Monday, May 20, 2013
By Tom Bell tbell@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
After every snowstorm in Portland, squadrons of volunteers - mostly high school students - fan out throughout the city to clear snow for the elderly.
Monday, November 19, 2012. Joan Sheedy has started a program in which volunteers shovel porches, sidewalks, and steps of elderly people. Sheedy keeps track of her 156 clients and the volunteers with her notebook and her home phone.
John Ewing/Staff Photographer
Joan Sheedy coordinates the operation from her living room at the Bayview Heights senior housing facility atop Munjoy Hill.
The program, which Sheedy started seven years ago, is now being promoted as a model for other cities by the National Association of Triads, a nonprofit in Alexandria, Va., that works with law enforcement agencies on initiatives to make seniors feel more secure.
"We need more Joan Sheedys," says Terri Hicks, the group's program coordinator. "She's a dynamo."
Sheedy started the program after the city began fining people $110 for not removing snow on their sidewalks. Angry that seniors on fixed incomes were getting fined, Sheedy realized the solution was simple: Match all the high school students who need to perform community service with elderly people who need help with snow removal.
While high school students provide most of the muscle, other shovelers include pre-release prisoners from Cumberland County Jail and volunteers from the Boys Scouts and the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine.
More than 150 households receive the service, which is free to Portland residents at least 65 years old.
"I am very happy in my 77th year because I know I'm doing a good service for a whole lot of people around the city," she says.
Tweet
Did you miss this morning's paper?
Copyright ©2013 MaineToday Media, Inc.
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Maine Yellow Pages
Facebook
Twitter
Further Discussion
Here at PressHerald.com we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion. To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use.Questions about the article? Add them below and we’ll try to answer them or do a follow-up post as soon as we can. Technical problems? Email them to us with an exact description of the problem. Make sure to include: