Allan Appel Photo
Christopher O’Connor and his crew of some 20 volunteers from St. Aedan/St. Brendan Church in Westville arrived at a dilapidated house across town on Barnes Avenue 7 a.m. Saturday. They were ready for a full day’s worth of work replacing a tub that was nearly falling through the floor, seven windows, two entryways, and all the ceiling lights, not to mention a complete re-landscaping.
The extensive repair assistance was one of 57 projects organized throughout the state over the weekend organized by a group called “HomeFront” to help struggling families to stay in their houses.
The beneficiary was Raymond Kaliszwewski, Jr., or “JR” as he prefers to be called. Now 31, he has lived with his grandparents in the small house not far from the Ross Woodward School in Quinnipiac Meadows most of his life. He graduated from Wilbur Cross High School and worked as a driver for a plumbing supply company until advancing multiple sclerosis in his mid-20s disabled him.
Raymond Kaliszewski, Jr. & Mike Rogers
When JR’s (pictured left) grandparents died in 2006 and 2007, it became difficult to maintain the house. That is why the St. Aedan & St. Brendan crew including Mike Rogers was there on Saturday.
Rogers took a look at the railing on the back porch that had separated from the post. “Be careful. Don’t lean against that,” he said to JR, who uses a walker. Then he added the railing to the punch list for the busy afternoon.
JR’s social worker had put him in touch with the Stamford-based HomeFront, which used to be part of AmeriCares but this year separated and is operating as an independent organization.
According to HomeFront Executive Director Sean O’Brien, the organization received more than 500 requests this year, which they matched with about 70 volunteer work crews from churches, synagogues, and other groups. The participants also raise money to in effect buy the supplies they need to do the rehabs. HomeFront makes a visit and an assessment of what needs to be done. In the case of the 70 Barnes house, that amounted to $,2300 worth of work..
Guidelines include that the recipients of the work have income under $35,000. While the majority of the beneficiaries over HomeFront’s 24 years of work have been elderly, “more and more people are qualifying who are younger due to job loss,” O’Brien said.
O’Connor, a contractor by profession, has participated in about 5 HomeFront work days over the years. Those have involved more cosmetic repairs or perhaps a roof. As he coordinated with Mike Rogers for what they had to go to pick up at Home Depot, O’Connor looked around the little house and said, “This is absolutely the most extensive” of any job he’s attempted.
Having also done the build-out at the renovated Mory’s eating club and, more recently, the Gant store near Yale, he was not daunted.
Volunteer Jim Perillo
He was, however, getting a lot of help, including from former Veterans Memorial Coliseum Director Jim Perillo, whose skills include window replacement.
“We need to put in a piece of wood filler because these are the old-spring loaded windows,” he explained.
While the contractors worked inside, outside a crew of seven gardeners who normally volunteer to tend to St. Aedan/St. Brendan’s gardens were also hard at work. They included Kim Rogers and Robert Alechnowicz (pictured), whose first task, which they completed before 9:30, was to clear away the bushes from the house to allow the others to rip out the old windows and replace with the new.
The work clearly has a spiritual component for the participants. “It’s good to be able to help someone who can’t help themselves. If it helps to relieve someone’s suffering, it makes a big difference,” Alechnowicz said.
“This is stewardship. Taking care of God’s people,” said Kim Rogers.
As if God or nature then provided a convenient symbol, Kim Rogers showed a reporter two robins’ nests that had surfaced while her crew had been chopping and landscaping. One fledgling had just hatched and was making its needs known.
“Life,” said her husband. Then he collected a list of items he needed to buy and went off to Home Depot.
“They’re doing a lot for me,” said JR.
In addition to JR’s house and 56 other low-income residences statewide, HomeFront had crews deployed to make repairs on six community centers spaces, including Columbus House on Ella Grasso Boulevard.