Chesco Marines start nonprofit to help elderly around the house

At shorter than 5 feet tall, Florence Beard, 78, cannot reach the light fixtures outside her house to change the lightbulbs - even when she stands on her step stool.

And at her age, she said, she is scared to get on a ladder.

"I had a heck of a time trying to get a bulb in that one," Beard said, pointing to a spot above her front door.

So she called Granny Handymen Inc.

Two Iraq war veterans founded the nonprofit in January to help senior citizens and people with disabilities with simple jobs around the house - free. The goal, say Marines Richard Lorah and Valen Cianci, is to help people live as independently as possible so they can stay in their homes.

The federal Administration on Aging estimates the number of people older than 65 will make up 19 percent of the population by 2030, up from about 12 percent in 2000.

Beard stood outside her house in East Vincent Township on Thursday morning, clutching her dog, Butz, a miniature pinscher, to her against the cold. She watched as Lorah switched out her lightbulbs. At about 6-feet-4, he did not have much trouble.

"I remember helping out my own grandmother and how great it felt going over there," Lorah, 28, said. "Me and Val want to bring that back."

Their logo says it all: "I Heart Granny."

Lorah and Cianci, 30, have installed security cameras, painted walls, collected leaves, mowed lawns, and cleared clutter. They set up new TVs for a woman so she would not miss her soap operas. They sometimes help seniors who are in unsafe or unsanitary situations, including a woman who got used to flushing her toilet with a bucket of water.

As they tell seniors, they do the tasks children or grandchildren might do if they weren't busy or living far away. Many of their clients are lonely and glad to have someone visit.

"They don't care what we're doing there," Cianci said. "It's more that we're there."

Granny Handymen, based in Downingtown, is one of the groups to which the Chester County Department of Aging refers people when they call needing help with simple tasks at home.

"They can do things that organizations like us can't do," said Sandra Murphy, director of the department.

Lorah, Cianci, and a group of about 15 volunteers have helped about 350 seniors, many of whom collect Social Security and cannot afford to pay for-profit handymen. Clients pay what they can and buy supplies needed for the job.

For now, the nonprofit serves only Chester County residents. But Lorah and Cianci want eventually to expand throughout the Philadelphia area. They are working to team up with AmeriCorps, the national community service group, and other organizations for possible grants.

To help with expenses, they will have a wine and craft beer tasting fund-raiser on Dec. 15 at Fenice Creolo restaurant in Phoenixville at 6 p.m. Tickets are $50.

They are preparing for increased calls during the winter and hope they can afford to buy a snow blower before the white stuff really hits. Eventually, they want to buy a fleet of trucks to take on jobs. In the meantime, Lorah drives his Chevrolet Cruze.

Cianci works full time as an accountant, so Lorah, a student at Strayer University, usually goes to the weekday appointments.

Nancy McGill, a client who wanted to help them, answers their calls and schedules appointments. She calls Cianci and Lorah "my Marines."

"You don't find people like that anymore nowadays," McGill, 70, said. "For young men to be that way is remarkable."

For some of the seniors they help, Lorah and Cianci become surrogate grandchildren.

"I don't know what I'd do without them, honestly," said Marcia Hoff, 84, who lives alone in her West Chester house.

She used to get help from the nonprofit Good Works Inc., which helps repair houses for low-income homeowners. But the organization referred her to Granny Handymen because it was swamped with clients.

Over the summer, volunteers from Granny Handymen helped the Downingtown Area Senior Center with several jobs, including fixing a ramp. Benjamin Bruton, president of the board of directors, said the senior center planned to team with Granny Handymen to help seniors in the area.

"It's nice to hear there's other folks out there that are helping our seniors," Bruton said. "They're often overlooked and forgotten."

610-313-8207 @MichaelleBond