Sarah Williams felt a lot better on Saturday than she has in a long time.
Almost four years ago, Williams received a liver transplant that saved her life, but her illness left her without a job or money to pay her medical bills. On top of that, her house was falling apart because she was unable to maintain it.
About 16 members of the University Police Department helped the Largo, Md., resident put her house – and part of her life – back together last weekend by volunteering their time to the Hearts and Hammers program.
The program is sponsored by RPJ Housing, an organization that connects residents with D.C. volunteers to revamp their homes.
UPD officers and GW administrators have volunteered their time and money over the past five years to help repair homes in the D.C. area through the Hearts and Hammers program.
The program matches volunteer groups with low-income homeowners who are unable, either financially or physically, to maintain and repair their homes, said Rob Gehring, manager of RPJ Housing. The volunteers donate a weekend to repairing the homes.
The UPD volunteers said the project allowed them to get to know each other better outside of the work environment while helping a great cause.
This here leaves you with a good feeling afterward, said Greg Scoma, UPD security and safety coordinator.
Volunteers repaired plumbing, doors that had fallen off their hinges, reattached siding that had blown off the house, pressure washed and waterproofed the deck, cleaned gutters and carpets, and painted nearly every room, said Tadeau Araujo, special services manager for UPD.
The house was in need of a lot of repair, Araujo said. It was just beginning to fall apart. But if you have a house and you are not able to take care of it, the house falls apart.
Usually UPD donates about $500 in supplies to repair the homes it works on, but UPD said Lowe’s of Largo donated all the supplies to repair Williams’s home this year.
The volunteers said they enjoyed the opportunity to bond with each other while they worked, and said it was a great way to get to know their superiors outside their work environment.
The great thing about the project is (we) get to know each other as people, said Dolores Stafford, director of UPD. We get to know each other without rank.
You get to know your coworkers in a different setting, Cpl. James Flynn said.
For some volunteers this was their first project through Hearts and Hammers, while others were proud that they have not missed a single event since UPD started volunteering five years ago.
GW UPD is very supportive (of Hearts and Hammers), Gehring said.
The department usually works on one to two projects each year. It plans to do another project for Hearts and Hammers in April, Stafford said.
I don’t know what I would have done (without their help), Sarah Williams said. One day I’m hoping to become, not rich, but to make some money, and be able to give money back to the program.
Now Williams takes care of three aging boarders, one with Alzheimer’s disease, one with schizophrenia and one who is blind.
She said she hopes to be able to open a home for the elderly and said she thinks this boost from UPD might give her the strength she needs to do just that.
I feel great, Williams said. I feel blessed.
