I stopped by today to see Matt Dunne's Service Politics Institute at work in Colchester.
Dunne, the erstwhile state legislator and unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006, has started this nonprofit group to forge a connection between service and politics.
Saturday, that meant convening a handful of volunteers at the home of Patricia Hamilton. Her roof was leaking, which has led to mold in here paneled walls of her mobile home, which in turn created breathing problems for her.
The volunteers were prying off paneling, scrubbing walls and tarring the roof. In the midst of their work, they paused and gathered in Hamilton’s living room to chat a bit about the kind of services Hamilton receives, how those services help the senior citizen stay in her own home and what all that means to the state budget and policy-making.
Whether this is really a stage-setter for Dunne’s future political career is a matter of speculation. He says it’s not. "There are easier ways to do these things," he said, holding up his tar-covered hands.
Nonetheless, Dunne, 37, has shown his political ambition from a young age. He was elected to the Legislature in 1992 at age 22. He is considered a possible candidate for governor or lieutenant governor in 2008. He won’t make an announcement on that until at least November, he said.
Mary and Evan MacEwan of Essex were among the volunteers who were lured to Colchester on Saturday. She scrubbed walls while he pried paneling free. They received an e-mail through their connection to the Democratic Party and decided to help out, Mary MacEwan said. She didn’t know personally Dunne or the other politicians who joined him.
Those were Sens. Ginny Lyons and Hinda Miller, both Democrats from Chittenden County who took on the job of caulking windows. Miller, who has a flare for style, caulked the way one might frost a bakery cake. Lyons took the more practical route and smoothed her caulking out, the way one might frost a Betty Crocker cake.
Dunne, with virtually no experience in tarring, was spreading the goo on Hamilton’s roof.
Everybody was depending on contractor Andy Gray, who volunteered his expertise, to do the most technical work.
In Hamilton’s living room, Champlain Valley Area Agency on Aging Executive Director John Barbour talked about the Medicaid waiver that allows Hamilton, who has trouble walking, to receive care at home instead of moving to a nursing home. She has up to 23 hours of in-home care, receives food from Meals on Wheels and can call for emergency help with a click of a button. Hamilton talked about how important that is to her.
"I love my home," she said."Without the help of all the people who work on my behalf I wouldn’t be able to be here."
Staying home is preferable to Hamilton. It’s also typically cheaper, Barbour said.
Barbour noted that with population aging more people will be seeking these services. Lyons, who serves on the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, noted the importance of planning for those costs.
In the other room, Evan MacEwan was eager to get back to work on replacing the moldy wall.
- Terri Hallenbeck
