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Mostly Cloudy Franklin Square-based nonprofit presents Hempstead family with new home
Family plans to "treasure everything" at new home
While their home was being rebuilt by the Franklin Square-based nonprofit Rescuing Families, Claire Helfenbein, her daughter, Maghan, and her son, Jacob, stayed at the Residence Inn in Garden City. The wait is now over: Vinny and Gina Centauro, co-founders of the house-building organization, presented the new home to Helfenbein and her family on Aug. 3.
When the Centauros, who created Rescuing Families in 2016, decided to renovate and repair the Helfenbein family, on Byrd Street in Hempstead, home two summers ago, they expected the house to be in better structural condition, Gina previously told the Herald. But the house’s malfunctioning 68-year-old furnace and the deplorable condition of its exterior framing kept the family away from the rebuilt home longer than expected. The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 further complicated the situation, requiring Rescuing Families to raise more money in order to finish the Helfenbeins’ house on time.
Work was slated to begin in January 2020 and take three to four months, but the pandemic shut down the fundraising events that are so vital to the organization’s work. A number of fundraisers and donations this year have made it possible to finish the project.
Claire and her husband, Irving, were in the process of renovating their home when Irving fell ill and died of pancreatic and lung cancer in 2012. Claire, who has a physical disability and uses a wheelchair, took responsibility for repairing damage in the home, which was often caused by Jacob, who is autistic. To make matters worse, the house was infested by mice, there was mildew in a bathroom and floors were breaking apart.
The cost for the charity, which funded the Helfenbeins’ stay at the Residence Inn, increased from $800 to $1,000 per week amid the pandemic. Gina Centauro estimated that the organization needed roughly $10,000 to cover its expenses on the project.
At the house reveal on Aug. 3, Vinny Centauro apologized to Claire for the long stay at the hotel, but Helfenbein praised the nonprofit for its help. “We were very comfortable,” she said, “which was another thing that was so amazing of you guys to do while you guys were working so hard making this happen.”
In reconstructing the house, Rescuing Families planned to make key rooms, such as the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room, wheelchair accessible for Claire. She was overcome with emotion when she saw the results. “Remember the struggle back here?” Vinny asked when he showed her the new washer and dryer that she now can easily use.
“This is so beautiful,” she said. “So much easier. Thank you.”
Gina Centauro said that the nonprofit’s volunteers created a registry for the family, with new plates and silverware inside new cabinets. When they are opened, brackets holding plates drop down from inside the cabinets, making them easily accessible to Helfenbein. The registry also included a personal touch. “Every little note is from everybody that purchased something,” Gina said as Helfenbein tried out the cabinets.
“I’m going to treasure everything,” she said.
Rescuing Families built a brand new bathroom, kitchen and rooms for Maghan and Jake.
After Helfenbein made her way through the small crowd of Rescuing Families volunteers who came to watch her explore her new home for the first time, she emerged in the backyard. There she found a new patio set as well as access to the side of her house — somewhere she had never been before. “You get to go outside and start again,” Gina said, beckoning her toward one side of the house.
“I can’t wait to do this,” Helfenbein said as she visited the side of her house for the first time, moving down a wheelchair-accessible ramp. “I’m doing it, guys.”
Also outside were new waterproof planters and different varieties of flowers, a new garden hose, a new fence and a wheelchair-accessible shed. “Look how I can just get into the shed,” Helfenbein marveled. “Every time I look at something, there’s something else to look at,” she added, and then turned to the Centauros. “You guys are incredible. You guys are amazing. There are no words. You guys just thought about everything. There is nothing that I can think of that you didn’t do.”
“We wanted to give you a new beginning, Claire,” Vinny said. “An easier beginning. No more struggles.”
