Cynthia Joyce feels like she won the lottery.

The Sandy Hook resident may not have had a financial windfall, but she did benefit from the efforts of a volunteer-driven organization, along with hours of donated labor. A few weeks ago, her home on Lakeview Terrace was given a much-needed facelift. Volunteers for the final event were organized by fellow residents working with HomeFront, the Stamford-based home repair program that provides free repairs to homeowners with financial hardships.

The decision to help Ms Joyce was made during the spring, after Newtown Lions Club members Gary Fillion and Gordon Williams visited a few properties suggested by HomeFront. The two men have co-chaired the HomeFront efforts for the local Lions Club for at least ten years, Mr Williams said August 2. The pair looked at three houses within town this year for HomeFront.

"Her story was so moving, and she's a community volunteer," Mr Williams said August 2 of Ms Joyce. "She's on the Conservation Commission," he added. "Someone like that is so worthy of helping."

Ms Joyce's home was constructed in 1947 by its previous owner, Gunnar Lindstrom. With just 542 square feet of living space, it's perfect for the active single woman.

Mr Lindstrom died in May 2008. According to his obituary, the family spent many summers at the home before he and his wife, Mildred, made it their permanent residence in the 1970s.

"He just loved this house," Ms Joyce said last week. "I love it here. I love sitting on the patio. It's a very quiet place to live and enjoy privacy."

Ms Joyce and Mr Lindstrom met when she would see the elderly man at Second Company Governor's Horse Guard (2GHG) events. Ms Joyce became a member of the company shortly after moving to Connecticut at the early part of the century. She fell in love with the house after offering Mr Lindstrom a few rides home from horse guard events.

"I used to kid with him that when he was ready to sell, I would buy his house from him," Ms Joyce said. "One day he told me 'I'll sell you my house.'"

When Mr Lindstrom moved to The Homesteads, an assisted living facility on Mt Pleasant Road, he lived up to his promise to Ms Joyce.

A renter her entire life, Ms Joyce said it was "a huge step" to purchase her first home at age 51. "I thought it was going to be an investment," she said.

But then the economy began to tank, and her employment status changed. She lost her job at Danbury-based Grolier shortly after the publishing company was purchased by Scholastic.

After losing her corporate job, Ms Joyce picked up freelance jobs. She did well with that for a few years, she said. She also scratched together a few part-time jobs, including work as a therapeutic riding instructor.

Still, she said, "There were too many holes in my income. There were times when I was holding down four jobs. My credit was shot."

Living like that for a few years was not healthy.

"I felt stressed all the time," said Ms Joyce. "I was running all the time. I was so exhausted. "

Friends and family tried to help, she said, but she did not want to become a burden to anyone.

"They all had their own things to take care of," she said. "Some friends knew that something was going on, but not everything. There is additional stress that comes with having these kinds of problems and not having a solution."

Ms Jones found herself in what she calls "financial triage."

"As you get more and more financially challenged, you can't handle other challenges. You train yourself to do with less and less and less," she said. "There's always something - car repairs, eyeglasses, cellphone repairs, basic bills - and house repairs don't get done."

She took advantage of the senior citizen discount to gain a membership at NYA Sports & Fitness Center, where she could not only walk but also enjoy hot showers.

As months and then years went by, small things began piling up that Ms Joyce could not take care of on her own. Gutters needed to be cleaned, windows needed to be caulked, outside lights needed to be replaced, and the wooden hatch to the basement was beginning to rot.

"I hated to just let the house go," she said.

Ms Joyce had applied to HomeFront once before.

"They only pick a few houses each year, and I wasn't it at the time," she said.

This past spring she even considered selling her beloved home, until a real estate agent told her that the house was currently worth $30,000 less than she had paid for it. Ms Joyce had also been watching a For Sale sign sit in front of a neighbor's home for nearly a year and a half.

Meanwhile, to get through the worst of winter's temperatures, she relied on a small electric heater given to her by a friend, and an electric blanket, to stay warm. She did that because she could not afford to run her furnace at anything higher than 60 degrees.

This spring, though, something was different.

After reapplying, Ms Joyce heard from HomeFront in April, and was told that she would benefit from a day of volunteer efforts. Among the tasks that were going to be covered were the tasks mentioned earlier, as well as power washing and painting the exterior of the home; fixing a crumbling chimney; and repairs to kitchen and bathroom sinks.

Newtown Lions and Newtown Congregational Church (NCC) covered the costs of filling Ms Joyce's oil tank, and having the septic system pumped.

Help Begins Arriving

The 30th annual HomeFront day was officially scheduled for Saturday, May 6. Newtown's group was planning to spend its time at Ms Joyce's home on May 13. Just a few days before that, however, Ms Joyce had to contact HomeFront with an updated item for its list. Her oil burner had heated its final gallon of oil. It was done.

"I thought HomeFront would have to go elsewhere," she said. "On top of everything else that needed to be done, I figured that was going to be too much. If that couldn't be fixed, nothing else was worth doing."

Ms Joyce said she again considered the idea of selling, even at a loss, when the oil burner went.

"But HomeFront told me to hang on," she said. Considering she had been given an estimate of $6,000 for the oil burner job, hearing those few encouraging words from HomeFront allowed Ms Joyce to remain hopeful.

Enter Gary Peters, a member of NCC, one of the local organizations that regularly provides volunteers for HomeFront days.

The "catastrophic boiler and heating system failure," he said, "exceeded the normal capabilities of the volunteers."

Mr Peters reached out to the union mechanical contracting community.

"The boiler replacement and repairs are directly attributable to the efforts, assistance, craftsmanship, and generous financial support by The Mechanical Contractors Association of Connecticut, McKinney Mechanical Contractors of Newtown, Local 777 Plumbers & Pipe Fitters, Winsupply of Shelton, and George Mulvaney of Danbury," he said.

George Mulvaney, from Mulvaney Mechanical Contractors Inc, in Danbury, provided assistance and advice to help get the project rolling, including making calls to the Mechanical Contractors Association of Connecticut (MCAC), according to Mr Peters. MCAC ultimately funded the project, he added.

In addition, Mr Peters said that if it had not been for MCAC Executive Vice President Kristen Brainerd, "we might not yet have the boiler installed. She made it happen.

"I might still be knocking on doors for assistance and money without her help," he said. "They are all a real asset to the mechanical construction and business communities."

Stan McKenney's company provided the required project permits, coordination, management, labor, and materials for the successful installation of the boiler, according to Mr Peters.

"They have been generous with their assistance," he said.

Prisco Panza, from Winsupply of Shelton, a plumbing and heating supply center, worked with Mr Peters to obtain special pricing from the manufacturer for the boiler.

"He then passed along the boiler at his cost from the manufacturer without any markup," Mr Peters said. Mr Panza also arranged to have the new boiler delivered to Ms Joyce's residence, without cost.

The technicians who did "the exemplary installation" of the boiler, he said, were all members of Local 777.

On June 9, "the hottest day of the year so far," Ms Joyce recalled, the installation of her new oil burner and all necessary piping was completed.

"It was 90 degrees out and I was going to take a hot shower," she laughed. "I didn't care. It was my birthday, literally. I just wanted to dance.

"I don't know what Gary Peters did in his previous life, but he knew people," she added. "It was no small job. It took four guys just to get the old boiler out. I couldn't believe they were doing it."

HomeFront Day: Final Touches

On Saturday, June 15, the final work for Ms Joyce's HomeFront project was done. Ms Joyce did not know who the additional volunteers were going to be until that morning. Then, men and women - members of the local Lions Club and parishioners of NCC - began arriving at her home.

"They set up ladders and tools and before I could catch my breath, they were everywhere," Ms Joyce wrote in a letter to the editor published in The Newtown Bee.

The volunteers did not waste any time, she said.

"They came, and they were ready to work," she said last week. "They didn't rest a minute, and they found additional things to take care of."

When Lou Valenti, associate director of HomeFront, noticed that a walkway railing was wobbly, he took care of it.

"He went to his car and came back with his hand tools," she said, still sounding amazed. "Others asked about gardening tools and before I knew it, they were out there weeding, and weed-whacking, and trimming hedges. They were so efficient."

The work that day - painting the chimney, cleaning and weeding the walkway, and some minor electrical work - was completed by noon.

Having received help from HomeFront, Ms Joyce said she is hoping to be able to pay that forward someday.

Once a person decides to reach out for help, the application process is easy, she added.

"It's waiting to hear whether you'll be helped or not that's difficult," she said. "But once you hear from them, things start moving."

Ms Joyce feels like a spell has been broken.

"It had been seven years," she said. "It's like I broke a mirror or something."

The homeowner is proud to look around her dwelling again.

"It was a long, slow slide," she said last week. In addition to receiving the help from HomeFront, she was hired for a part-time position at the Fairchild Nichols Memorial Library in Trumbull. "I get paid every week now, and I have a budget again. Knowing that I have that income, I can get back on a budget again.

"And that was the other piece," she added. "I didn't want people to put this amazing effort into my house, and still lose my house. I know I can stay here. This has changed my life."

Applications are now open for the 31st Annual HomeFront Day, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 8, 2018. Homeowners can visit homefrontprogram.org for full details on who is available, and an application. There is no cost to the homeowner to receive assistance from HomeFront.

For additional information, including who can volunteer at HomeFront events, call 800-887-HOPE (800-887-4673).