100 Volunteers Help 16 Lincoln County Families in One Day

When 48-year-old Mark Phillips lost 12 pounds in just weeks, a routine blood test revealed acute myeloid leukemia that would change everything for his family. His immune system couldn't handle the dust and mold hiding in their old laundry room floor, but after paying medical bills, the couple couldn't afford to finish the flooring project they'd started.

That's where Community Housing Improvement Project stepped in. On September 12, 2026, more than 100 volunteers spread across Lincoln County for Community Cares Day, helping 16 families with repairs that make the difference between staying home safely and facing impossible choices.

For Phillips, a local band and chorus teacher, volunteers installed new flooring in Round Pond so he could recover at home. His wife Frances Mercanti-Anthony had never heard of CHIP before a friend mentioned them, but the organization had already helped once by building entry steps with landings where Phillips could rest when climbing became too hard.

In Jefferson, volunteers replaced fallen gutters and carved grooves into slippery stone steps for Bob Hodgkins, a retired carpenter who grew up in his home. The simple fix means Hodgkins can keep living independently in the house he knows best. "It's easier to do things when you've got extra help," he said, though he still helps neighbors himself when he can.

Executive Director Brittany Gill calls Community Cares Day "a beautiful tradition" that's been CHIP's biggest volunteer event since 2003. The projects ranged from ramps and stairs to window inserts and yard cleanups, all focused on keeping neighbors safe, warm, and dry.

The Ripple Effect

Phillips is back teaching part-time now, hoping to return full-time in the new year. His story shows what happens when communities invest in keeping families stable during crisis. When teachers can heal at home, students get their music instructor back. When elderly neighbors can navigate their steps safely, they keep the independence they've built over decades.

CHIP serves people facing all kinds of setbacks: illness, job loss, divorce, death, or simply aging on a fixed income while maintaining an old house. The need crosses all demographics, but the solution stays the same: neighbors helping neighbors through the hard times.

Mercanti-Anthony remembers when Phillips joked that he wasn't hungry because of Thanksgiving dinner at her mom's house. Within weeks, he was in Maine Medical Center for 29 days, what doctors called "profoundly neutropenic" with almost no immune system functioning. The chemotherapy worked, but their new normal meant accepting help.

"He wants to be able to do all the things he could do," Mercanti-Anthony said. "And I always have to tell him, 'This is our new normal.'"

That new normal now includes a safe floor, safer steps, and a community that showed up when it mattered most.