C-IP volunteers help senior citizens with Lite House Repairs

During the recent heat wave, volunteers with the Cornell-Ithaca Partnership's (C-IP) Lite House Repairs Program helped save some elderly residents in the Ithaca community from the weather's discomfort. The volunteers are in the business -- for free -- of making life a little easier for local senior citizens by, for example, replacing storm windows, cleaning gutters, raking leaves and constructing handicapped-accessible ramps.

Cornell-Ithaca Partnership Lite House Repairs program volunteer and Cornell student Antonio Javier, center, assists St. Paul Methodist Church volunteers Roy Coats, left, and Ron Havard, right, in the building of a handicapped-accessible ramp for Donald and Jennie Graham at 401 S. Titus St., July 27. Peter Cohl/University Photography

The goal of the C-IP program is to help eligible city of Ithaca senior citizens, people with disabilities and low-income families keep their homes comfortable and safe by providing free labor for small home repairs, maintenance and seasonal chores.

Bettie Brown, 82, whose husband died seven years ago, was sweltering in the heat until Bruce John, of Ithaca's St. Paul's United Methodist Church, and Antonio Javier '02, who will be a graduate student at Cornell this semester, installed an air conditioner for her. "It would have been pretty rough doing it without some help," Brown said. She was referred to the Lite House Repairs Program by the Office for the Aging of Tompkins County.

The Lite House Repairs team also helped Ithaca resident Beb Thorne, 74, earlier this summer. Thorne was used to doing things for herself until she suffered some personal tragedies three years ago. To pay someone to do the work needed on her home would have cost about $25 per hour, plus material expenses, Thorne said. The service she received from the Lite House Repairs volunteers was free. "I was impressed with how fast the work was done, and how well it came out," she said.

The C-IP is a U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Cornell University-funded program that was established to bring university resources to assist in addressing the concerns of downtown Ithaca neighborhoods. A HUD Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), C-IP is directed by Patricia Baron Pollak, Cornell associate professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management in the College of Human Ecology.

The Lite House Repairs program, which recently received a $500 community grant from the Ithaca Rotary Club to help cover the costs of permits and materials, is a collaboration among C-IP, the Cornell Habitat for Humanity Renovations Committee and Ithaca's St. Paul's Methodist Church, Calvary Baptist Church and St. James AME Zion Church. Community members involved with the program include Earl B. Evans of Calvary Baptist Church and Nancy Wells, assistant professor of design and environmental analysis at Cornell.

Lite House Repairs seeks volunteers

The Cornell-Ithaca Partnership is looking for volunteers for its new Lite House Repairs program. The goal of the program is to assist senior citizens, persons with disabilities and low-income households to keep their homes comfortable, safe and accessible. For more information, to volunteer or to apply for Lite House Repairs assistance, call the Cornell-Ithaca Partnership at 216-0510 or e-mail copc@cornell.edu.