The Downsizing Solutions Team
Jennifer is the original Dilly-ette and has been with Downsizing Solutions since its inception in 2020. She has known Mary for over 20 years. Both their daughters have been best friends since they were little girls. Jennifer has had an affection for seniors from a very early age. She loves hearing all about their stories, and shares in their memories and photos. She especially adores seeing her clients light up when they see their new home on move-in day! Jennifer gives special touches and extra attention to her projects, which the clients love. Maybe it is because she spent a decade as a floral production specialist and did landscaping for 25 years. When Jennifer is not on the job, you will find her fishing, playing poker, cooking, or sitting around the campfire. Jennifer is very much looking forward to her latest project of being "Nana" to her first grandson, Liam, who entered the world in the wee hours of October 19, 2022!
Lee-Anne, a Dilly-ette, joined the Downsizing Solutions team in June, 2022 and works full time for the company. She has an obsession for organizing (one of the many traits we love about her) and finds immense joy in helping others with her work at Downsizing Solutions. She wears many hats, but her favourite one is a 'Mom cap' to her three amazing children. Lee-Anne has a passion for health and wellness and is a Certified Personal Trainer; a skill that comes in quite handy as a Dilly-ette. When she is not organizing, packing, un-packing, moving, and working out, she is spending time with her kids in nature or on some sort of adventure. Ask Lee-Anne about her love of the water (near it, in it, on it). She also hates the cold and loves to cook!
Fataneh is a seasoned veteran when it comes to project management, social work, organization and caring for seniors. She also has her Bachelor of Science Psychology degree. These skills and attributes, combined with her desire to help seniors, makes her ideal as Downsizing Solutions' latest recruit. After years of caring for both her aging parents (her parents coped with Alzheimers and Parkinsons until their passing in 2013 and 2023), she then took some much needed time for herself and her family before exploring her work in the downsizing/moving industry. When she's not packing or unpacking boxes, in the mornings you'll find Fataneh on her computer learning and doing trades in the stock market. Ask her about her experience in building a home from scratch - she's done that too .... twice! As well as many house flip projects. You won't be able to miss her, she has the biggest smile! We are so happy Fataneh has joined the Downsizing Solutions team.
Sheila joined the Downsizing Solutions team in September, 2023 and has always enjoyed helping seniors. In her early 20’s she worked in a retirement home in England. She has fond memories of her clients there still to this day; reflecting on times she took "Max" to the pub on Sundays and listening to "Yvonne" talk about the secret work she did during the war. Most of her professional life, she worked as a project manager and logistics coordinator. We're so happy she did this AND she wanted to return to helping seniors. She is an exceptional listener and prioritizer, putting our clients’ needs first. It's no wonder she takes great pride in making a positive impact on others; her clients, teammates and partners. When not downsizing or representing Downsizing Solutions in the community, she is a long-time Rotarian who enjoys the community, both locally in Burlington and on the international scale. In fact, she is the District Chair for the Rotary Youth Exchange and takes immense joy in hosting students and her involvement with many fundraising activities. Ask Sheila about her love for animals, especially her dog, Cody and cat, Stella (Artois)!
Deb, a part-time Dilly-ette, met Mary at a fundraising event for the local food bank in the Spring of 2022 and they hit it off. Their shared passion for helping others fostered not just a fond friendship but a mutually, respectful working relationship. Clients love Deb's high energy, sense of humour, and innate ability to ease the anxiety that comes from downsizing/moving. When not on duty as a Dilly-ette, you will find Deb following her passions as a coach, mentor, inspirational author, and facilitator of humanitarian retreats in Mexico. Ask Deb about her favourite pastimes, and you'll learn she can tap dance, she loves mountain-biking, is a proud Mom of two adult children, is married to a retired police officer, and loves animals. Deb enjoys the odd glass of wine, but prefers Prosecco whenever she can.
Jordyn is our youngest Dilly-ette, and works occasionally for Downsizing Solutions. She loves backyard fires with her family in her spare time. She loves all things sports - playing it or watching it, but her fave sport of all time is fishing. Despite being the quietest of all Dilly-ettes, she takes great pride in her work, and loves the clients.
Brian & John are the primary Downsizing Solutions moving team. They've been a dynamic moving duo since the inception of the company. You'll not likely see one without the other. They may be quiet, but they are hard at work being professional to get the job done, no matter how big or small. When they're not hauling boxes or furniture you will find them working on one of their many "hobby" cars.
We're always interested in expanding our team. If you, or you know someone, interested in joining the Downsizing Solutions team, please contact Mary Dilly directly.