RISMEDIA, June 23, 2008-About 40 people descended on a small blue house in the Pemberwick section of Greenwich recently – a group of Realtors and builders. But they weren’t there assessing the home’s real estate value or potential for a new building project, they were there as part of the AmeriCares HomeFront program, a community-based, volunteer-driven home repair program that provides free repairs to low-income homeowners, thus enabling them to remain in their homes with an improved quality of life.
On this beautiful hot and humid day in June, volunteers from York Construction & Development in Old Greenwich, Conn., Coldwell Banker of Greenwich and Old Greenwich, and Kramer Lane Construction of Stamford, Conn., were on-site to provide two intensive days of construction and clean-up work around the home. The home, owned by a local resident who has some debilitating health issues and may soon be confined to a wheelchair, was in desperate need of a new roof, drywall and paint to repair the water-damaged home. The yard was also cleaned up and made more manageable and safer for the resident.
According to the company, this was the second house in the Greenwich area that the AmeriCares HomeFront program worked on this spring and one of 90 projects in Fairfield and Westchester Counties. More than 580 homeowners applied for the assistance. More than a third of requests are for roof repairs, according to Sean O’Brien, executive director of AmeriCares HomeFront. However, not all roofing requests can be accommodated, but in the case of the Greenwich home, AmeriCares was happy to have the partner of York Construction & Development and Kramer Lane Construction that were able to provide the know-how and labor to not only fix the roof of this Greenwich home, but also provide a complete tear-off and re-shingle.
“Repairs like putting on a new roof on a home can be life-changing,” noted O’Brien. “These repairs being done by the volunteers from Coldwell Banker, York Construction & Development, and Kramer Lane Construction, mean the difference to this homeowner between being able to stay and live in his home or having to move out.”
“We are happy that our expertise in building and remodeling could be put to good use to help someone in our own community,” said Nick Barile, president of York Construction & Development. Barile noted that while this was the first AmeriCares HomeFront project the company has worked on, the company plans on making the project an annual tradition.
Mindy Chanaud of Coldwell Banker in Greenwich helped spearhead the project and was instrumental in getting York Construction & Development and Kramer Lane Construction involved. She has worked with AmeriCares HomeFront for the past several years.
For more information, visit http://www.americareshomefront.org/.
