TEMPE, AZ — Surrounded by Santas and Snowmen, Judy Enz doesn’t hold back when it comes to decorating for the holidays.

“I think every room of the house is decorated,” Enz said.

While her home is full of holiday cheer, one thing has been missing for decades: Christmas lights. Now 86, the effort of getting up on a ladder to put up the lights is not worth the risk of falling.

“It has been a long, long time, and I’m anxious,” Enz said.

But this year is different. A group of volunteers with the Tempe Community Action Agency, armed with ladders, clips, and coils of lights, arrived at Judy’s Tempe home, determined to give her the full Christmas experience again.

“She’s missing the lights! And everyone loves when the lights go up. So it’s wonderful to be able to do this for her, and it’s why we do what we do,” Carrie Aranda said.

Casey Thomas, also volunteering, says the project has created connections across the community.

“We have gotten to meet so many different seniors, people we look forward to seeing again every single year,” Thomas said.

The light-hanging program is part of TCAA’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors initiative. For more than a decade, volunteers have decorated and later removed holiday lights for local seniors, all at one low price.

“She’s not paying anything for this,” Aranda said. “Judy’s a wonderful part of our program, and we’re just happy to help.”

With her house glowing for the first time in nearly 20 years, Judy says the only thing shining brighter than the lights are the volunteers who made it possible.

“I definitely want Tempe Community Action Agency highlighted,” she said. “Because they’re a tremendous group. And they help so much.”

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