They worked in shifts for hours at a time — trimming bushes, removing leaves, priming, and painting.
The end result was a house that looked like new.
Last week, 19 teens finished restoring the outside of the home of 101-year-old Easton resident Luella Ostrovsky. They also cleaned up her yard.
The teens all attend Joel Barlow High School, and many are members of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church’s Youth Group in Redding, performed this work as a mission project.
Ostrovsky’s late husband, Milton, built the 1,650-square-foot blue-grey ranch house — which sits on three and one-third acres — in 1953. Prior to the teens work on it, it was in great need of repair.
The students began the cleanup at the end of May. The work involved raking and blowing leaves out from under overgrown bushes and off the lawn, moving all fallen branches, and trimming bushes. The teens also primed the entire house and garage and dug a new gravel bed along the back of foundation to catch rainwater from the roof.
In the spring, Ostrovsky applied to HomeFront, a community-based home repair program that provides free repairs to low-income homeowners.
HomeFront contacted St. Patrick Church to inquire about volunteers to participate in a local mission project.
There were several projects to choose from, but when Youth Group Coordinator Tom Doherty learned about Ostrovsky’s home, he said he knew he wanted to help her.
“Luella reminded me of 102-year-old Redding resident Bud McQuade, when we organized a spring cleanup in 2017 of his fields, which are filled with daffodils,” Doherty said. “I felt a kinship toward Luella.”
St. Patrick Youth Group is in its third year, with over two dozen high school students.
Youth group members have volunteered on many projects for those in need over the years, including organizing a coat drive and donating filled backpacks for the homeless.
Celebration
On Thursday, July 19, many people who helped repair Ostrovsky’s home, which she now shares with her son, Jeff, went to there to celebrate.
Refreshments were served, including a large white cake decorated with a picture of a home and the words “God Bless Luella & Jeff.”
Sixteen-year-old John Bunce of Redding said helping Ostrovsky inspired him to improve his own life.
“I learned about being grateful for what you have and being able to acknowledge different situations and different perspectives in people’s lives,” he said. “You get the feeling like you’re living in someone else’s shoes.”
He added while painting a home can seem like “a small thing, it’s the small things in life that can really impact other people.”
John said aside from working on Ostrovsky’s house, he also repaired the home of someone in need last summer when he traveled to West Virginia through the Appalachia Service Project.
When working on Ostrovsky’s house, “I felt happy knowing that I can help someone closer to my own home instead of having to travel,” John said.
Connor Doherty of Redding, 17, who is Tom Doherty’s son, said it was a “cool experience being out here painting and watching Luella coming out on the porch — and seeing a smile on her face.”
Connor added he also enjoyed working on the home with his friends.
Jules Martin, 16, of Redding, said when she thinks about this experience years from now, she’ll never forget her conversations with Ostrovsky.
“After we finished working one day, we stayed an extra 45 minutes hanging out with her,” Jules said. “We talked about how her husband built the house. He put every nail into that house. I loved that story.”
Despite all the hours of work she put in, she said she never felt like it was a “task.”
“I looked forward to it,” Jules said. “I’m sad it’s over.”
About Ostrovsky
Originally from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, Ostrovsky grew up on a farm with nine siblings.
“There was always enough to do, with gardening, raising cattle for milk, and chickens for eggs,” Ostrovsky, a slim woman with short grey hair, said as she sat in the shade on a bench on her front porch. “We had a very nice life.”
Her family grew all their own food. “We didn’t have candy or eat anything from the grocery store, and never smoked or drank,” she said.
Her family baked Boston beans for “Saturday night supper,” she said. “I am a very good baked beans baker.”
Prior to moving in Easton, Ostrovsky lived in Bridgeport and Fairfield.
She held a variety of jobs throughout the course of her life, including driving a school bus for special needs children, cooking at Samuel Staples Elementary School in Easton, and making Corsair fighter airplanes in Stratford for use in World War II.
These days, Ostrovsky, who has three children and five grandchildren, keeps herself busy knitting, reading historical books, and doing crossword puzzles.
Once a week, her son Jeff Ostrovsky drives her to the senior center to play Scrabble.
At the center, she knits for charity. “We make baby bonnets that are sent to Bridgeport hospitals for newborn babies,” she said.
“Ever since I’ve hit the age of 100, everywhere I go, I get my picture taken,” added Ostrovsky, with a twinkle in her eye.
Helping others
According to Doherty, by working on mission projects, young people can “find their faith on their terms.”
“Through the act of helping those in need, they are finding their way in life,” he said, adding the teens were not on their cell phones while they worked on the home.
Athena Buchan, 17, of Redding, said she’s very grateful she got the opportunity to take part in the project.
“It’s important to have experiences like this,” she said.
“It’s very easy at this point in our lives to be selfish since there is so much going on,” Athena said, adding her junior year of high school was filled with “taking the SAT, visiting colleges, studying, and keeping good grades.”
“You kind of forget how gratifying it can be to help somebody else,” she said.