Christmas In April: A Report From the Field

by Stephanie Chisholm

Christmas in April began three years ago in Boston with the goal of helping low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners achieve safety and independence through home renovation and rehabilitation. This year, on April 29th, several hundred volunteers from all over Greater Boston worked at over a dozen inner-city sites, making major improvements to a total of 15 homes, a soup kitchen at the Boston Food Bank, and built a playground where a vacant lot once stood.

"As a strategy, the neighborhood approach can make a big difference to a large number of people," said Stephen Sousa, president of Christmas in April, Boston. "A dirty lot that becomes a beautiful new playground is but one example of our new vision with our community and corporate partners."

Neighbors came together and supported one another while community and corporate sponsors provided much of the funding. Volunteers came from banks such as Bank of Boston, BayBank and USTrust, The Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association, The Junior League, Home Depot in Somerville, as well as from the Boston College Alumni Association in Chestnut Hill. In the spirit of community outreach, The Mortgage Almanac covered some of the events of the day, starting at 23 Robin Hood Street in Dorchester and ending at the Fields Corner playground. We spoke to community leaders, volunteers and homeowners, all of whom gladly shared their experiences.

The church bells at St. Paul's across the street were ringing in the early morning hour as we pulled up to the first home site at 23 Robin Hood Street in Dorchester. Christopher Downey of Harbor Mortgage Solutions greeted us as he unloaded two-by-fours for a new porch. Chris took us around the site where more than forty volunteers from the Bank of Boston, as well as neighborhood residents, had been clearing rubble from the yard and stripping paint since 8 am. We first spoke to Kim and Jim Dow, a husband and wife team who volunteered as house captains for the day. The Dows own Dover Craft, a family-owned construction company based in Wellesley. Jim's father helped to build the green wall at Fenway Park many years ago, raising seven children along the way.

Kim explained the process, "Each site is overseen by an experienced house captain who assembles a team of skilled tradesman such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters, roofers, landscapers and painters who donate their time to plan and execute the renovations. This year, donations of over $50,000 were provided by building supply companies and free labor was donated by local trade unions. The Electrical Workers 103 came through after I made one call."

Jim said, "This house had special requirements. The windows which had to be replaced, for example, were all custom made, each an odd size. We had experience dealing with older homes because of our involvement with NARI, a contractor's trade association."

Homeowner Mary P. Liddell, (Honey), is an 84 year old resident of this historic Dorchester community. "I used to sled down this hill before there were cars. I have lived in this house since my son was born. My husband and I bought it from a Catholic priest, Father Brennan, who raised six children here. Now, I am all alone; all I have is a kitten. After so many years of struggle, it's so wonderful to get some help."

Mrs. Liddell continued, "Father Francis from the Dudley Street Initiative entered my application to Christmas in April. This will make a big difference in our neighborhood; now they'll all be knocking on the door asking me to sell the house. I feel safe here, I walk everywhere...no one bothers me."

Catherine Flannery has been a neighbor of Honey's for 35 years, "I've known Honey forever. She's a dear friend. I have watched her raise her son in this house; she's a beautiful person..." Miss Flannery points to a faded black and white photo of Honey as an attractive young woman.

Kim Dow explained how she and her husband became involved in the program, "The board needed a skilled crafts person to assess site needs for this location. My husband Bob is a contractor, and we have a construction business in Wellesley. We made a request list for all of the companies who donated supplies. We asked for the moon, but we took what we could. We've had Ryder trucks delivering two-by-fours and gallons of paint and brushes throughout the day."

Kim continues, "We worked directly with Dick White, the project supervisor from the Bank of Boston. Their entire office volunteered to come here and work for the day. At 8 am, the crew arrived at the site and cleared the yard of refuse which had accumulated over the years. The exterior of the house has been stripped of paint and a fresh coat applied. Kitchens and baths have been stripped and cleaned. An electrical contactor from the local union installed new light fixtures. The changes are already evident."

One of the volunteers, a 9 year old girl named Sharni Franks attends the fourth grade at the Henry Grew School in Mattapan; she wanted to help out and diligently painted a pillar. It was apparent that the work done at 23 Robin Hood Street would have a lasting impact on Honey Liddell.

The next house on our tour was at 29 Charles Street, just a couple of blocks away. The entire street was taken up in a buzz of activity as more than one hundred volunteers from BayBank, Home Depot, the City of Boston's Public Facilities Department and the Junior League worked to complete work on the homes they sponsored by day's end. On Charles Street, the partnership for neighborhood action between Christmas in April and the Fields Corner Community Development Corporation has developed a three-year revitalization plan for the area. Jane Matheson, executive director of the Fields Corner CDC said, "Christmas in April asked us, 'What can we do in your community where the impact will be felt the most?'; that's a question we respond very positively to, but are not asked very often."

On Charles Street, two homes were sponsored by BayBank, because as residential mortgage manager Kevin Hughes explained, "We had too many volunteers for one home, so we decided to work on two." Homeowner Donna Damon chimed in, "It's like Christmas, New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July all at once!" Damon spoke about the selection of her home for the program as if it were a miracle, "Helen from Fields Corner CDC came to the door. I have five children, all boys, and it's tough for my husband and I to make ends meet. Before I knew it, here they were. I know this kind of work would have cost over $10,000, and we just don't have that kind of money. We've been here eighteen years and I was just about to give up. What a great thing for our neighborhood!"

BayBank workers swarmed around Damon's house, replacing the roof and painting the exterior a bright green with yellow trim. Shutters were re-hung, and ladders supported painters as they gave a final fresh coat to the eves. Wanda Davis, a BayBank employee in the community banking department said, "Even Grady Hedgespeth, our regional president is here getting his hands full of paint with the rest of us. We have six branches in this area throughout Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan, so we are committed to supporting this community."

Around the front of the house, Hugh Johnston, a B.C. graduate and area manager of BayBank's Boston neighborhood branches and Jennifer Hanney, a vice president in the Burlington office, compared notes on their progress. Johnelle Monroe, a commercial real estate administrator, was on her knees to dig a hole so that Ken Willis of mortgage sales and Janine Gardner, an underwriter, could help plant colorful pansies and begonias in the front gardens. "We're having more fun today than we do at the office," the group said.

Gail Downey, house captain, said that "We had to keep sending workers for more gallons of paint, because we were running out every hour." Her husband George Downey said, "This year, we expect that more than 90 gallons of paint will be applied to inside walls at the Greater Boston Food Bank location alone. That's a lot of paint and brushes!"

Several large dumpsters were slowly filled to capacity as 15 year-old Lutton Auguste, a resident of Josephine Street and a freshman at East Boston High School greeted us as he swept the street in front of the houses. Lutton got involved in Christmas in April through the PAL program. "I'm glad to help out today, because this is MY neighborhood!"

Alicia Mahoney, house captain at the second BayBank home at 29 Charles Street was oversaw planting and landscaping activities in the garden. "We didn't plan on adding gardening to the task list today, but we were at Home Depot this morning picking up supplies, and decided to add several flats of flowers to our list," she said.

Graclyn Smith, the homeowner at 29 Charles Street, a three story, brightly-painted yellow house on a corner lot, greeted us with a bit of background. "I have owned this house for over twenty years, my mother lives with us as well as my son, his wife and my two granddaughters. Mayor Menino came by this morning for a visit and we were so excited! That magnolia tree used to be small; that's how long we've been here."

Alicia Mahoney explains that "Graclyn had a security problem here, and brought her problem to the attention of Jane Mattheson and Helen Horner at the Fields Corner Community Development Corporation. Essentially, the front door was never cut correctly, creating drafts. Holes in the structure were taped and the wood was rotted. Our carpenters came in and replaced rotted wood, reinforcing the door frame. The result? Better security for the family."

"We also ordered motion-sensitive lights to prevent kids from hanging out in the yard and the back door vestibule at night. In addition, all the gutters and downspouts had fallen apart and were replaced."

Ms. Mahoney works full time for the 4-H Foundation, and helped get Christmas in April started in Boston three years ago. She said, "I was looking for a volunteer position; a way to reach out and help. This was it."

We moved up the block to 41 Charles Street, a former crack house that was sponsored by the City of Boston's Public Facility Department. All of the 14 volunteers on site were employees of Home Depot's Somerville location. The house was completely gutted, and workers were shoveling refuse including needles and broken bottles out windows into large dumpsters. Bernie Brown from Home Depot explained, "The city donated $5,000 to prepare the property for a gut re-hab, as they own the property. Vacant Properties such as this one will erode the tax base unless they are dealt with. Today, we are making a difference."

Across the way, we ran into the girls from the Junior League. Co-chair Susan Midgley laughed as she explained their participation, "All of the guys were bumming when they found out they would have to work with us. But after the first five minutes, it wasn't so bad. We learned how to run the saw after we stripped the lattice work from the front porch and replaced all of the woodwork. Both front and back porches were replaced, the back fence was re-built, hallways were sheetrocked, and kitchen cabinets were installed and painted."

Kristen Potts, event co-chair commented, "There was a question of whether the porch would come down as we were tearing off the lattice work. We all made it through the day, and we were happy to help out!"

Our final stop of the day was the most touching. An empty lot just off Geneva Avenue in the Field's Corner section of Dorchester is not a place that would usually draw a big crowd. USTrust brought in over 40 volunteers from their downtown Boston office to staff the playground renovation. Colorful new climbing equipment complete with a slide brightened up the scene.

Chris Jones, a landscape architect from Carrol R. Johnson Associates in Cambridge was asked to work as site captain. A grassed lot was cleared of rubble and railroad ties were installed to create a gravel path. Chris led a crew who planted shrubs and flowers, clearing rocks and even removing a dead rat and a couple of dead cats, which were discovered by Christine Armstrong of the USTrust crew.

Senior lending officer Kathy Stevens brought along her young son, Benjamin, (11), a fourth-grade student at the Park School in Brookline. Benjamin shared in the experience, playing on new playground equipment installed by Kompan. When asked what he wanted to do when he grew up, the response was: "I don't have to decide that now."

Two six-year old girls, Stephanie Ann Ortiz and Florie Rosario from the neighborhood stopped to explain that they were kindergarden classmates at the Marshall School. "I live in that building up there," said Stephanie, pointing to the third floor of a brick apartment building adjacent to the playground site. "My sister is twelve and my mother takes care of us," she said. Stephanie took a few steps closer and sat on my lap. I said, "My name is Stephanie Ann, too," as she reached over to give me a hug. Stephanie leaned over and said in a barely-audible whisper, "Somebody killed my daddy...", her bright eyes looking intently into mine, then lowering.

Suddenly, the meaning behind the entire day we had witnessed came into sharp perspective. The late-afternoon tempreture had dropped to a chill as storm clouds rolled in. We said our goodbyes and walked away towards the exit gate on the newly built path. As we made our way to the car, we could hear little Stephanie repeating, as she waved us off, "Goodbye, Stephanie Ann, Goodbye, Stephanie Ann." I'll never forget that moment, nor the dramatic impact made on an ordinary community by ordinary people who came forward to lend a helping hand.

For more information on Christmas in April, call (617) 241-7678 or (617) 631-7504.

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