Hi all –

I hope you are well and enjoying the good (dry) weather.  If you’re like me, some rain would be great for the gardens!

We have a wonderful opportunity to work with the non-profit Community Housing Improvement Project (CHIP Inc., not the ones that do central heating systems) to provide support for some of our residents in need.  CHIP has worked on several projects a year in Whitefield and their director Brittany Gill contacted me to find out if Whitefield Cares! could find volunteers to work with them this year.  CHIP does home repair projects and historically has gathered volunteers in September for their Community Cares day in September but will be unable to organize the effort this year.  Residents in central and eastern Lincoln County will call CHIP’s number and ask for support on needed home improvements and CHIP figures out how to get the job done.  CHIP provides the funding for materials and can provide contracting for some services if the situation requires it, and the community provides the organization of the project and the labor.

For this year, our own George Fergusson has agreed to help with organizing our work force.  With this post, I am looking for volunteers to work with George on projects in Town.  Brittany described 5 possible projects, including 2 trailer roofs needing structural repair, 1 building needing tar to fix leaks, a leaky front door that needs replacing, and a disabled veteran who needs a variety of repairs on his house.  If we can gather people to do the work, Brittany will reach out to the homeowners to see if they are willing to work with Whitefield Cares! to get the jobs done.  George is reaching out to his contacts to see who would be willing to help and if you know someone who might be handy and/or strong, please let them know about this opportunity and have them get in touch with me!

I think this is exactly the kind of contact Whitefield Cares! needs to launch into creating real results on the ground for the residents of Whitefield.  CHIP has been working on the Bristol peninsula for years and CHIP has a dedicated group of volunteers who come together to work on projects on the peninsula which just sounds terrific.  Brittany Gill is eager to engage our group and is just waiting for our reply.  Let me know if you or someone you know can lend a hand and let’s build Whitefield Cares! into a community effort that get results on the ground!

Hi all –

Here’s sincerely hoping that you are all well.  We are all set up to help our neighbors during the Coronavirus epidemic so I thought I’d update you on where this stands.

New volunteers have been signing up to drive groceries to shut-ins every day which is awesome and inspiring.  As some of you know, our State Representative Chloe Maxmin also has a sign-up for people willing to check on neighbors among other tasks and she offered to connect Whitefield Cares! to her list if/when we need more volunteers which is great!  All three Whitefield stores (Sheepscot General, North Whitefield Superette, and Country Corners) are working with me to get groceries to people who can’t get out because of sickness, high vulnerability or other issues.  The customer calls the store and makes an order, pays for it, then the store calls me and I call the first volunteer on my list then keep going until I reach someone!  The volunteer drives to the store where the store employee puts the box in their car and the volunteer drops the box off outside the customer’s house (and rings the doorbell or knocks to let the customer know the delivery has arrived).  The general plan is for deliveries to occur at 11:00 and 4:00 each day so a volunteer might have more than one order to deliver.

Having said all this we haven’t received any calls from the stores yet – but that may change as time goes on.  I’m also expecting that we may get other requests for help such as picking up prescriptions etc. and we’ll deal with that when/if it happens!

Additionally, Aunt Gin’s (on Rt 17) is cooking home-cooked meals for shut-ins.  I spoke to one of the owners who told me that they will plan on delivering meals themselves.  I suggested that they call me if they find they can’t keep up with demand for whatever reason.  So I may be back to our volunteers to see if people are willing to deliver meals as well.

I think it’s wonderful how people are responding at a time of need despite the gloomy news.  Please let others in your social network know about this plan so word gets out to those who need to know.  This information is also on the Whitefield Town website.  If anyone else is interested in volunteering, please sign up at Neighbors on Call as well as signing up for our newsletter with your email and contact information.  And you can always reach me at lisehanners@gmail.com.  Thank you and stay healthy!

Hi all – I received my first request for help for a Whitefield resident from a health care social worker in Augusta. She was thrilled to hear about Whitefield Cares and plans to let her colleagues in social work know about our project at other facilities in the area. I spoke to the resident and she is OK for now but will likely need support in the near future.

I’m describing this story because 1) it’s exactly what we want to have happen, where someone in need has a place to call for help, and 2) this incident has raised many questions about how we will operate once people realize we are here as a useful resource. In this example, the woman needed someone to dig her car out the snow and help clean off an icy ramp leading to her house. As it turned out, a neighbor had already helped her with these chores, but it made me realize that we need a contact list of people willing to take on particular tasks. Continue reading →