Adam and Kristin Polhemus organized the refurbishing of Anne Glancey's home in North Crosswicks, Hamilton Township.
HAMILTON -- When Adam and Kristin Polhemus moved into Hamilton's North Crosswicks neighborhood five years ago, none of their neighbors talked to resident Anne Glancey, who resided in a crumbling house.
Over the years, the Polhemus' grew close to Glancey and the couple started dropping hints that they would help the senior citizen fix up her home, a story first reported by People.com says.
"But every time we brought up repairs, she would change the subject," Adam Polhemus told the magazine.
Then in June, Hamilton's new Neighborhood Improvement Program started cracking down on properties needing work, and Glancey showed the Polhemus' letters from the township with possible fines of thousands of dollars.
The couple said they'd be happy to help her with repairs.
Adam and Kristin Polhemus organized neighbors, and members of their church, to volunteer to fix up the house on weekends this summer. They scraped and painted it, landscaped the yard and arranged for the donation of an old clunker car on the property.
Soon, Glancey's house looked great, and she was more active with neighbors - serving homemade carrot cake and orange juice to volunteers. And she is no longer getting letters from the township, People.com reported.
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Before and after photos of Anne Glancey's house in Hamilton. (Courtesy of Adam and Kristin Polhemus)"To see the joy on our neighbor's face, I think the biggest thing is Anne's happiness and her kind of restored life," Adam Polhemus told People. "Her outgoingness to other neighbors is based on her house being improved."
"I appreciate their generosity," Glancey said of her neighbors in the story. "They are good Samaritans, really wonderful and thoughtful. Not everyone would arise to the occasion and I am grateful for it."
Adam Polhemus, a New Jersey State Police trooper, told NJ Advance Media later Tuesday that he's amazed at the feedback he and his wife have received since the People story hit the web earlier Tuesday morning.
"We didn't do any of this for any kind of recognition," Polhemus said. "It was the right thing to do. However, I'm now seeing that many people are encouraged and inspired by this so maybe this has a greater purpose."
Adam Polhemus said Travis Biggs, owner of Chick-fil-A in Hamilton, donated meals for free each work day, and the couple are grateful for their fellow worshippers at 217 Church of Robbinsville for teaming with them.
"I am just thankful for all those that came together and worked very hard to bless someone else," Adam Polhmus said.
"It is pretty amazing to see."
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
