Senior Center Helping Hand (SCHH) started in January 2007 as an outgrowth of the Snug-As-A-Bug program for low-income families. Snug-As-A-Bug is a Hands On Forsyth program that helps residents weatherize their homes during the winter months. Dupree noticed that there were seniors in the community whose needs extended beyond making their homes more comfortable when the temperature dips. "Knowing there were no other organizations addressing their particular concerns, I approached the Forsyth County Senior Center to be the point of contact for them and our organization (HOF) would respond by finding resources and funds to provide the assistance needed," Dupree added.

Last year 37 seniors were assisted by 77 volunteers. Volunteers were recruited from churches in close proximity to the senior's home. This recruitment effort has been successful with some of the church groups doing several projects throughout the year. Though the numbers may seem small, one must consider the labor intensive work involved with many of the projects. Some of those more demanding tasks included, but were not limited to, building wheelchair ramps, cutting down and hauling off trees, purchasing and installing new air conditioning units, correcting plumbing issues, building steps, replacing doors and repairing damage caused by animals.

Some of the assistance had nothing to do with home repairs. "In some cases I was no more than a liaison between the seniors and their landlord in order to get an issue addressed," Dupree said. Dupree remembers one senior in particular, an octogenarian who lives alone in a mobile home with her little dog, Baby. Her furnace hadn't worked in more than three years. She had been heating her home with a space heater and the oven on her gas stove. It was only when Dupree called her landlord that the landlord responded to his tenant's needs. "Within four days of my initial call, he installed a new furnace and this lovely woman and Baby were warm for the first time in years."