“The Right to Re-charge”
Summer 2023
All of us in HomeFront hope our volunteers and supporters have plans in the works to unwind and re-charge over the summer if you haven’t already. Whether it’s fishing, trading in a paint brush for a barbeque basting brush or putting aside that storm door installation manual in favor of a good summer read—you have earned it! After all, many families are now able to breathe a sigh of relief after the major repairs you helped us to make on their homes.
This Spring, you were in solidarity with 800 other goodhearted souls who helped 20 low-income, struggling families across as many local towns. And we could not be prouder. This brings us to the mark of 3,200 homes revitalized since we began. Many of our Spring-time volunteers displayed heroic dedication while rolling up their sleeves through rain drops and borderline monsoons, in some cases. It looked like a lot of fun, but we know it was a lot of hard work. While you enjoy more quality time with loved ones this summer, we hope you take a moment to savor the difference you helped us to make this Spring. Below is just one of our favorite snapshots that we assembled into a gallery of photos from all the “feel good” job sites. Some of the faces may be familiar to you. You can check them all out by clicking here.
Volunteers from St. Raymond of Peñafort with their beneficiary, Heather.
“It’s like a miracle for me. I don’t have a fancy house but it’s my home and I really love it here. I don’t want to have to leave. It’s amazing. I can’t believe this. They’re so conscientious and they’re all so nice. I didn’t think there were this many nice people left in the world.” — Barbara, Oakville, CT
The Company You Keep
We are honored to have so many community groups join forces with us year after year - especially after the toll of the pandemic. Thought we would spotlight the milestones reached by our Spring volunteer helpers this year.
More Than 30 Years of Participation: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Fairfield
Happy 30th: St. Luke’s Parish, Darien!
Happy 25th: Southbury Faith in Action!
Happy 20th: St. Edmund Campion, East Hartford!
More Than 20 Years of Participation
FactSet, Norwalk
Newtown Lions
St. Edward the Confessor, New Fairfield
St. Raymond of Peñafort Teams I, II & III, Enfield
Happy 15th: Dotdash Meredith, Stamford!
More Than Five Years of Participation
Our Lady Star of the Sea, Stamford
United Methodist Church of Clinton, Teams I & II
North American Martyrs Parish, East Hartford
Our Up & Comers Club: New Fairfield Congregational Church
Congrats on your 30th Year to St. Luke's Parish volunteers and leaders!
Spring Project Impact Spotlight
All of our groups tackle life-changing repairs for neighbors in need. Let’s say you had to have 11 old windows replaced, a broken-down kitchen overhauled, new light fixtures, porch repairs, new railings, fresh coats of paint and yard work. For materials and labor alone, $30,000 would be a conservative guess. When HomeFront linked up with its partners, we were able to accomplish all of these improvements for $5,000 in materials. In this case, it began with relationships we have forged with window vendors who care about the work we are doing. Then, you mix in extraordinary volunteers from St. Raymond of Peñafort in Enfield who changed out the windows, installed a new kitchen, added lighting and a new door.
Of course, the best part is that the person who did not have to spend $5,000 or $30,000 is Tracy, a single mom coping with fibromyalgia and PTSD.
St. Raymond volunteers installing windows high & low.
St. Raymond’s volunteer leaders.
The happy beneficiary with her new kitchen & dishwasher.
HomeFront Summer Happenings
Summer is a great time for us to help some of the families who are still waiting for help through our Critical Pro Repair (CPR) service. This is where one or two of our construction-expert staff work with one or more skilled volunteers to tackle targeted, important repair issues, like step, railing and deck overhauls, wheelchair ramp installs and others. Think SWAT team, but with tool belts. We tackled eight of them this Spring.
For quite some time, we have been eager to assist a particular veteran and his family in Stratford, but we did not have any volunteer groups nearby. Fortunately, for this deserving family, DAV Charitable Service Trust funded a Critical Pro Repair project to tackle their most worrisome repair needs. Leo is a veteran in his mid-60s. He served in the U.S. Army. Their windows were old and drafty and they could not afford to replace them on their fixed income. Leo was in the hospital when we installed the windows. He will be so thrilled when he comes home to see them and experience the peace of mind he deserves for all he has done for our country. Here are some images from this high impact intervention for a local hero.
HomeFront CPR Helpers to the Rescue
Sandra (on right), can't wait to show her husband the new windows when he gets out of the hospital.
Let’s Keep a Good Thing Going
Did you know that for every one project we do, there are seven more neighbors in need who desperately await our help? Our goal is to assist 30 more by the end of the year—especially as the colder months draw nearer. Today’s HomeFront fixes up homes in all four seasons. Here are a few simple ways you can help us to keep others from waiting.
Know Someone Who May Need Help?
Give us a call at 800-887-4673 or check out our website: homefrontprogram.org. All inquiries are handled confidentially.
“Feel Good” Volunteer Opportunities Year-Round
HomeFront offers something for every type of skill or interest, in every town and for as little or as much time as you wish around your schedule, year-round.
Right now, we are seeking skilled volunteers to help with our year-round Critical Pro Repair (CPR) service where we tackle targeted repairs for families in need. It can be one half of a day or a few hours. You can contact Lou Valenti for more information.
One of the most rewarding ways to make a difference is to join our network of volunteer home visitors to help us evaluate the homes most in need. You can contact Sean O’Brien for more information on this role.
“Time Talent & Treasure Club”
Just as none of this would be possible without volunteers like you, none of this work could happen without precious financial donations of any amount. Right now, we're planning for our Fall HomeFront Days and bringing home repair relief through our year-round CPR effort for the rest of this summer.
We're so grateful for our groups' sponsorship donations, which cover 1/3 of a project. You've seen what we can accomplish with amazing volunteers, altruistic pros and materials that we get donated and discounted. We are as lean as we can be. And yet, this work has its costs. Inflation has hit every corner of our work, but it also has made it tougher for our low-income neighbors to maintain their homes. We are determined to keep this from reducing the amount of help we deliver. Thank you for considering a gift of any amount so that we can continue this community resource year-round at no cost for more of our less fortunate neighbors.