Home for good
Months of planning and labor that went into converting an old house in Butler into Robin's Home were on display at an open house Friday.
The real payoff for Mary Chitwood, founder and executive director, and the board of directors who were on hand for the open house, comes Monday when the first female military veteran moves in.
Robin's Home is the only transitional home for female veterans and their children in the county. The American flag and flags from all four military branches hang on poles attached to the front porch.
“This is desperately needed for female vets in this community,” said Bill Barger, board president and a veteran.
Chitwood deflected credit to those who donated time, money and materials to the project.
“It's really the community that deserves credit for this,” Chitwood said.
After the home was purchased in January, she said she was told it would cost $180,000 to renovate.
The actual cost turned out to be much less — $25,000 — thanks to donations and volunteers, she said.
Dennis Baglier, an auto dealership owner and president of the Butler PM Rotary, said he bought the house for the effort after learning about Chitwood's plans because he wanted to do something to help veterans.
He said he was working with Sam Zurzolo, a veteran, Butler township commissioner and fellow Rotarian, on another project when he asked him what he could do to help veterans.
“I said 'you tell me,'” Baglier said.
The next day, he and Zurzolo met Chitwood and the rest is history.
“She had a dream and a lot of plans, but she needed a house,” Baglier said. “It was meant to be. A lot of people want to help, but don't know how.”
County commissioners Leslie Osche and Kevin Boozel presented Baglier with a proclamation for his selfless service to the county.
Osche admitted that she was skeptical about the Robin's Home project at first, but now stands behind it.“These wonderful things happen in our community because people like Mary have a dream,” Osche said.Taking a tour of the freshly renovated house seemed like a dream to Kathy Hawk, the previous owner. She said she never lived there and her mother gave her the house before she died. The house contained three apartments when her mother owned it.“She would be so pleased at what's become of this house,” Hawk said as Chitwood was leading her on a tour.A small sitting room on the first floor used to be one of the three apartment kitchens.There used to be a doctor's office in the basement and apartments in the rest of the house, Hawk said.Some of the stained glass windows were kept in place and the original wood trim was restored. The antique dining room table came from the nearby Phillips Mansion, Chitwood said.Mindy Jo Miller of Saxonburg, who won the inaugural Miss Pennsylvania for America this year and works for the Mental Health Association of Butler County's compeer program for mental health recovery, attended the open house to learn about Robin's Home.“I wanted to see what it was about. It's a great opportunity for women. It's opened my eyes,” Miller said.Robin's Home still needs donations to cover utility costs and the veterans staying there need gift certificates for groceries and household items.Donations should be made to American Legion Post 778 — Robin's Home, Attention: Joseph Hasychak, 150 Legion Memorial Lane, Butler, PA, 16001. Hasychak is the Robin's Home treasurer.
