In the summer of 2016, Anne Glancey, a retired teacher living alone in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, received a letter from the township listing code violations on the house she had lived in since early childhood. The paint was peeling, the shrubs were overgrown and an old car had sat unused on the property for years. Unless the problems were fixed, she faced fines that reports put at between $1,000 and $3,000 a day. On a teacher's pension she could not afford contractors, and she felt she had no one to ask.
Her next-door neighbours, Adam and Kristin Polhemus, did not let it rest there. Over several summer weekends they rallied family, friends and people from the surrounding streets, and by the end of August the house had been transformed and the violations dropped. Here is how it happened, and what anyone hoping to organise something similar can learn from it.
A private neighbour and a daunting letter
Anne had lived in the house since she was about four years old and had been on her own there for many years. Neighbours described her as very private. She later joked to CBS New York that she had lived in the house so long she was nearly becoming an antique herself.
The Polhemuses had moved in next door in October 2011. Adam is a New Jersey State Police trooper, and both of his parents were teachers. Over the years the couple got to know Anne through small conversations about gardening and cooking. That slow-built trust mattered: when the township's Neighborhood Improvement Program letter arrived in June 2016, Anne showed it to them.
The demands were clear but, for one older woman with a limited income, overwhelming: repaint the exterior, deal with the neglected landscaping and remove the car, a 1984 Plymouth. Unpaid fines could also have led to a lien on the home.
One Facebook post, dozens of helpers
Volunteers on ladders scraping the old paint, the porch crowded with helpers, and the house partway through the job, as shared by Kristin Polhemus.
Instead of trying to do everything themselves, the couple offered to coordinate. Kristin wrote a Facebook post explaining that an elderly neighbour had received a violation notice and could not physically or financially take on the work. She set dates, said they would need around twenty people, asked volunteers to bring their own tools and a ladder if they had one, and promised lunch and dinner for everyone who came.
About twenty people answered at first. As work began, more neighbours and friends joined, and on some days close to thirty people were on site. Several weekends of work followed through the summer. People brought food, a local Chick-fil-A provided meals, and Anne served the crews orange juice and her own carrot cake.
What the volunteers did
The work was hard and practical:
- Landscaping. Overgrown shrubs were cut back and the yard cleared.
- Paint. Volunteers scraped peeling paint, reported to include lead paint, from the wooden siding before repainting the whole exterior white with dark shutters.
- Repairs. Broken siding was repaired. The sagging porch and a leaky roof were next on the list, and Adam hoped to bring in masons and roofers for those.
- The car. The old Plymouth was removed on the second day and given to a veterans' charity. Reports differ on which one: some name the Purple Heart Foundation, while NJ 101.5 reported that a wounded warriors group got it running again.
Adam Polhemus estimated that hiring contractors and landscapers would have cost $10,000 or more. He and Kristin paid for some of the supplies themselves. Anne asked for the receipts so she could pay them back; they declined.
More than a paint job
The finished house looks dramatically different, but the people involved say the bigger change was in Anne. She came out to talk with the crews, got to know neighbours she had only nodded to before, and became noticeably more outgoing. Adam told People magazine that the best part was seeing Anne's happiness and her kind of restored life
.
Another neighbour, Kyle Gulsby, told CBS that the project had reconnected the street. People who had lived a few doors apart for years were now working side by side and sharing meals. The story was later featured in local and national media, including NJ 101.5's #BlueFriday series, which highlights the work of police officers.
Why older homeowners end up in this position
Anne's situation is common. Many older people live in houses they have owned for decades, often paid off, but on fixed incomes that do not stretch to major maintenance. Physical limits make ladder work or yard clearance unrealistic, and pride or isolation can stop people asking for help until a formal notice arrives.
Code enforcement exists for good reasons: peeling lead paint and abandoned vehicles can be safety hazards for neighbours and children. But fines alone rarely fix the underlying problem when the owner simply lacks money or strength. Many towns and charities run home-repair programmes for seniors, and it is worth asking the local council what help is available before penalties pile up.
How to organise help for a neighbour
The Hamilton effort offers a practical template:
- Start with trust and consent. The Polhemuses had built a relationship over five years, and they acted only after Anne brought the letter to them. Help works best when the person stays in charge of decisions about their own home.
- Break the job into visible tasks. Painting, yard work and removing the car were separate jobs, which made it easy for volunteers to see where they fitted.
- Be specific when you ask. Dates, times, the number of hands needed and what to bring turn a vague appeal into something people can say yes to.
- Feed people. Meals keep volunteers coming back and turn a work day into a community event.
- Keep the township informed. Officials want the problems fixed, not the fines. In Anne's case the violations were dropped once the work was done.
For another story of practical kindness, read about Jake Austin's mobile shower project for the homeless.
Sources: CBS New York, 7 September 2016: Neighbors come together to help woman maintain Hamilton home; NJ 101.5, 16 September 2016: #BlueFriday, a NJ trooper's efforts change a neighbor's home and life; Good News Network: Reclusive neighbor facing code violations rescued by next-door couple. Photos: Kristin Polhemus on Facebook.
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