No Ordinary Winter's Day
"To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own."
— Abraham Lincoln
On the heels of Presidents Weekend, this quote from Honest Abe struck a cord. It may not have been exactly the type of heartache Lincoln had in mind, but a mild and snow-free winter so far has certainly spelled disappointment for the children of our community yearning for some snow days. Here in HomeFront, we seized on unseasonably warm conditions to remove heartache of a different kind for our most vulnerable neighbors. And we did it, as always, thanks to your support. This is why there is no such thing as an ordinary Winter's day for HomeFront. For local struggling families with no other recourse for help, each day, we are either working to help them, directly helping them or sharing the news that their wait for health and safety repairs is over.
Today, we would like to share some of the stories of families we have been able to touch just six weeks into 2023. As the new year comes into clearer focus, this is also our chance to give you a preview of what we have in store. And, finally, our friends at the Fairfield County Community Foundation are leading the charge to help everyone in our community thrive. Fairfield County’s Giving Day is this Thursday, February 23rd. We wanted to share our plans to celebrate with our closest friends first.
Home Repair Help Through Winter
With more than 950 requests for help this year, we were grateful to have Mother Nature on our side this Winter. More importantly, the generous response to November's Giving Tuesday and end of year giving campaign funded our staff have to lead six urgent Critical Pro Repair (CPR) projects so far in 2023 with an additional five in the immediate pipeline. Here are some of the doorsteps where our relief has arrived so far:
Repairs to a boiler for an older couple in Mount Vernon, NY
Began a kitchen rehab for an older veteran in New Fairfield
Installed new windows for an older veteran in Southbury
Changed out drafty windows for an older gentleman in West Redding Replaced windows for a single mom to a young son in Danbury
Repaired a leaky roof and ceilings for Susan, an older woman in Trumbull
Susan, one of our CPR beneficiaries, beaming over her repaired roof.
If you are handy and have a few hours or a 1/2 day around your schedule to help someone like Susan, you can find out more about helping with our CPR projects by contacting our Associate Executive Director, Lou Valenti.
Dates Set for Spring & Fall HomeFront Days 2023
We are overjoyed to return once again to our spring-time volunteer repair blitz this year. Saturday, May 13th is our official Spring HomeFront Day. By necessity, we began offering a HomeFront Day event in the Fall during the pandemic. It was such a hit that we are offering a Fall HomeFront Day this year on September 23rd. Recent participants have received our invites. Now is the time to let us know if you are aware of a group that might like to get involved. You can contact us here for more information.
The quality of our work relies heavily on in-person home evaluation visits that we conduct with every applicant. Since these evaluation visits ran the risk of viral spread, up to now, this has only been possible on a limited basis. At the moment, we are doing our best to catch up. If you or anyone you know might be interested in helping to be our eyes, our ears and our hearts in the community, please contact us for more information on the brief training involved to be a HomeFront "Home Evaluator. It can be done around your schedule and our other evaluators can attest to how rewarding this role can be—especially when you see it all come full circle after a home you evaluated receives assistance.I'm a new Text block ready for your content.
It's Almost Here: Fairfield County's Giving Day 2023
One powerful way that we can help more families like Susan right away is through Fairfield County's Giving Day on February 23, 2023, for the 10th and final 24-hour online annual giving marathon. Generously supported by champion sponsor, Bank of America, Giving Day 2023 will bring donors together throughout Fairfield County and beyond to empower the local nonprofit organizations, like HomeFront, working to make Fairfield County the best it can be.
Stay tuned for HomeFront's plans to celebrate Fairfield County's Giving Day. Our goal is to assist five more local families in need right away through our Critical Pro Repair effort. Here on the left is Beverly, a single mom who has a son with severe cerebral palsy. Volunteers from Talmadge Hill Community Church moved mountains for her this past Fall, but her family has some additional quality of life issues. We thought we would build on their work by making this a CPR project. They have an extremely hazardous railing, a failing toilet that is driving up their water bills and an unsafe entry door. We will share more with you from Beverly's home on Thursday.
If anyone knows the difference one day can make, it is our HomeFront friends! For 35 years and counting, our work has been motivated by the adage, "many hands make light work." A little can go a long way when we get together and give together. We happen to know we have the best volunteers & supporters anywhere!
HomeFront has the opportunity to win $1,000 if we receive the most donations of any housing non-profit during the Power Hour from 1:00-2:00 on the 23rd.
For now, we thought we would wrap this one up with fitting words from the other President we all just celebrated.
“Let your heart feel for the affliction and distress of everyone and let your hand give in proportion to your purse."
— George Washington
