| Back O' The Page Stories 3/05
By Scott CoverdaleWhen we first went to the house, it was for a roof repair, and one of our observant volunteers noticed that there was some deteriorated romex wire running through a puddle on the roof and that the water was boiling. Thinking that this was unusual, and not a new water heating system, I sent Ted and Elinor, our capable electricians, to make investigations. They spent three days or so rewiring parts of the house and putting up a lot of conduit. The homeowner is elderly with serious cancer, and needs constant care. Her son had quit his job in California and moved here to care for her. After our volunteers finished the work, they ended up going to the home on two weekends to give the son some respite, and involved another couple of our volunteers in the process. Since these were winter V.S. folk, and their tenure is ending, we referred the son to an agency that provides regular respite care. This account illustrates the special relationships that our workers sometimes develop with our clients. There are many of our clients with whom various workers have developed friendships that extend far beyond the client and service-provider paradigm. We drop in at certain homes as unexpected but usually welcomed guests, often just about lunchtime. We get cards, letters and regular donations from various people for whom we have worked over the years. Occasionally, people have offered to leave us their mobile homes in their wills (which I have felt obliged to politely decline.) When people that work for government or other agencies ask me what makes CHRPA so different, I have to say that it is our volunteers and the high degree of compassion that they bring with their labor. The son in the story above told one of our volunteers, "When you people came in and started working here, it was like a big bright light suddenly lit up our home." He wasn't referring to electric lights, either.
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