2024 Spring HomeFront Day

Press Release
Written By Sean OBrien

MEDIA CONTACT
Sean O’Brien, HomeFront
O: (203) 658-9664 C: (203) 803-9772
sobrien@homefrontprogram.org

Upwards of 500 Local Volunteers Poised to Repair 15 Homes and One Community Center for Free in Bridgeport, Darien, East Hartford, Enfield, Fairfield, Greenwich, Kensington, New Britain, Newtown, Norwalk, Oxford, Southbury, Stamford, Waterbury & Watertown

May 1, 2024 — Sat., May 4th marks the 35th annual Springtime HomeFront Day, spanning 15 CT cities. This year’s rite of Spring features 16 local corporate, civic and faith-based groups transforming unsafe and unhealthy living conditions for older adults on fixed incomes, veterans, persons with disabilities, single-parent households and families in transitional crisis. The event caps weeks of planning on behalf of volunteer leaders, representing a major step in HomeFront’s campaign to revitalize 85 homes in need this year at no cost to the beneficiaries. In addition to the dedicated helpers, this life-changing service is made possible by grants, individual donations and volunteer sponsorships.

HomeFront’s mission is especially crucial in the state of CT, where low-income households are more likely to confront health and safety repair issues in their living spaces due to the 6th oldest housing stock in the nation, according to the Partnership for Strong Communities. The ability to afford repairs is hampered given this finding from the United Way of CT: more than one-third of CT homeowners spend over 30 percent of their income on housing.

It is fitting that this volunteer outpouring coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month. The strain of unaffordable housing has been linked with increased stress and depression, according to the National League of Cities. Substandard housing conditions take a similar toll. In the words of Board Chair, Kenneth Wiegand, “HomeFront is proud to play a part in positively impacting mental health in our communities. Our beneficiaries overwhelmingly speak to the psychological uplift when our program comes to their aid.” Volunteer workers also experience the benefits. The U.S. Surgeon General underscores the importance of community connectors, like HomeFront, against the epidemic of loneliness.

Today’s HomeFront organizes Spring and Fall volunteer home repair group events. The program has also ratcheted up assistance with its new initiative called Critical Pro Repair (CPR). Through CPR, skilled HomeFront staff team up with one or two skilled volunteers to deliver crucial repairs such as wheelchair ramps, step and walkway overhauls and deck repairs to struggling families. More than 100 local families have received essential construction aid from HomeFront through CPR since 2020.

The collective compassion of hands-on volunteers, product contributors, foundations and other donors brings HomeFront to the mark of more than 3,200 homes revitalized in program history, delivering $50 million of service where needed most since 1988. HomeFront is a community-based program dedicated to keeping low-income homeowners in their homes with an improved quality of life through substantial repairs completed at no cost to them. More information on HomeFront can be found online at www.homefrontprogram.org.

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PARTICIPATING LOCAL VOLUNTEER GROUPS

Corporate

Hometown Hero Level

  • FactSet Research Systems, Norwalk, CT

Civic

  • Greenwich Association of Realtors

  • Newtown Lions Teams I & II

Faith-Based

  • Holy Disciples Parish — St. Mary Magdalen & St. John the Evangelist Churches, Watertown, CT

  • North American Martyrs Parish, East Hartford

  • Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Stamford, CT

  • Southbury Faith in Action (SOFIA)

  • St. Edmund Campion Parish, East Hartford, CT

  • St. Luke’s Parish, Darien CT

  • St. Paul Parish of Kensington CT

  • St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Fairfield

  • St. Raymond of Peñafort Church Teams I, II & III, Enfield CT

  • St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Oxford, CT

MAJOR SPONSORS

Community Leader Level

  • The John H. & Ethel G. Noble Charitable Trust, New York, NY

  • The Mithun Family Foundation, Minneapolis, MN

  • The Norbert H. Hardner Foundation, Amherst, NH

  • Housing Partner Level

  • Everett Bulkley Trust, New York, NY

  • Travelers Foundation, Hartford, CT

  • Twenty-Seven Foundation, Glastonbury, CT

Good Neighbor Level

  • City of Norwalk — Redevelopment Office

  • Connecticut Community Foundation, Waterbury, CT

  • Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust, Erlanger, KY

  • Near & Far Aid, Southport, CT

  • The Goodnow Fund, Darien, CT

  • The Katharine Matthies Foundation, Seymour, CT

  • The Office for Catholic Social Justice of the Archdiocese of Hartford — Bloomfield, CT

  • Webster Bank, Waterbury, CT

Project Builder Level

  • Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Rocky Hill, CT

  • First County Bank Foundation, Stamford, CT

  • NewAlliance Foundation, New Haven, CT

  • The Ridgefield Thrift Shop, Ridgefield, CT

  • St. John’s Community Foundation, Stamford, CT

Other Major Sponsors

  • Auer Family Foundation, Calabasas, CA

  • Downey Family Foundation, Westport, CT

  • The George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation, Hartford, CT

  • Thomaston Savings Bank Foundation, Thomaston, CT

PRODUCT & SERVICE CONTRIBUTORS

  • Ace Hardware, Bethel, CT — building supplies

  • Allway Tools, Bronx, NY — tools

  • Behr Paint, Santa Anna, CA — paint

  • Classic Tile, Rockaway, NJ — flooring tile

  • DAP Products, Baltimore, MD — caulk

  • H.J. Hoffman & Co., Norwalk, CT — screenprinting

  • Mark Johnson, Brookfield, CT — well drilling services

  • Mary pat Design, Shelton, CT — graphic design

  • Mercury Excelum, East Windsor, CT — windows

  • Pro Bono Partnership, NY & Fairfield County — non-profit legal assistance

  • Ring’s End, Bethel, CT — doors and construction materials

  • The Home Depot, Danbury, CT — building materials

  • Wooster Brush Co, Wooster, OH — paint sundries

Sean OBrien
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