The year’s annual South Whidbey Hearts & Hammers—SWH&H— event May 3 reflected the can-do spirit of its late founder, Lynn Willeford, and one of its beloved volunteers and board members, Jim Scullin, who passed away April 24.
Scullin volunteered for SWH&H each year since 1995, and served as a board member since 2000. He earned his living as a finish carpenter and remodel contractor. His skills, humor, compassion and service to the community helped many a neighbor who needed home repair.
His legacy was honored that evening when SWH&H volunteers and recipients gathered for dinner at South Whidbey High School. Known for his numerous roles in the local acting community, Scullin once portrayed Clarence the angel from the classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life” in 2019’s play at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. A card bearing the photo of Scullin as Angel Clarence, with words to a song led by Barbara Dunn and Peggy Taylor of the Open Circle Community Choir brought tears to many of those gathered.
“It was touching to me that two local saints were hovering over the day: Lynn Willeford, who organized Hearts and Hammers decades ago, and died of glialblastoma sometime in the Pandemic, and now Jimmy, who was the heart of Hearts and Hammers,” wrote Vicki Robin in a text. “Every day, driving his little truck around town on his mission of helping people just keep the doors on their hinges and the windows in their frames—literally and figuratively.”
Before he died, Scullin sat with Robin, advising her on how to upgrade her rundown kitchen.
“He even drew up some plans reflecting our conversation, that I followed, sort of,” added Robin. “The morning after he died, not knowing he’d been sick, I sent him a photo of the finished kitchen, thanking him and inviting him to come see it. He was—still is—like oxygen on the periodic table of brotherly love. I tell that story because anyone Jimmy touched has that story. So Hearts and Hammers—Lynn was all piss, vinegar and get it done. Jimmy was the honey flowing between us. Neither relished the limelight.”
Hearts & Hammers is the brain child of Lynn Willeford, who founded the non-profit during the 1990s. Her legacy continues on in a number of community-oriented non-profits. Hearts & Hammers began as a simple notion: noticing that some women of her church needed help with house repair and gardening, Lynn Willeford, a self-described “serial starter-upper,” organized people to gather and help their neighbors. With initial sponsorship by the Langley United Methodist Church, Hearts and Hammers began as a pilot program in 1994 to help repair and rehabilitate homes for those who were either unable or couldn’t afford to do the work alone.
One of the homes receiving a hand up this year belongs to Laura Berkley, her son Ethan Berkley, and his young son Alder. SWH&H Captain Damon Arndt and his team of volunteers made repairs to the home in the Maxwelton Creek Cohousing community in Clinton. Berkley affectionately calls her home “The Burrow.”
“Jimmy was watching over us,” said Laura Berkley, grateful for the hand up her family received, and the spirit of Jimmy Scullin who guided the volunteers. “My family received 10,000 blessings today. Thank you to my cohousing community, my dear friends and my amazing neighbors that work and play with Hearts and Hammers every year. My heart is so full!”
Ethan Berkley—nicknamed Eaten Broccoli—added in a text: “They were so great. Damon Arndt ran a wonderful crew of charming and tenacious workers. They rebuilt railings and steps off our deck, sided a part of the house that had been exposed for years, and did work around the property to really make it shine. We filled a dump load—they went above and beyond! We’re so grateful and feel so blessed. We’ve been sitting on these things for so long. It’s so fantastic to get things done, and motivates us to continue bettering our home! We look forward to participating in Hearts and Hammers next year to help boost others!”
Longtime contributors to the preservation of Whidbey Island’s natural resources are Marianne Edain and Steve Erickson, founders of the Whidbey Island Environmental Action Network–WEAN–in the 1980s. After thousands of hours spent in the trenches researching and speaking up for Whidbey’s ecosystem, they received the benefit of SWH&H volunteers’ hard work May 3.
Marianne Edain was diagnosed with cancer last year and was told twice she would not live. With the help of chemotherapy and her tenacity for life, she carries on as a voice for the environment. She reported on her current prognosis: “on the Big-C front, I have been demoted from Stage 4 to Stage 3. The doctors now conclude that I am not dying, but there is a long way to go before I’m ‘cured.’”
At the Edain/Erickson home SWH&H Captain Adam Breedlove and his crew hauled eight pickup truck loads plus two trailers’ worth of yard and construction waste. They repaired deck rails on the couple’s home and cleaned up the yard.
Edain wrote in an email: “Short & Sweet: 9 people, 6 hours, the place is transformed. I only wish I could get the names of all the people who were here so I could thank them. My son now has no more excuse for not visiting, because the stairs and deck have been made safe. That feels good. So many tons of rotten wood hauled out; I lost track of truckloads. I can now walk all the way around the house without having to bushwhack blackberries. The drain field has been liberated. The rhododendrons rediscovered. The downstairs door opens and closes without throwing out your shoulder. And all the knee high grass is mowed. So many small but not so small matters dealt with.”
Appreciating the amount of planning and coordination it took to create the transformation, Edain commended Breedlove.
“Gotta give House Captain Adam Breedlove a ton of credit for scoping all the various parts of the job, understanding how much work would be involved, what tools, what materials, how much time. He orchestrated the whole job perfectly. Even the weather cooperated. It was coolish at 9:00, the sun came out but it never got hot. By 3:00 when people were finding and sorting out tools, the first drops of rain began to fall.”
Hearts and Hammers is a way to maintain affordable housing, in Edain’s opinion.
“Be aware that in my advocacy for affordable. housing, I cite H&H as one element of affordability. There are many paths to Nirvana, and keeping us old and less than fully functional people in our homes is one important path to affordability.”
Meanwhile, Bob McConnaughey volunteered with Damon Arndt’s team, weed whacking the couple’s yard. As an Alaska Fisheries Science Center Research Biologist for NOAA, he appreciated Edain and Erickson’s tenacity on behalf of the greater community. He said that for all WEAN has done for the island, the SWH&H crew should do anything requested.
At another Clinton location, Julie Hougom’s home benefitted from the Hearts & Hammers team. Captain Sarah Birger led the crew in beautifying the yard’s gardens and landscaping. As a long-time volunteer with SWH&H, Birger described the military-style of organization that lends to the non-profit’s success.
“Hearts & Hammers divides the work day responsibilities between more than two dozen Captains who manage multiple volunteers at each work site, and they are all overseen by about six Colonels and one General, “ Birger explained. “I captained a crew of about a dozen people in Clinton who represented a range of experience. Some had carpentry skills and tools, while others purchased work gloves for the day, yet all showed up with enthusiasm. One couple in their first year of living on Whidbey volunteered because they heard that Hearts & Hammers is a quintessential way to connect with the Whidbey community. They worked side by side with others who have been living and volunteering here for many decades.
“At the beginning of the day, we did some stretches and I asked everyone on my team to introduce themselves by name, number of years involved with H&H, and their hope for the day. We all smiled and nodded when multiple people said they hoped to see tangible results of their efforts because, unlike working on your own home projects, it is so satisfying to tackle a project as a team and in one day see so much get done. We sent nine trucks on their way with green waste, trash, and dead appliances.”
Later, with the help of a terrific kitchen crew who put on the evening’s meal, those involved with this year’s day of neighbors helping neighbors agree it was one of the best and most heartfelt days in memory. Sarah Birger is married to Matthew Swett who has served on the Hearts & Hammers board for the past ten years. In his capacity as the General, Swett has seen tremendous growth in the organization’s capacity and is still excited about their mission of neighbors helping neighbors.
“Each year I find myself thinking ‘this is the best Hearts and Hammers workday ever!’” Swett wrote in a text. Swett is an SWH&H board member, and workday team General, having joined the non-profit when he moved to Whidbey in 1997. A licensed architect and principal at Taproot Architects LLC, he is energized by the threads of connection and compassion Hearts & Hammers weaves in the community.
“The day left me with a feeling of fulfillment that is deeply satisfying,” added Swett. “This year we honored Jim Scullin, our recently passed ‘H&H ambassador’ whose smile, generosity and accomplishments live on in the spirit of the workday. After watching the day unfold, I’m sure he would agree—It was the best workday ever.”
For more information, visit heartsandhammers.com.