Press Releases For More Information: Sean O'Brien
AmeriCares HomeFront Provides Hope and Help For Homeowners GREATER WATERBURY, CT, May 2, 2006 -- "An answer to my prayers" is how one area homeowner characterized the selection of her house as one of more than 80 that will benefit from the caring and good works of scores of volunteers donating their time on AmeriCares HomeFront Day 2006. Pauline cannot say enough good about the leadership of the volunteer team assigned to her home to ensure she gets some much needed quality-of-life repairs. That team is led by James Garreau of Team ESPN in Bristol. Company CEO George Bodenheimer has even been known to roll up his sleeves for this team-building project, working side-by-side with employees from all levels of his company on HomeFront Day. On Saturday, May 6, Pauline's home in Bristol and that of 8 others (total of 9 projects) from Waterbury to Oakville, Naugatuck, Southbury and Plantsville will get much-needed facelifts. It's a daylong blitz, held every year on the first Saturday in May. A total of 11 teams from Waterbury to Southington and Woodbury, as well as towns in between, will participate in the 19th annual AmeriCares HomeFront Day. Since the program's inception in 1988, more than $30 million worth of building products and services have assisted almost 2,200 deserving homeowners throughout much of Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. The program relies on faith-based, professional, civic and corporate volunteers who form teams and are assigned a home or community center to repair. Each homeowner applicant is screened prior to selection into the program. The program primarily benefits senior citizens, those coping with chronic illness, homeowners facing physical or mental challenges, and single parents, all of whom must meet the program's low-income guidelines. Greater Hartford represents the area of highest need in Connecticut while Waterbury represents an emerging area of need. Other key areas include Bridgeport, New Haven and Norwalk. The program's Executive Director Sean O'Brien noted, "It's no coincidence best estimates place the largest numbers of elderly living below poverty in the cities of Waterbury, Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and New Britain - four of our target communities where we see the highest numbers of applicants, and growing each year." Medical advances during the last several decades are responsible for extending life expectancies, especially for those age 85 and over. Thus, older Americans are having an increasingly sizeable impact on housing needs in Connecticut and elsewhere. According to seniorresource.com, "Some 70% of seniors nationwide will spend the rest of their life in the place where they celebrated their sixty-fifth birthday." O'Brien said the program has a significant number of senior citizen applicants each year and cited state Department of Economic and Community Development statistics that show the explosive growth in that segment of the state's population. By next year, it's expected well in excess of half a million households in Connecticut will be led by those over age 65. There's been a better than 22% increase in this segment of the population in our state since 1980, while the growth in those 85 and older since the 70s has exploded in Connecticut - nearly 110% between 1970 and 1990, with another 13% increase between 1990 and 2000. Although unconfirmed, the Office of Policy and Management projections between the start of this decade and today are an increase in excess of 19% for those aged 85 and older. O'Brien noted one of the more unique applications this year came from a senior citizen (in Derby) in the Naugatuck Valley whose family home had to be drawn by oxen when it was moved from its original location, the home is so old. "That homeowner is very determined to remain in the only place she's ever called 'home,' her only obstacle being the funds necessary to fix up the modest shelter since every penny of her fixed monthly income is going toward her survival," according to O'Brien. "That's where HomeFront volunteers can really have an impact,' he said, 'The repairs they'll make will allow her to remain at home among familiar surroundings. What we really offer is an infusion of hope, or as we like to think of it, 'We raise spirits, restore hope, and revitalize [the concept of] community'," O'Brien added. ###
|