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Anna Marshall is a foster parent extraordinaire. Beyond raising her two children, she has taken in 65 foster children at various points over the past nine years.
But with all of that effort, Marshall has not been able to put much work into her Dorchester house or her yard.
“You’re a single parent, and the money’s not there (to put into the yard),” she said. “It’s hard. You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
With rakes in hand a team of Lowe’s volunteers, from stores in Dedham, Saugus, Weymouth and Woburn, was at her Claybourne Street home last Friday morning to remedy that situation. Using a $10,000 grant from Lowe’s, the nonprofit Rebuilding Together Boston arranged for various improvements to be made inside the home, including in the bathroom, where mold will be removed, the ceiling replastered and a new fan installed.
“She has mold on the ceiling, which is not helpful considering she takes in foster children,” said Simone Auster, the president of Rebuilding Together Boston. The nonprofit is dedicated to helping low-income homeowners and nonprofit groups stay in their homes and buildings by offering repair and renovation work. “She cannot make the necessary repairs. All her money goes to food and mortgage and those kind of necessary things.”
The home improvement tasks – including new windows and front-door screening that will increase energy efficiency – should be done in early November.
But last Friday the focus was on landscaping, as 10 Lowe’s workers came to Dorchester to clear the yard around the house. They raked lots of leaves and sticks, and food wrappers and other debris; lugged full trash bags to the sidewalk; and put down grass seed and lime, which works with the soil to help the seed germinate.
“It’s part of our way to give back to the community,” said Jack Duthoo, the operations manager for the Dedham Lowe’s. “Doing for those that either don’t have the resources or the time to do for themselves.”
Michael Morrill, a garden expert at the Dedham Lowe’s on Providence Highway, planted light pink and dark burgundy pink mums in front of the house.
“Just trying to get a little bit of color out front here, that will show up nice,” he said, noting the flowers will hold their color until mid-November.
He said the chances were 50-50 whether these particular mums would come back after the winter, but in the meantime they show curb appeal “and that you care about your property. Just the little things. It makes a big difference.”
Marshall, 50, who works as a billing specialist at Franciscan Hospital for Children, was grateful.
“My heart goes out to you guys,” she told the team outside. “You guys do good work, hard work.”
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
Anna Marshall is a foster parent extraordinaire. Beyond raising her two children, she has taken in 65 foster children at various points over the past nine years.
But with all of that effort, Marshall has not been able to put much work into her Dorchester house or her yard.
“You’re a single parent, and the money’s not there (to put into the yard),” she said. “It’s hard. You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
With rakes in hand a team of Lowe’s volunteers, from stores in Dedham, Saugus, Weymouth and Woburn, was at her Claybourne Street home last Friday morning to remedy that situation. Using a $10,000 grant from Lowe’s, the nonprofit Rebuilding Together Boston arranged for various improvements to be made inside the home, including in the bathroom, where mold will be removed, the ceiling replastered and a new fan installed.
“She has mold on the ceiling, which is not helpful considering she takes in foster children,” said Simone Auster, the president of Rebuilding Together Boston. The nonprofit is dedicated to helping low-income homeowners and nonprofit groups stay in their homes and buildings by offering repair and renovation work. “She cannot make the necessary repairs. All her money goes to food and mortgage and those kind of necessary things.”
The home improvement tasks – including new windows and front-door screening that will increase energy efficiency – should be done in early November.
But last Friday the focus was on landscaping, as 10 Lowe’s workers came to Dorchester to clear the yard around the house. They raked lots of leaves and sticks, and food wrappers and other debris; lugged full trash bags to the sidewalk; and put down grass seed and lime, which works with the soil to help the seed germinate.
“It’s part of our way to give back to the community,” said Jack Duthoo, the operations manager for the Dedham Lowe’s. “Doing for those that either don’t have the resources or the time to do for themselves.”
Michael Morrill, a garden expert at the Dedham Lowe’s on Providence Highway, planted light pink and dark burgundy pink mums in front of the house.
“Just trying to get a little bit of color out front here, that will show up nice,” he said, noting the flowers will hold their color until mid-November.
He said the chances were 50-50 whether these particular mums would come back after the winter, but in the meantime they show curb appeal “and that you care about your property. Just the little things. It makes a big difference.”
Marshall, 50, who works as a billing specialist at Franciscan Hospital for Children, was grateful.
“My heart goes out to you guys,” she told the team outside. “You guys do good work, hard work.”
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
