Lending a hand: This Johnson County community gives meaning to the word ‘neighborly’

A little lawn mowing or snow shoveling can go a long way toward being neighborly. The city of Shawnee’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors program aims to make sure than an inability to do those little chores doesn’t lead to someone having to leave their home.

“We wanted to be able to assist the people who basically want to remain in their home and just needed a hand in kind of those common, everyday homeowner tasks,” said Elizabeth Griffith, volunteer coordinator for Shawnee.

It’s been going since 2017.

Shawnee residents who qualify for the program are at least 65 years old or have a disability. They also have to be a live-in homeowner with an annual income of $61,250 or less. Participants in the program, which started in 2017, are required to provide documentation.

Griffith said the program recently bumped the income limit up from $50,000.

“We didn’t want to see too many people being left in a situation, ‘Can I paint my house to get out of this codes violation, or do I have to miss my vital medication this month?’ A lot of times seniors are on a fixed income, and they have to make some tough decisions when a bigger expense comes about,” Griffith said.

Shawnee residents who fit the eligibility criteria put in requests. Griffith then sends out a weekly email with the general descriptions of jobs she needs people to do, and her volunteers respond, signing up for whatever tasks they can manage.

“They know what skills they have. They know what they’re comfortable doing,” Griffith said.

There’s a wide spectrum of tasks that might be on that list. It could be raking leaves, shoveling snow, painting or even doing small electrical projects. Many times, it’s something that already is or might become a city code violation.

With something like snow removal, Griffith tries to pair a volunteer with a resident for the whole season.

Although anyone can rake leaves, some jobs require more specialized experienced. Griffith will keep putting out the request to volunteers for a month, and if it goes unfilled, she tries to connect the resident with other groups that might be able to help, such as Rebuilding Together Shawnee.

This year, Griffith has started asking people to bundle up to three tasks they need done into one request and limiting the total number of requests per resident to four. The reason for the change mainly comes down to efficiency. Mowing and snow removal are separate from this, since they are ongoing needs over several months.

She also takes into consideration the safety of volunteers, so gutter cleaning is limited to the first story, and volunteers can only trim trees with their feet on the ground.

Shawnee resident Carol Lehman has had Neighbors Helping Neighbors volunteers shovel snow, trim bushes, rake leaves and even fix her shower since she started using the program five or six years ago.

“Since I don’t have any funds, and I don’t have a husband, I would really have to pay money that a senior citizen that’s disabled and living on social security ( doesn’t have),” she said. “They come, and they do it, and they’re so good.”

Currently, Griffith has 47 active volunteers, but she can always use more. Volunteers do not have to be Shawnee residents. Typically, volunteers need to be at least 15 years old. Adults can bring children with them, but all youth must have supervision. Sometimes a religious group or a nonprofit will sign up to help as a team.

Last year, she had 64 requests from residents.

“I think it allows us to be able to serve in a way we wouldn’t otherwise be able to,” Griffith said.

“As government, we’re limited, to some extent with what we’re able to do. And so by feeding it to volunteers, we’re really just matching the residents who need help with residents willing to help, and I think it’s beautiful.”

To sign up for assistance or to volunteer, visit cityofshawnee.org and search neighbors helping neighbors.