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February 18, 2008
Handyman plans home makeover
Handyman plans home makeover
By: Alice Tessier
02/18/2008
The New Milford family's home has been selected for a makeover, according to Peter Brady, the Brookfield resident who is organizing the project.
"I feel like I won the lottery," said Denise Gearin in an interview Wednesday. "And to me Peter Brady is an angel."
Mr. Brady, who retired several years ago from Nestles in New Milford, volunteers his time throughout the year through Handy Dandy Handyman (HDHM), an outreach ministry of his church, to do home repairs for people in need of assistance.
What began as a Brookfield program in 2000 has grown over the years to include other communities in the Greater Danbury area, in terms of both households receiving assistance and volunteers who contribute their time and effort. For example, more than 1,000 volunteers turned out in the fall and worked at 72 homes for the annual Rake 'n' Bake project-the volunteers rake leaves and do general yard work and the householders bake something to share at the picnic at the conclusion of the work.
"At the Rake 'n' Bake in November, one of the Brookfield volunteers told me about her sister, who lives in New Milford," Mr. Brady said this week. "It was too late for us to do anything then, but I went to see her place later. Well, it looked not so great, so I decided to do a home makeover. She deserves it. She's divorced and is working five jobs."
Ms. Gearin, who noted that she was divorced "seven or eight years ago," has two children. Her 23-year-old son lives with her, and her daughter, 21, lives in New Fairfield.
"There's been a lot of tough years," she said. "I've been really struggling because I don't want to lose the one thing we have, this house."
Ms. Gearin has been working five jobs "at various times" and is now "looking for another job to pay the taxes on the house."
She loads trucks at UPS in Brookfield, "which gives me my benefits," she said, as well as works at two restaurants, Italia Mia in New Milford and Tuscany in Bethel, teaches kickboxing at Double Dragon Dojo in New Milford, where she also takes and helps students with karate lessons, and works as a personal trainer from time to time.
"I feel blessed because I have my health and I've managed to keep the house," said Ms. Gearin, who was born in Stamford. Her family moved to Brookfield during her high school years, and she later lived in Danbury before moving to New Milford.
The ambitious makeover project includes putting a new roof and new gutters on the River Road residence; doing some carpentry, electrical and plumbing work; painting the house inside and out; refinishing the floors; installing a new garage door with electric opener; resurfacing the driveway; repairing the chimney and masonry wall; upgrading the kitchen and laundry appliances; and removing three large trees and lawn debris.
For Ms. Gearin, the excitement is already building.
"March 8 is the day that about 25 volunteers are going to come to the house for the painting, but a carpenter was already there yesterday, putting in a new door coming from the basement, and Mr. Brady and a 12-year-old boy took down a big tree," she said. "Mr. Brady has hundreds of volunteers of all ages, and it's great that the boy wanted to help out here instead of just spending his time playing video games or on the computer."
Ms. Gearin said she was also grateful to Lew White Appliances, which sent a washer and drier out to house over the holidays after an old appliance broke down.
"We'll have all the volunteers we need and have 10 contractors lined up already," said Mr. Brady, who also noted that carpentry work is already under way at the house and one of the large trees has been removed.
"Our volunteers can do the painting and tiling inside and paint outside, but we don't do blacktopping and can't do some of the other 'bigger' work," he said.
That's why the project needs financial assistance.
"I figure it's going to cost around $10,000 for the makeover," the organizer said.
Contractors have volunteered their time and expertise but not the materials needed for the project.
"We have the labor, we've got a discount on the appliances, but we have to pay for materials," said Mr. Brady, who hopes to be able to hand over a check to the family as well to provide an additional boost.
Anyone who would like to contribute to the makeover fund is asked to send a check, made payable to HDHM Ministry, to Peter Brady, 26 Shamrock Drive, Brookfield, CT 06804. He asks that "home makeover" be indicated on the memo section of the check so that the money will go toward this project rather than any of the others the ministry has in the works.
The Handy Dandy Handyman Ministry, which originated at St. Joseph Church in Brookfield, is now an established 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves more than 300 clients.
Mr. Brady, who is the recipient of local, regional and state awards for his volunteerism-including Brookfield Rotary Club's Volunteer of the Year and i95 Radio's Man of the Year awards in 2000; Gov. M. Jodi Rell's state Treasures Award in 2002; Regional YMCA's People of Distinction Award in 2003 and Volunteer of the Year in 2006; Knights of Columbus' Knight of Year in Connecticut in 2004; American Red Cross of Western Connecticut's Good Samaritan Award, United Way's Encouraging Community Service Involve-ment Award, and Rotary Foundation of Rotary International's Paul Harris Fellow Award (for "service above self") in 2006.
Although he has been singled out for these awards, Mr. Brady stresses that "many hands" make the ministry's projects a success. "When people hear about what we do, they often say, 'How can I help?' That's how we've grown, by word of mouth," he said.
"We love what we do, and we'll keep on doing it," the HDHM founder said in a previous interview, noting that the camaraderie the volunteers share lighten the burden of the work, whose completion is its own reward.
©The Brookfield Journal 2008
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