Every year, members of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) visit the homes of seniors who are physically and financially challenged and provide them free assistance with household tasks. This year was no different, as 170 volunteers from the local trade association helped 79 senior households residing within SILVAR's five districts. Forty-nine realtors assisted 28 seniors in the Los Altos/Mountain View communities.
The seniors, who look forward to the program each year, always welcome the RSVP volunteers into their homes with smiles, appreciative of the help they receive. The REALTORS® replace light bulbs, changing furnace filters, washing windows, turning over mattresses, changing smoke detector batteries and other chores that seniors have a difficult time doing on their own. The volunteers say they get a great sense of satisfaction helping the elderly who have done much for the community.
"RSVP Week has gotten to be a tradition of giving back to the community. We set aside one day a year as a group to do this together and the seniors are very appreciative of what we do," said longtime SILVAR RSVP volunteer David Kim who, with his team of volunteers, helped flip a mattress and wash windows for a Mountain View homeowner.
"All realtors should devote one day to make a difference. It's not that difficult. Everyone can make the time one day a year," said Nick French, another long-time RSVP volunteer.
French said many of the seniors are so appreciative. He wanted to do more for a Los Altos senior, like tidy her yard, which had been overtaken by weeds, but she said she was just happy to have French and his team wash her outside windows.
The seniors couldn't thank the volunteers enough. "I am recovering from a very bad cancer. It ages you so much that I feel like I am 83. They have been such a big help," said a 73-year-old Los Altos resident.
Another senior homeowner who is 80 years old, said she, too, was so appreciative of the help. Her 84-year-old husband was recovering from a fall and a stroke.
"I just can't do it all alone," she remarked, as the volunteers moved her husband's hospital bed mattress, made the beds and washed their windows.
"They are angels," said an 88-year-old homeowner, when asked what she thought of the volunteers.
The REALTOR® volunteers smiled. It was not the first time as senior homeowner had used the term to describe them. Then she got teary-eyed when the volunteers got ready to leave.
"I just hate to see you leave!" she exclaimed.
RSVP was started by members of SILVAR in 2001 and adopted as an official association community outreach project the following year.
"Each year our volunteers realize the importance of our being there for our seniors," said SILVAR RSVP chair Eileen Giorgi. "We really receive more than we give."
The REALTORS® from the district would like to thank the following businesses that donated items for the seniors: Los Altos Ace Hardware – night lights; Mountain View Target and Pam Blackman, $5 Target gift cards; Main Street Dental - toothbrushes and toothpaste, and Los Altos Walgreens - pill containers.
The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
Variations of this article have appeared in local area newspapers.
For further information, please email or call the SILVAR office at (408) 200-0100.