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Volunteers help seniors maintain their homes

By Annemarie Mannion TribLocal reporter May 13, 2011 at 6:54 a.m.

Margaret Strach chats with volunteers from Keller Williams in Glen Ellyn. TribLocal photo by Annemarie Mannion

The strawberry plants in Margaret Strach’s backyard were being choked by Creeping Charlie until volunteers working on behalf of the DuPage Senior Citizen’s Council stepped in to clear the invasive weed out.

A volunteer force of six people worked for a couple of hours Thursday helping Strach, who is 83, maintain and keep her property in Villa Park clean.

“It’s nice,” said Strach. “I thought it would be one or two people, but this is great.”

The volunteers were taking part in Senior Chore Days, an event that takes place in the spring and fall and is geared toward helping seniors maintain their properties. The event happened to coincide with A RED Letter Day, a project sponsored by Keller Williams Realty that challenges employees to volunteer to help renew or vitalize their neighborhoods.

The companywide project, which is held throughout the nation, is always on the second Thursday of May.

“We want to give back to our communities,” said Jane Kendall, RED Letter Day coordinator. “We met with them (the senior citizens council) and coordinated with them.”

The council’s senior chore days was the perfect match for the goals of the team from Keller Williams.

“We want to give back to our community,” Kendall said.

Cathy Jordan, volunteer coordinator for the council, said the work that volunteers do helps seniors live as independently as possible. Many seniors don’t have the financial resources to hire people to do the work around their yards and houses that they are no longer able to handle.

“They’re on fixed incomes,” Jordan said. “It’s very difficult for them. We help them be more independent and stay longer in their homes.”

The Keller Williams Group started working on houses in Elmhurst Thursday morning and made their way west clearing brush, sweeping and washing windows at houses in Villa Park, Lombard and Glen Ellyn. Kendall said they had five teams of six people who worked at 23 houses.

Strach’s husband, who used to take care of the yard, died in 1983. She needs oxygen to help her breathe and is no longer able to crouch on the ground to pull weeds. Robin Douglas, a administrative assistant at Keller Williams, is up to these chores, and didn’t mind doing them for Strach.

“They (the seniors) are just so appreciative,” she said.