REALTORS® will assist seniors with household tasks May 16-20

For seniors who are physically and financially challenged, tasks like replacing smoke detector batteries, flipping a mattress or washing the windows can be a major chore, especially if relatives who can help them don’t live nearby. Seniors and the homebound living on the Peninsula and in the South Bay may now request free assistance with such household tasks through the REALTOR® Service Volunteer Program (RSVP) for the week of May 16-20, 2011. The deadline for seniors to request assistance is Monday, February 28.

RSVP is a community outreach program offered each year to qualified seniors who cannot otherwise perform certain household tasks due to physical or financial constraints. This free assistance is offered by local REALTORS® in cooperation with various community organizations and senior centers.

During RSVP Week, teams of REALTORS® and affiliates (professionals who provide industry-related services) will visit senior citizens and perform various cleaning and maintenance tasks free of charge. Seniors can request to have light bulbs replaced, furnace filters changed, windows cleaned, mattresses turned or new smoke detector batteries installed.

This is the 10^th year the free assistance is being offered to seniors by local REALTORS®. The annual hands-on effort was organized in 2001 by members of the Sili­con Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR), the local trade associations of the real estate industry on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. RSVP has since expanded to include volunteers from the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS®, Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS® and Santa Cruz County Association of REALTORS®.

Homeowners or renters who are advanced in years with physical and financial constraints and live in the communities of Atherton, Campbell, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, Woodside, Portola Valley, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos may apply for services by contacting the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® at (408) 200-0100, or visit www.silvar.org for more information and to download an application.