Rotary HOME team gives seniors a friendly helping hand

CLAYTON, CA (August 1, 2024) — Local seniors aren’t as alone as they might think. Rotary’s HOME Team has their back.

The team goes into the homes of senior citizens for small repairs and handyman work. Seniors who might not have anyone to help take care of the little things around the house can always reach out to the HOME Team and receive free assistance.

Rotary is a global nonprofit with chapters across America and the world. The HOME Team coordinates its work through Lamorinda Village in Lafayette. “Our purpose is to provide the support and connections that will help us remain in our own homes as we get older,” according to Lamorinda Village’s website.

The nonprofit runs several programs locally to give back. They make Christmas boxes for the unhoused and art boxes for disadvantaged children, along with bigger projects like a car donation program.

Weeding out administrative fees

Rotary member Mary Kemnitz way key to launching the car donation initiative.

“That was a program we started about 10 years ago with the Clayton Valley Rotary. My husband and I owned an auto repair shop, and we always had cars that the owners wanted to donate,” says Kemnitz.

She and her husband found that with some car donation nonprofits, proceeds went more to administration than giving back to the community. That’s what makes Rotary’s program different.

“We don’t have any administrative fees except for the CPA that does our taxes once a year,” Kemnitz says. “We’ve brought at least $1.2 million into Rotary since it started in 2014.”

The funds have helped programs like the HOME Team continue to do what it does best. Kemnitz says HOME Team repairs include “replacing light bulbs, changing smoke alarm batteries, fixing leaky faucets, repairing damaged or torn screens, fixing doors, resetting blown fuses, adjusting handles and drawer poles, that type of thing.”

She says the program is so important to seniors because “they can’t do it on their own. A lot of seniors have limited income, so they need assistance and help with their repairs.

“A lot of the seniors don’t have family members that they can call,” she adds. “They’re pretty much out there on their own.”

Vital visits

HOME Team members also spend some time chatting with the seniors, which helps fight off the loneliness that can be all too common in old age.

“They love the fact that somebody’s coming into their home that they can talk with and visit with. They like the company,” says Kemnitz.

Joan Donofrio has been a member of Rotary for 10 years and was a HOME Team volunteer. But now well into her 80s, she has found herself relying on the HOME Team.

Donofrio agrees that sharing conversation is just as important as the repairs themselves. “They just wanted to talk,” she says of the people she helped. “So the men would go off and do the work and I had the easy part. I filled out paperwork and we talked and chatted about their lives, and that was really so wonderful.”

Talking with the seniors meant a lot to Donofrio as well. “I was so happy to share my stories with them. You know, you can never talk enough about yourself.”

But for Donofrio, life has come full circle. She recently had the HOME Team come to her house to fix it up.
“They said they would send somebody to my house and asked what I needed to have done. I told them what I needed, and then they came over,” she reports of the process.

However, it wasn’t the home repair that made Donofrio’s day. “You know what? All I wanted to do was talk with them, too. Life is lonely,” she admits.

It’s an admission that should make a lot of us feel less alone.

For more information, call 888-204-5573 or visit their website at www.rotaryhometeam.com.