HomeFront Celebrates Outstanding Bethel Volunteer

Bethel CT

03 May, 2022

4:54 PM

Description

**News release from HomeFront Inc.** In observance of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, HomeFront honored a Bethel resident who has gone above and beyond to deliver home repair assistance to local low-income families over the years. While every form of talent is essential for home repair assistance, HomeFront created an award to honor construction professionals who generously donate their expertise to the program. Bethel's Steve Poole has been chosen as this year's Most Valuable Pro (MVP) awardee. Steve sums up his basic credo in this way: "Everyone should have clean water, indoor plumbing and heat." For more than five years, this long-time licensed plumber has carved out time to back up his beliefs with his actions. In doing so, Steve was a pioneer among volunteers, helping to bring a new HomeFront service line to life. HomeFront had notched decades of mission work in a very specific way: through groups of 20 or more volunteers working together as a team on one home for one day out of the year. Over time, a growing trend emerged. The program began to receive more and more requests from highly deserving families, but their repair worries were not a fit for the one-day team model. Program leadership developed an initiative that deploys skilled and professional volunteers who have proven themselves over the years to set aside a few hours, one-half of a day or more and tackle targeted repair needs confirmed by HomeFront staff for qualified applicants. Critical Pro Repairs (CPR), as this effort became known, consist of wheel chair ramp installations, front step replacements, deck overhauls, heating repairs, changing out drafty windows or doors, as well as other safety needs in the realm of plumbing and electrical work. In 2020, Steve sprang into action for a military veteran and active member of the community who was diagnosed with ALS. Steve convert a bathroom to the point of installing a lipless shower. A few years prior, when doctors told the family of a child with brain cancer in that his home would have to be made dry and mold-free in order for his immune system to survive the treatment, Steve donated many days toward the cause. In the process, Steve has helped to shape HomeFront into a more versatile year-round service provider. In some cases, his work fully resolves the most important needs a family may face. In others, Steve's plumbing expertise helps to prep a project for a volunteer team's work or to complete the final phase of an effort after the volunteer groups have done their part. This has especially been true of the large-scale, multi-phase projects for veterans made possible by The Home Depot Foundation. Steve brings a great deal of perspective to his work since he has also volunteered in Appalachia and witnessed standards of living that are unthinkable to those more fortunate in the tri-state area. In Steve's words, "Through the lives we have touched in Connecticut, I have found it eye opening to see the basics that are lacking in homes right in our backyard." The collective compassion of hands on volunteers, product contributors, foundations and other donors brings HomeFront to the mark of more than 3,200 homes revitalized in program history, delivering $50 million of service where needed most. HomeFront is a community-based program dedicated to keeping low-income homeowners in their homes with an improved quality of life through substantial repairs completed at no cost to them. More information on how to get involved with HomeFront can be found online at: www.homefrontprogram.org. **News release from HomeFront Inc.**