Community Corner

Bringing it Home— Helping Southington Veterans with Home Renovations

House of Heroes Connecticut volunteers, Stanley Black & Decker, to renovate Southington area veterans' homes on Memorial Day weekend.


House of Heroes Connecticut is set to descend upon Central Connecticut on Memorial Day weekend, ready, willing and able to honor the service and sacrifice of area veterans and their families, by providing them no-cost home renovation services. 

With funding and assistance from new corporate sponsor Stanley Black & Decker, a team of House of Heroes Connecticut volunteers will renovate the homes of two veterans this Saturday: Robert Duprey of Southington, a U.S. Army veteran of Operation Desert Storm and currently a member of the Connecticut National Guard Active Reserve, and Cheryl Guccione of Plantsville, widow of U.S. Army veteran David Guccione.

Work at the homes of three additional veterans in Plainville and New Britain will take place on Wednesday, June 4. They are John Dieli of Plainville, a U.S. Army veteran; Cecelia Difrancesco of Plainville, widow of World War II U.S. Army veteran Louis Difrancesco; and Victoria Dawson of New  Britain, a U.S. Army vet.

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“House of Heroes is thrilled to once again ‘Make a Difference in a Day’ by providing home repair services that these honored patriots could not manage for themselves,” said House of Heroes Connecticut Chapter Co-Founder and National Chairman Bill May. “Helping to make all this happen will be the added resources of Stanley Black & Decker and its outstanding team, an enormous boost that is taking our ongoing effort to the next level.” 

Work at each home begins at 8 a.m. Tasks will include a differing variety of repairs, upgrades and improvements including electrical work, plumbing, painting, kitchen cabinetry, bath improvements, smoke detectors, outdoor deck replacement, fencing, sidewalks and general yard maintenance. A ceremony at each home including the national anthem and presentation of the American flag will take on Saturday at the Guccione home at 11 a.m., and at the Duprey home at 1 p.m.

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Founded in January 2000, House of Heroes is a nonprofit organization serving the nation's military and public safety veterans (and their spouses) who are disabled, living on a fixed income, or facing other physical/financial challenges. Volunteers perform minor repairs and make improvements to the homes of veterans and their spouses—at no cost to the veteran—through the generosity of individuals, civic organizations and corporations. Home repair services have been provided to more than 600 veterans and their families since the group’s founding.

The House of Heroes Connecticut chapter was founded in 2012 by May and his partner, Steve Cavanaugh of Biltmore Construction, Hamden. Over the past two years, House of Heroes Connecticut has provided no-cost home improvements valued at a quarter of a million dollars to some 27 Connecticut veterans and their families in cities and towns across Connecticut including Berlin, Bethany, Bridgeport, Cheshire, Derby, Hamden, Manchester, Milford, New Britain, Orange, Plainville, Seymour, Southington, Stratford and Wolcott.

In addition to Stanley Black & Decker, House of Heroes Connecticut counts among its supporters the Home Depot Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, the Disabled American Veterans (Hardware City Chapter 8), the Rotary Clubs of Southington and Hamden, Coldwell Banker, AT&T Pioneers, Biltmore Construction, F.J. Miller Construction, Pacelli Contractors, Inc., Waste Tech, Russo Roofing, Inc., Tom Hill Septic, Elm City Sanitation, FD Plumbing and Heating, DeLucia Home Improvements and Susco Building Group , LLC.

House of Heroes Connecticut is expanding operations in Connecticut and across the nation and is actively seeking additional sponsors. For more information, visit www.hohct.org.


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