Habitat Helping Hands - Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Meet Florence - Florence is one of the latest recipients of assistance from Habitat Helping Hands, a program of Habitat for Humanity in Columbia County. Florence’s daughter heard about the program and applied on her behalf as she was worried about her mother using a set of deteriorating steps into her house. Around the same time, Florence’s granddaughter moved-in and brought along her 2 year old child who is wheelchair-bound. With the compounded challenges of safe accessibility to their house, Florence qualified for help from Habitat Helping Hands.

Habitat Helping Hands is a home improvement and education program that focuses on seniors and low-income homeowners who have few resources available to them. Like their affordable home ownership programs, Columbia County Habitat seeks to give a hand-up to local folks who need it: helping them achieve the strength, stability, and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves, their families, and our community.

Six Habitat volunteers came together on two separate Saturdays under the direction of Mike Tizekker, Habitat's Construction Project Manager, and built a 36 foot ramp for Florence and her family. The cost of the materials was covered by support from local individual donors along with program sponsors: Herrington's, Greylock Federal Credit Union, The Dyson Foundation, Columbia-Greene Community College, the Columbia County Libraries Association and the Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation.

Florence and her family were so grateful to everyone involved in the project and now have the peace-of-mind that all members of her household are able to safely move in and out of their house without further assistance. 

Volunteers are needed to help with other Helping Hands projects in Columbia County. Interested individuals and groups can sign up on the Habitat website here: www.columbiacountyhabitat.org/volunteer-for-habitat-helping-hands Qualified low-income and senior homeowners are encouraged to apply for assistance at habitathelpinghands.org.