In Wilton, on Saturday, May 5, parishioners from Wilton Presbyterian Church and St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, and Clark Construction of Ridgefield took part in the county-wide HomeFront Day, joining together to help a local resident by making multiple repairs to their home.
As part of the effort, a team of 30-plus volunteers scraped, replace shingles, patched holes, and painted the exterior of the home. The team replaced rotted trim and sills, replaced a door, cleared the yard of leaves and branches, replaced smoke detectors, and fixed a gutter. The HomeFront team removed a fallen tree and filled potholes in the driveway. People of all ages were there lending a hand to make a difference for a neighbor.
In a wonderful thank you note, the homeowner was extremely grateful.
“My life has been hard over the past nine years and I always sort of brace myself for the next challenge. To have three dozen people focused on working on my home is completely overwhelming and I’m still in shock. To know that two local churches care enough is overwhelming. And to know that Clark Construction would volunteer their workers and their time and their supplies… So, thank you. Thank you for caring about us.”
More than 2,000 local volunteers across Fairfield and Westchester Counties took part in HomeFront Day’s 30th Anniversary, rolling up their sleeves to pitch in. The day is the biggest contributor toward HomeFront’s regional campaign to revitalize 70 homes for low-income families. These free repairs enable older adults living on fixed incomes, disabled homeowners, single-parent households, and families in transitional crisis to remain in their homes with a much-improved quality of life.
Generous community and corporate foundations, individual donors and contributors of materials and services set this massive outpouring in motion. Since the first 12 Norwalk homes spruced up by HomeFront volunteers in 1988, the program has touched more than 3,100 families in need.
St. Matthew’s and Wilton Presbyterian have been a part of HomeFront for 30 years and before that Christmas in April. It has been a part of their mission to help those in our own community as well as those around the country.