Stamford's Homefront

HomeFront 2015 - The Power of 1!
Volunteers from St. Mary Magdalen get a jump on HomeFront Day, providing a hot water heater to Bill (front, center), a 74 year-old veteran and piano teacher in Waterbury

We will keep this brief since we are all busy with finishing touches for Saturday, May 2nd, our 28th annual HomeFront Day! As a preview of coming attractions, a certain pattern keeps popping into our heads: the number ONE! Consider:

• ONE-DAY repair blitz - for 28 years HomeFront Day has always driven year-round toward a massive one-day Spring-time tradition of giving back.
• ONE cent is multiplied in impact through volunteer labor and the donated materials we secure
• ONE neighbor’s trust and courage to ask for help: nothing good can happen without this
• ONE person can make an outsize difference as our friend Bill learned in Waterbury
• ONE person’s absence is felt far beyond mere mathematics

About 70 families in need are about to experience the POWER OF ONE. Bill, pictured above, knows exactly what we mean. It began with another Bill. During home evaluations this harsh winter, long-time St. Mary Magdalen House Captain, Bill Fitzpatrick, entered the home of a gentleman who had been living with no hot water fro a year, no cable and no phone. The most striking thing was that, after serving our country in the military and sharing his love of piano with many students over the years, Bill never asked for help until he learned about HomeFront. A few phone calls later and Bill Fitzpatrick had found some Samaritans who installed a hot water heater for Bill. The good people of F.W. Webb and Company in Waterbury donated the unit. The installers left before Bill got to experience hot water for the first time in over a year. They said they knew he’d get so excited that he’d probably start singing in the shower. So much more is in store when dozens of volunteers from

St. Mary Magdalen turn out on HomeFront Day to transform the rest of Bill’s home.

When we imagine that somebody else isn’t as busy as us, so they can volunteer...when we convince ourselves that others who are far more comfortable can make a donation, that is the dangerous other side of the POWER OF ONE. That is when the absence of a single caring neighbor leaves people like Bill suffering in silence.

One of the things that first drew me to HomeFront was that I am just glad a program like this exists if, heaven forbid, I or a loved one should ever need it. HomeFront lives on because of you. HomeFront lives on because you ask yourself, “IF NOT ME, THEN WHO?” We are excited to share the POWER OF ONE after it touches so many more families in need this HomeFront Day. Which reminds me. There is one more coincidence involving this number:

• ONE and the same compassion unites us all - even if for just ONE day

-Sean O’Brien Executive Director

HomeFront Day 2015 By Numbers

• 70 homes to be fixed up in 28 cities this year
• 2,000 volunteers participating from 60 community groups
• 2,870: at close of HomeFront Day 2015, total number of projects completed in program history
• 50% of applicants are older adults
• 23% are single-parent households
• 60% have some form of disability
• 30% are low-income families in transitional crisis (job loss, illness, etc.)
• 35% of applicants have roofing concerns
• 30% have drafty windows
• $25,000: average annual income of an applicant this year
• $50 million: total historical value of services delivered
• 4%: HomeFront’s overhead

Old-Fashioned Meets Semi-High Tech
HomeFront is often compared to an old-fashioned Barn Raising. This HomeFront Day, however, invite you to share in all of the positive community spirit by joining the conversation on Facebook & Twitter @HomeFrontCTNY.

Check us out on Facebook to get a sneak peek at our Official 2015 HomeFront Day t-shirt.

Better After Photos, Better Lives, Better Neighborhoods
Nothing tells the story of HomeFont like Before & After photos. We thought we would close by sharing a few “Before” shots of homes our volunteers will be helping this year. If you haven’t already, there is still time to make a gifttowards this year’s HomeFront Day or toward our cause to help the many others who still await our help for the year ahead.


The Most Concrete of Gifts:

• $10 can buy a lockset and give a family better security.
• $25 can cover a spotlight to prevent falls and add peace of mind for a needy home.
• $50 can deliver carbon monoxide and smoke detectors to a low-income family.
• $100 can provide grab bars in the bathroom to an older adult living on a fixed income.
• $250 can install safe entry doors for an inner city home.
• $500 can remedy winter drafts for a single-parent household by installing three replacement windows
• $1,000 can purchase materials for a wheelchair access ramp giving a disabled homeowner greater freedom.

Yes, I’d Like to Donate Now!
Have a news tip? Email Bill Maune. You can also post your own news, events and announcements on Patch by following these directions