12 November, 2014
Imagine if you couldn't take your child to a playground because a fear, so intense, left you completely debilitated? This is a reality for many of our Honored Massachusetts Military Veterans who suffer from PTSD. The Real Estate Agents of Hallmark Sotheby’s International Realty, in partnering with Habitat for Humanity Metrowest/Greater Worcester Project Playhouse, hope to ease the pain of at least one of our honored heroes by building a personalize playhouse for the child of a Veteran who suffers on Saturday, November 15th (10:00AM to 3:00PM) in the parking lot of their 11 Grove Street office in Hopkinton, MA.
Habitat for Humanity Metrowest/Greater Worcester Project Playhouse is a volunteer event that gives organizations a way to get involved locally by raising funds to cover the cost of the build and benefit other Habitat projects ranging from ground up builds to Veteran home renovations. The HallmarkSIR agents will be creating a Disney Junior, Doc McStuffins themed playhouse for a worthy little four year old named Aubrey. This is Project Playhouse’s 13th build since June 2014, and Aubrey will be visiting the site at 3:00 PM to personally collect her dream playhouse with her family. 20 agents will be participating in the physical build, and local businesses, including Toys R Us, Bills Pizza, and Michael Dunsky of Guaranteed Rate are contributing food and material.
“Researchers have examined the impact of Veterans' PTSD symptoms on family relationships, and on children of Veterans in particular…Individuals with PTSD may not want to do things or go places…Children may feel that their parent does not care about them when the reality is that the parent is avoiding places that are just too frightening,” said Jennifer L. Price, PhD in her article “When a Child's Parent has PTSD” which is utilized on the US Department of Veteran Affairs National Center for PTSD website.
“We plan to include ‘Doc’ accessories in the Playhouse so Aubrey can let her imagination fly while her family can watch and feel safe,” said President and Broker, Owner of HallmarkSIR, Erika Paul. Paul was inspired to participate in a Project Playhouse build after one of her agents, Linda Jarvis, became involved in Habitat for Humanity Metrowest/Greater Worcester and shared her experience with Paul.
“We are Real Estate agents, and our job is to help clients buy and sell houses, but the heart of our business is to help people find a home, which is really what we are doing, why we work weekends, to help people find a warm place to call home,” said Paul of why Habitat for Humanity made such an impact on her. “The sad reality is there are too many Bay State residents who don’t have a safe, warm, home. We believe in Habitats’ mission of "A world where everyone has a decent place to live,” and that is why we sought out to help Habitat for Humanity Metrowest/Greater Worcester through Project Playhouse,” continued Paul.
The HallmarkSIR office has a fundraising goal of $5,000 which they plan to contribute to Habitat for Humanity Metrowest/Greater Worcester in honor of Veteran’s Day 2014. To contribute, please visit www.hallmarksir.myevent.com/?1412889911.
