nrd-2019

FAIR LAWN — Failing health that made it too hard to clean, and clutter that took over her home made Anna Bures feel like her life was winding down.
“I gave up,” she said. “The house was a mess.”

The kitchen and a small path to the dimly lit living room where she slept were all she had left when she found Rebuilding Together North Jersey, a volunteer organization that provides home repairs to low-income homeowners at no charge.

The organization brought more than 20 electricians, craftsmen and volunteers to her house on April 27, giving her a new outlook on life.
Bures, 83, felt a flood of emotions as her house buzzed with activity. She said she couldn’t believe how bad things got.

Her world started closing in on her 10 years ago as macular degeneration attacked her sight. Words on a page were hard to read. The letters looked as if they were dancing around as she tried to discern the dimming pages of her books.

It was a hard blow for someone who likes to write stories and poems. When she eventually stopped reading she said it felt like her brain was “going soft.” Her thinking got cloudier, so she stopped writing.

Then came arthritis and about five years ago followed by a loss of cartilage in her knees that made trips up and down the stairs of her home feel too painful. So she stayed on one floor.

“It was unbelievable,” she said, when she was dealt another blow a year ago and diagnosed with heart failure.

Her health made it hard to clean, so the clutter took up more and more space until one day she found herself reduced to just living in her kitchen.
Uninspired, she stopped socializing, stopped going to church and no longer went out. Rebuilding Together North Jersey focuses on repairs that improve safety, eliminate health risks or make surroundings more accessible.

Gretchen Viggiano is the executive director of Rebuilding Together North Jersey, which operates in Bergen and Passaic counties. She said low-income residents, or residents with an annual income of less than $48,000, can fill out an application on the organization’s website . Volunteers then visit applicants’ homes and pick projects they believe are a good match.

Bures said she saw an advertisement for the group in her church bulletin. She was hoping they would help her install smoke detectors. She didn’t realize the extent of what the group could do.

Volunteer Gail Stocks came out to assess the situation. Typically, the organization might pick 10 or so renovations to do in a year out of the 40 or 50 applications they get. Stocks said she knew right away the group could make a big difference and it wouldn’t cost much.

Stocks said she had a “visceral” reaction to Bures’ living conditions.
“She had so much clutter around she wasn’t able to get to her bedroom,” Stocks said.
She said she could see that a couple of visits from people who could clear away the clutter would change Bures’ quality of life.

“I didn’t think I deserved it,” Bures said. “I didn’t think I was entitled to it. It’s very hard for me to ask for help.”

Donations give the organization about $100,000 a year to work with. The budget for Bures’ project was $2,500.

They get as much bang for their buck as they can by partnering with skilled trade organizations that donate time, and often supplies. In Bures’ case, about 16 electricians from IBEW Local 164 helped, including donating light fixtures specifically designed for her.

More: Rebuilding Together North Jersey holds 3rd annual fundraiser with former N.Y. Giants

More: Memorial ride honors 12-year-old boy killed in Fair Lawn.

A chandelier that hung over her kitchen table was one of the few light sources left in her home, Bures said. It was no good for her macular degeneration. The light that makes it through her dark, wrap-around glasses from above makes things shimmer and blurs her vision. She needed light fixtures with shades that point upward to diffuse the light, which the electricians installed throughout the home.

Bures’ daughter, Joanna Bures-Saxe, said she can already see a change in her mom, who is more active and more social.

Bures said she is going to reach back out to friends and family and her church across the street, all of the people she’s been too embarrassed to have over in recent times.
Then she wants to throw a party for the volunteers.
“I want to show them what they did. They did so much for me,” she said. “I gave up and I shouldn’t have because life still is beautiful.”

Email: myers@northjersey.com