CHICOPEE – Eleanor Babcock mostly relies on a walker and wheelchair to get around and was finding the ramp that leads to her door had no railings and was getting harder and harder for her to navigate.
“I called the veterans and asked if they could fix the ramp and all of a sudden all these people were here,” she said. “I’m so happy. I don’t know how I could have afforded all this.”
“All these people” were about 100 volunteers for Revitalize Community Development Corporation who spent Thursday morning mowing lawns, painting, building railings, clearing brush and doing so much more for four homeowners who live on Melvin Street.
The non-profit agency assists low-income residents by revitalizing their homes and yards with the help of thousands of volunteers. Thursday was the first time they brought their GreenNFit Neighborhood Rebuild Volunteer Day to Chicopee.
Babcock’s late husband George, who was an Air Force veteran, initiated the project by calling a veterans’ agency hoping for help. Her concerns were sent to Revitalize CDC and the cleanup day was organized.
“We like to focus on one street because it means you have more of an impact,” said Colleen Loveless, president and CEO of the organization.
The organization then sent letters to everyone on Melvin Street explaining the program, which helps low-income people many of whom are elderly. Four homeowners responded and the group of volunteers converged on the neighborhood.
“There are so many people in need and everyone needs a safe and healthy home,” she said.
For more than five hours the volunteers cleared brush, painted, mowed lawns, cleared out debris, pulled weeds and mulched gardens. Skilled craftsmen replaced at least one door and built handrails on Babcock’s ramp and on a set of stairs at another home and also did other work.
Tim Leary, owner of Leary Building Co. in Northampton, brought a crew of three people to do things such as install handrails and doors. His company, which mainly focuses on home additions and remodeling, has volunteered for Revitalize CDC multiple times.
“It is good to help out and so many of these folks are elderly and need help,” he said.
The Chicopee Fire Department also pitched in and checked and replaced smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, she said.
Because of COVID-19, most of the work is now done on the outside of homes, but Realize CDC works with contractors who may come back later to replace leaky windows with energy-efficient ones and goes as far as to replace roofs, Loveless said.
The agency has done similar multi-home cleanups in nearby communities, including an annual one held in Springfield in April, but this is its first foray into Chicopee, she said.
Looking around at all the improvements made to her home in such a short period of time, Babcock said she couldn’t have been more grateful. For example, she had taken down her smoke detector because she couldn’t reach it and was concerned the battery would die and start beeping in the middle of the night. The Fire Department instead installed one that has a 10-year life span and her new carbon monoxide detector was placed in a spot she can reach to change batteries.
Volunteers also cleared out brush that had long blocked the front door and rebuilt crumbling concrete steps there with new wooden ones and then painted them. They also power washed the siding on her white house.
“Now I have another exit. I haven’t been able to use this exit for years,” she said.
Down the street at the home of Glorymar Vallellanes, crews took down a dilapidated shed, weeded and mulched gardens and cleared out brush.
“I love the job they did. I cannot describe how happy I am right now, she said as her son Samuel Encarnacion, 3, watched, tried to help and charmed the volunteers with his outgoing personality.
A total of 14 businesses and organizations donated money, supplies or volunteers to allow the day to happen, Loveless said. One of them was Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts which sent about 17 volunteers as part of their community service program.
“We do 12 service days every year. We give them the gift of our time,” said Lisa Courville, who works out of the company’s Charlton office.
“We sit at desks all day long so it is good to get out and help and her (Babcock’s) husband sacrificed so much for our country,” Courville said.
Vanessa Cofer, of Springfield, started volunteering with Revitalize CDC seven years ago when they were doing a cleanup project in her hometown. Now vice chairman of the organization’s board of directors, she volunteered with her niece Madison Woodard, a recent graduate of Westfield State University.
“I just graduated from college and I wanted to see what I could do for my community,” Woodard said.
