‘COVERing’ repairs for those in need

The nonprofit group COVER Home Repair Inc. provides urgently needed home repairs and improvements for people with low-income, the elderly or disabled. But when you ask the organization’s staff and volunteers, they say their main work is mending communities.


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‘COVERing’ repairs for those in need | March 10, 2018 By PATRICK ADRIAN pannadrian@yahoo.com WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. — The nonprofit group COVER Home Repair Inc. provides u Project coordinator Jay Mead, left, discusses strategy Friday with volunteers Todd Lloyd, center, and Dave Nelson in Springfield, Vt. — PATRICK ADRIAN rgently needed home repairs and improvements for people with low-income, the elderly or disabled. But when you ask the organization’s staff and volunteers, they say their main work is mending communities. “Our real mission is to build a sense of community,” the organization’s executive director, Bill Newcomb, said Friday. “Our model is based on neighbors helping neighbors and connecting people.” Based in White River Junction, COVER maintains a volunteer network of 250 organizations and individuals to provide a variety of home repair and construction projects that homeowners cannot address due to age, disability or lack of income. The organization serves communities within a 45-mile radius of White Rivera Junction, including Springfield,Vt., Claremont, N.H., and Charlestown, N.H., completing projects like roof and floor repairs, building wheelchair ramps, fall prevention equipment installations, weatherization and energy efficiency measures for a fraction of the cost of hiring private contractors. Because its workers are volunteers COVER can build a wheelchair access ramp for between $1,200 and $1,500 that would otherwise cost up to $8,000, according to Newcomb. Many volunteers belong to partnering groups such as the West Lebanon Congregational Church, Lebanon, N.H.; Riverbank Church, White River Junction; and Hypertherm, Lebanon, N.H. Beginning next week, the orgainization will partner with Hanover High School, whose students will help COVER build two ramps, in Charlestown and in South Royalton. Every team of volunteers works under the guidance of a construction leader, Newcomb said. The leader generally has related experience or certification in home building and assumes a teaching role with many volunteers. On Friday, the group was completing a weatherization and floor repair project at a mobile home owned by Makayla Macie, 22, in the rural outskirts of Springfield. Macie bought the home in September and was helping the four-person volunteer crew by caulking windows and sealing them with plastic insulation. Having homeowners participate is important, because COVER’s mission is about bringing members of the communities together., said Newcomb. The homeowner is expected to contribute what they can to the cost for materials, even though the organization will complete the project regardless. If the homeowner is limited physically, the construction leader will be creative in finding a job so that homeowner can take part, Newcomb said. The job could be to supervise and ask workers how things are progressing. “Physical disability or age can feel very isolating for a person,” said Newcomb. Macie was cooking a stew for lunch for the team. “Lunch is a big part of the visit,” Newcomb said. It is often a time when the homeowner can share his or her story and for volunteers to connect with the people they are helping. Jay Mead, coordinator of Macie’s weatherization project, has worked for the organization for two years. Though an experienced carpenter, Mead sees himself more as an artist and a teacher. COVER provides Mead an outlet to teach and also learn. The volunteers vary widely in skills, Mead said. Many are unskilled, which gives him the opportunity to teach. Sometimes volunteers will bring expertise that Mead can learn from. “We also learn the history and life of other people through their story,” Mead said. Newcomb said that the annual operating cost for COVER’s repair and weatherization program is less than $500,000. The store generates a total $150,000 in sales, according to the store web site. The organization also receives funds through donations from The Bern Foundation, New Hampshire Charities Foundation, Granite United Way, Hope Foundation, Couch Family Foundation and annual appropriated funds from the Town of Hartford. The thrift store stocks furniture, tiles and home needs, all of which are donated and sold at sizable discounts, Newcomb said. Recently, that organization switched from selling books in store to selling through Amazon’s Book Donation and is now receiving as much as $11.60 for books it might have sold in store for 25 cents. Newcomb said that if COVER can acquire about 3,000 donated books, the organization could generate some significant revenue for the home repair program. Macie’s mother, Kathleen Partridge, works at the thrift store. The thrift store is also how Macie, who enjoys thrift store shopping, came to learn about what COVER does for communities. Macie sometimes volunteers for other home repair projects and helps at the store on occasion.