Anne Glancey, an elderly woman from New Jersey, received three violations from the municipality because of the state of her house which was deteriorating.
Among the rest, there was an old car on her driveway which she needed to get rid of, or at least park it somewhere else. Further, she allowed her lawn and house to become overgrown and covered in peeling, chipping paint.
Sadly, due to her age and lack of finances, there wasn’t much this woman could do to renovate her place.
Luckily, Anne’s neighbors have been people with a heart of gold, especially a couple living near by who heard of this lady’s struggles from a real estate agent who was selling their home.
In an attempt to help Anne keep up with the repairs to her home, they gathered around 20 volunteers from the neighborhood and did the job themselves, and oh boy, what a difference they made.
“Anne was, and is, extremely grateful for our dedication to her property and her soul,” neighbour Kristin Polhemus, the initiator behind the project, said. “The project has inspired her to continue improving her home, inside and out, and it established new relationships between Anne and our neighbors.”
“These violations imposed a fine of no more than $1,000 per day, per violation. We knew we needed to help, as these fines would quickly surmount for anyone in Anne’s situation,” Polhemus said. “In life, we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. We wanted to help her out of an act of love.”
The entire process of renovation lasted six days.
All the supplies needed were purchased by the volunteers.
“One of our neighbors shored up the foundation and flooring while others performed structural repair to the side porch,” Polhemus said. “We removed, scraped, primed and painted shutters; and we scraped, primed, and painted the exterior of the home. We helped Anne donate her car and we did landscaping to bring her lawn back to its original beauty.”
In no time, all charges against Anne were dropped. This was confirmed for ABC by Polhemus’s spouse and a local police officer.
“I can say with certainty that none of us wanted any recognition for this project,” the kind neighbor added. “We do hope that everyone reading this will take a look at their own neighborhoods with a new set of eyes. What needs fixing? Who needs a friend or companion? How can you help? Your neighbors are just family members you don’t know that well yet, and the relationship starts with you. I can’t promise it will be easy, but I can promise it will be worth it.”
In an interview with ABC News, Anne spoke of the kindness she received and expressed her gratitude to everyone involved in the project of fixing her home.
“I’m very grateful for their concern and their help and I tried to be as helpful as I could be when the workers came,” she said. “I think they have a sense of generosity in reaching out to other people and that’s worth noting. It’s something that should be contagious. I hope to live in [my home] happily.”
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