When Deanna Costello needed help, many came to her aid.
Costello, who is in the middle of a divorce and who has a handicapped child to take care of, simply couldn’t make sorely needed repairs to her home.
Costello, who was born and grew up in Medford, has lived in the house for more than 20 years.
Aside from general wear and tear, the house had broken windows, a kitchen sliding door that needed weather stripping and repair as well as glass replacement. A step was dry rotted and a door jam needed repair.
A tree branch smashed the back of the house and drywall needed to be repaired.
Costello said her good friend, Paul Zetts, who lives in Medford Lakes, came forward because he knew what she was going through. She said Zetts knows men who simpky go around helping people.
“That helped a lot,” Costello said. “It’s fantastic. They’re the nicest group of men you could ever want to meet.”
She said the guys worked a “tremendous amount of hours.” Also, her older sons helped and the volunteers taught them about home repairs.
Costello has five boys: one is a 26-year-old working professional in Central Jersey; one who is 24 and another who is 20 and whom are still in college; a 16-year-old, and a 14-year-old.
The helpful men also painted and repaired a wooden ramp that was “in desperate need” of a paint job, Costello said, noting the rails and spindles were damaged.
Her 16-year-old son, Alex, has Down Syndrome and a congenital heart disease and needs to use the ramp to get into and out of the house.
Costello said she is “absolutely” grateful to the men who didn’t charge her a dime for their services.
With most of the work done through the summer and into the fall, the gentlemen finished in October, when they also cleaned the gutters.
Costello had a gathering at the house at the end of the project with everyone involved.
Along with Zetts, volunteers included Charlie Kojoski, Tom Meisse, George Ellis, Jerry Duffy, David Hayes, Jim Wescott and Dave Taylor. Businesses that helped include Spott’s Hardware, Miles Technology and Burlington Carpet One.
Duffy belongs to the group Handsome Older Men Enjoying Retirement (HOMER), which can be found online at myhomers.com.
The group’s three goals are to volunteer services to the community, to help each other and to have fun all the while.
Duffy, who was a founding member of HOMER in 2000, said the group has grown from three men to 17.
“We just always keep an eye out on where we could volunteer that would fit us and them,” he said.
Duffy was a computer programmer who worked at a manufacturing company before he retired.
“We felt we had a lot of skills within our group,” he said, noting many among the group’s members know carpentry and handyman skills.
“We ‘re not really looking for recognition,” Duffy said, indicating he is aware of Costello’s predicament.
“It’s a tough situation,” he said. “I guess that was one of the reasons I decided to volunteer.”
