Branford Rallies Around Disabled Family In Time of Need

BRANFORD, CT — Branford residents are determined to prevent a local family from becoming homeless at the end of the month.

Cynthia Hackley and her two sons, Charles and Louis, will be evicted from their Branford apartment on February 28th. The Hackleys are disabled, and rely on motorized wheelchairs and home health aides to complete their day-to-day activities. Recently, the family discovered that one of their aides had been pocketing their rent checks instead of submitting them to their landlord. The aide had also convinced the family to give her access to their debit and credit cards and their SNAP vouchers, which she then exploited for her own benefit.

The family was devastated.

“I felt betrayed,” said Hackley, who hired the aide. “It was like a kick in the a**.”

The aide has since been arrested and faces four years in prison, but the damage is done. The Hackleys have lost over $8,000, and will be required to vacate the home they’ve shared for over twenty years.

Fortunately, though, support has poured in from around town. Nanci Errante, of Branford Point, learned of the situation and became furious. She helped the family pursue legal action against the aide, and tried to convince their landlord to allow them to remain in their home. After it became clear that the eviction could not be avoided, Errante began looking for new housing options.

Errante exhausted all avenues, even getting in touch with Town Hall.

“She called my office and you [could] hear it in her voice, the concern she had for that family,” said James B. Cosgrove, Branford’s First Selectman.

Like Errante, Cosgrove has known the Hackleys for decades, ever since his younger brother—who has Down Syndrome—was enrolled in a program with Charles Hackley.

“Your heart just aches for the family,” said Cosgrove.

Complicating the housing search was the fact that any new house would have to be wheelchair accessible. When Errante found a potential home that was in every other respect a perfect fit, she was dismayed to find that it could not accommodate wheelchairs. Luckily for Errante and the Hackleys, another Branford resident came to the rescue.

Matt Reale, owner of M.N. Reale Construction, heard about the Hackleys’ difficulties while at a birthday party with his daughter, and decided to make an offer. His company would provide all the labor required to make the house Errante had found wheelchair accessible, free of charge.

Reale, whose father taught at Branford High School for 42 years, is a life-long resident of the town. He has owned his own construction company for 10 years, and leapt at the chance to give back to the Branford community.

“I’m excited to do it, I’m excited to be involved,” said Reale. “It’s the right thing to do.”

While M.N. Reale Construction will donate the labor for the remodel, the cost of materials remains an obstacle. With less than a month before the eviction, the Hackleys, Errante, Cosgrove and Reale are hoping that the rest of the town will get involved. To that end, Errante launched a fundraising campaign with a goal of $6,000 using GoFundMe, an online fundraising tool.

At the time of publication, the campaign has raised about a quarter of its goal, with $1,320 in pledged donations.

To Cosgrove, Errante and Reale’s response to the Hackley family’s troubles is representative of the “great sense of community” found in Branford.

“Nanci is doing this because it is the right thing,” said Cosgrove. “[She] took it on because [she] truly cares about others. Same thing with Matt Reale. These are people who are out there and see that others need help, and put a lot of time and effort to ensure that others have opportunity.”

For Reale, the project is a reminder of the effect we have on one another.

“Sometimes I take for granted what we do, because we do it every day,” he said. “So to step back and really see a project that’s absolutely going to change three people’s lives, it’s [great].”

Anyone who would like to help raise funds for the Hackley family is encouraged to visit the fundraiser’s website at https://www.gofundme.com/handicap-housing-for-the-hackleys.