One Family's Story from the HomeFront

A past HomeFront project brought the gift of renewal and mobility to a Connecticut family, thanks to an enthusiastic team of volunteers from St. Francis of Assisi Church in Weston, CT.

The house was built 60 years ago by the present owner's father, and had fallen into disrepair. Her son Shaun is confined to a wheelchair, and access to some parts of the house were possible only through the use of plywood ramps. The HomeFront team made numerous improvements to his living conditions, not only painting the house and revitalizing the yard plantings, but also pouring a concrete path and constructing a sturdier ramp into the house for easier access. Most importantly, the wall between Sean's bedroom and the bath was opened up wider to accommodate a ceiling track that will allow him to move from his bed to a chair, and from the chair to the bathtub-something easily taken for granted, but for Shaun a near miracle, as this is something he has not been able to do for years. 

Shaun's mother, who worked as hard as anyone on HomeFront Day, was overjoyed. "Seeing these people who want to come here and help me has changed my view of the world. Look at all the good that's happening. Look at all the people who want to do good things and feel good about themselves. Everybody came, saying: "what I can do?—I can do this. What can I do? I can do that." For somebody else, not for themselves."

Shaun was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy from birth, a congenital disease that has limited his mobility. But as a bright 13-year old who attends middle school, he is eager to see his living quarters improved and excited about the possibility of increased mobility in his home.

House Captain Joan Waldie supervised all the volunteers on the busy day.  The carpentry, the painting, cement pouring, electrical work and landscaping were all part of the logistics that went into improving the house under the HomeFront Day program. "It was a lot of fun," she said. As the team was laying tile in the sunroom, they needed to heat the squares before cutting them, and were delighted to find that the solution was there at hand.  The homeowner turned on her oven and baked five tiles at a time on a cookie sheet to accommodate the flooring team. "This is what I do all day-except it's chicken nuggets for second-graders instead of floor tiles for Joan!" she said, happy to help out.

She and her husband were uncomfortable applying to the HomeFront program at first, as they didn't want to be on the receiving end of community outreach. But she reflected, with emotion in her voice, "I needed help! I've never been good at asking for help, but I needed help. Now I'm happy to be a part of this.  My view of the world was that people take and take, me, and me-what I can I get for me? This is the other side of the coin. That's what I mean when I say it's changed my view of the world."