Serve Like a Superhero: Season 3, Episode 9
“This looks like a job for Superman!” On the old TV show, whenever someone was stuck in an impossible situation—balanced on the edge of a collapsing building, or stuck under fallen rubble—this is what they would say! Superman himself, when asked why the world needed superheroes, said, “To catch them when they fall.”
This is what volunteers from Serve the City Ireland are doing as they offer a new start to people in difficulty through DIY and decluttering projects. Often, these are people who not only are struggling with some kind of disability or illness (physical or mental), but are also isolated and in a situation where their home environment has become unmanageable. As social workers and other key community players alert them to the situation, STC volunteers can come in and clean up gardens, do home repairs, or remove junk from their houses to give them a new start!
Listen to the episode here:
We went along with a Serve the City Dublin DIY team one Saturday morning in November, where they were giving a new start to a disabled man who goes by the name of Loxie (back left), by clearing out his garden. Leading the team was Dick Burke (front left) who has been heading DIY projects for the past 12 years and is also on the STC board. The rest of the team are Eugene and Michaela, both long-term STC volunteers, and Samir, who was volunteering for the first time!
Loxie, who used to be a bicycle courier before his disability, became a bit of an Internet sensation because of his dog, Zai. Zai first started climbing into his courier bag to go with him on his rounds… and then worked his way up to riding around on Loxie’s shoulder!
This picture is just one from Zai’s Instagram feed, which has over 25,000 followers! Follow the link for more cute photos.
These days, however, Loxie is suffering from a rare type of muscular dystrophy—a disease that is both debilitating and terminal. He was also alone, and did not have the help needed to “get on top of his garden” as he put it. This is job for Superman… I mean Serve the City!
The volunteers made short work of trimming the ivy and bushes, digging out weeds, and getting rid of clutter in the garden. Now Zai the dog has a place to run and play and Loxie has a new start with a more manageable garden! He also was a beneficiary of the goodie boxes that STC volunteers distributed at Christmas with personally signed cards… you can hear about this in our episode Generosity: What You Can See Out Wenceslas’ Window.
DIY projects on the outside of people’s houses eventually led to some clients allowing STC Dublin volunteers to declutter the insides of their houses. This photograph was taken by Ronan Coffey, STC Ireland director, and it captures some of the sense of despair that goes along with a long-term habit of hoarding. Without help, there is no way a person in this situation is going to be able to escape the trap they find themselves in. This is when volunteers can really help by offering a new start.
These pictures and the one above are from a house featured in a story told by Barry Enright at our Serving Stories Live event that led us to investigate STC Dublin’s work clearing out the houses of people suffering from hoarder syndrome. To do these projects, the team members wear hazmat suits, and Barry told us that they had to put special gel inside their masks to cover up the smell insidee.
This man living in this house was found by police after they broke down the door when his neighbour reported a lack of response to her knocking. He was very ill, and was sent to hospital, but when social services saw the state of the house, they refused to send him home. Eventually, social services called Serve the City Dublin to come help clear out the house so the man would be able to return from hospital. Volunteers filled four large skips—trash containers six metres long and two metres high—with the rubbish they took from the house.
Ronan and Barry told us that one of the commonalities for people in these situations are that they are isolated, not having family and friends or not allowing those they had into the house. Another commonality is often that there is some stressful situation that triggers the hoarding behavior, such as a death or divorce. It takes time for such a hoard to accumulate, often 20-40 years; thus, clearing it out gives the person a chance for a new start in a clean environment.
This video shows the work going on in the house as the team was clearing it out. This work would enable this man to make a new start from a new baseline when he returned from the hospital, with neighbours now to help him.
Below is the team that worked for two days on the house Barry told us about: Eugene and Dick, who were also on the DIY project above, and Barry and Ronan. Because of the hazards involved in this particular situation, all of these were experienced volunteers who had done these projects before.
We never know exactly what the final outcome is, but at least we hope that we have ignited some little spark, some way forward. They can then move on with their lives and see the difference and realize the impossible situation that they’ve been in, and that they’ve been shown a way. And that there are people who listen and care and can help.
Ronan Coffey, STC Ireland Director
This is a much-loved page from a Superman comic, in which he rescues a teenager who is about to jump to their death, not by swooping in and catching them, but by encouraging them. He says: “It’s never as bad as it seems. You’re much stronger than you think you are. Trust me.“
When we try to provide a new start for someone, this is the message that we want to share with then, as we help free them from a burden they have been carrying alone.
