Thanks to a new partnership between Housatonic Habitat for Humanity (HHH), Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS), and Newtown Social Services, local senior citizen homeowners have a new opportunity for low-cost home repair and painting services.

A Brush With Kindness is a program offered through Housatonic Habitat. An extension of Housatonic Habitat for Humanity’s affordable housing mission, A Brush With Kindness provides light home renovations and repairs for homeowners who find the job they need help with is either too small for traditional firms or too costly for those on a fixed income. It allows residents to safely maintain their independence.

Like its counterpart, A Brush With Kindness is also a volunteer program. The local offering is for homeowners within the same towns served by Housatonic Habitat for Humanity: Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, New Canaan, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, and Wilton.

HHH is a nonprofit housing organization based in Danbury that works to create or rebuild affordable homes for moderate-income working families. Its parent organization is Habitat for Humanity International, which was founded in 1976 and has reportedly built houses around the world for more than 1.5 million people in more than 90 countries.

Fran Normann, the executive director of HHH, said A Brush With Kindness began forming about three years ago. It is part of a national effort focusing on helping low-income homeowners, elderly homeowners who are aging in place, and social service agencies that are also struggling to help residents remain in place.

“For the longest time, we would get phone calls from people who needed small projects done around their home,” Ms Normann said. Initially, she added, HHH could not help those people. The mission of HHH was to build homes in the greater Danbury area for those on low incomes. The calls for repair help continued, however. Then another type of call began finding its way to Ms Normann and HHH.

“More and more of these calls were coming from people who were interested in aging in place,” she said.

Primarily, the program throughout the HHH towns is pretty simple, Ms Normann commented.

“We provide the labor, and the homeowner would provide the funds for the material; and one of the reasons to work through Senior Services or Social Services is they can do the vetting from a needs standpoint,” she said.

Bob Stowell, a Newtown resident who is involved with HHH as a volunteer, seeks to find donors for materials needed for Brush With Kindness projects. As in-kind gift coordinator, he works with Ms Normann to find companies that can donate or offer greatly reduced rates on manpower and/or materials.

One benefit of being connected to HHH, said Ms Normann, is the existence of ReStore. Located on Austin Street in Danbury, the home improvement thrift warehouse administered by the HHH organization sells almost new kitchen cabinets and counters, lighting, gently used furniture and decorations, and hardware. The store is open to the public, and also accessible by HHH and Brush With Kindness volunteers.

“There may be a small piece of sheetrock around here that we can use for a simple repair,” Mr Stowell said. “Otherwise, the cost of that material would be on the homeowner.”

That’s where Friends of Newtown Seniors comes into the mix. FONS Chairman John Boccuzzi learned of Brush With Kindness and felt that program would be a good match with what FONS has been doing since its formation in 2016.

“Under our initiatives to make Newtown more livable for our aging residents, I reached out to Housatonic and Fran Normann,” he said. “The idea of keeping people in their own homes is part of the Livable Community Initiative, and if people are going to want to stay in their homes, they’re going to need support.”

In 2016, the most recent year that numbers were available, 15 homeowners benefitted from Brush With Kindness repairs.

Mr Boccuzzi is hoping Newtown residents will be able to benefit from the program.

“When we look at surrounding towns, there are so many things going on,” Mr Boccuzzi said. “I’m very impressed with Housatonic Habitat. They bend over backwards to make this work. You cannot believe the difference it makes when people go from hopeless to hopeful when it comes to their home,” he said. “It’s just amazing.”

Eligibility Requirements

Those applying for help through Brush With Kindness must be at least 60 years old or Social Security Disabled (SSDI), must be the homeowner (this is not a program for renters), cannot have an income level that exceeds $2,600 per month, cannot have an asset level exceeding $50,000 (excluding home equity), and the home must be within one of the towns serviced by Housatonic Habitat for Humanity.

Projects have a minimum value of $250 but cannot exceed $2,500.

Homeowners will be asked to fill out an application in which they describe the home repairs they are seeking help with. They will also need to provide proof of home ownership, payment history, the cost of each month’s mortgage payment (if not paid off), and approximate annual household income.

Habitat for Humanity will screen each applicant through personal visits, a credit check, employment verification, criminal background check, and will check all applicants against the sex offender registry.

Thanks to a grant from Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, a number of Brush With Kindness upcoming programs will be subsidized, Mr Boccuzzi said.

Newtown homeowners can reach out to Newtown Social Services for an application. Fran Normann said local agencies have been helping to connect homeowners to her agency.

“We are more and more involved in doing repairs,” she said. “We want to continue to do the work, not necessarily do the applications. So in most towns, Senior Services or Social Services will screen applications and forward those to us.

“We’re not trying to not be responsive,” she pointed out. “We felt Social and Senior Services would know what’s available in their town.”

Residents may have access to batteries for smoke and/or CO detectors by someone already set up in their hometown, for instance, which would negate the need for a Brush With Kindness crew to visit. HHH and Brush With Kindness will complement, rather than overlap, Ms Normann said, what is already available to homeowners.

“We want to be seen as part of the community solution that cooperates with other organizations that service the community,” she added.

Another reason for the screening process is to make sure homeowners are not looking for help with something they could be taking care of themselves.

“Initially, we did receive requests for repairs where we felt, after the project was done, that maybe the family might have been able to help their elderly,” said Ms Normann. “It’s not that we wouldn’t help somebody, but with limited resources and our mission to help build homes for first-time home buyers, this was not our mission.

“But it became an obvious need,” she added.

Work Performed; Work Not Covered

The following is the type of work that is performed through A Brush With Kindness:

CO2 detector battery installation or replacement, smoke alarm battery installation or replacement, phone outlet repair, cabinet repair, grab bar installation, and toilet riser installation.

Also, vinyl floor repair, drapes or blinds installed or repaired, drywall repair, plaster/stucco repair, repair or improvement of lighting fixture(s), and interior painting.

Stair and rail repairs, screen door replacement or repairs, door latch repairs, door lock installations, faucet leaks repairs, window pane repairs, yard cleanups, garage door repairs, winterization or insulations, and exterior trim or siding repairs are also available.

The following is not done through the program: house chores such as laundry, cleaning, buying groceries, etc; roof repair or replacement; high ladder work; ramp construction; plumbing (except for minor faucet repair); and HVAC work.

Volunteers Needed

Bob Stowell sees a need, he said recently, to help those who want to stay in their home who would not be able to do so without some kind of assistance, including light home repair.

“Seniors really don’t want to be called out,” he said, “but there is a real concern about identifying who needs help.”

A Brush With Kindness cannot work without volunteers.

“I think there’s a base in Newtown that certainly would be responsive to this program,” Mr Stowell said. “HomeFront had quite a crew that came out last year. It’s just a matter of reaching out to organizations — letting people know they can help.”

Smaller groups, couples, and individuals are best for Brush With Kindness, Ms Normann pointed out.

“We don’t want to overwhelm the person in their space,” she said.

Volunteers can request to work only in certain towns or during certain times of the week or month, she said. A Brush With Kindness not only helps those who want to remain in their homes, it also expands the volunteer base for Housatonic Habitat for Humanity.

Anyone interested in learning about volunteer opportunities should call 203-744-1430 or visit housatonichabitat.org. Homeowners interested in learning more about Brush With Kindness can visit housatonichabitat.org/home-ownership/brush-with-kindness.

Newtown residents who would like to apply for Brush With Kindness should contact Newtown Social Services at 203-270-4330. The office, located on the lower level of Town Hall South, at 3 Main Street, is open Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm.