IBEW Local 164 assist in building PATH home.

It was by chance that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 164 learned of plans to convert a Ridgewood, New Jersey, residence into the nation's third Pre-Adoptive Treatment Home (PATH) for girls. It was with altruism that more than 25 of Local 164's members made this house a safe home.

"Children are the key to our future and all of us at Local 164 feel that it is part of our responsibility to give' them a home where they can feel safe and thrive," said John Nordyk, Local 164's volunteer committee chairman, who organized the effort. "When we found out this home was in need of complete rewiring, we wanted to help in the way we know best -- by offering our skilled electrical expertise."

Local 164 learned of plans to convert the recently donated residence from Children's Aid and Family Services in Paramus, with whom the Local was promoting foster care and adoption opportunities to its more than 3,400 members. Upon completion, the four-story residence will house girls between the ages of 4 and 12 who have suffered the trauma of abuse and neglect and are in need of permanent families.

"This caring, nurturing home will employ the PATH model, a unique approach to helping traumatized children heal from past pain," said Elizabeth Mason, Children's Aid and Family Services campaign director.

The mission of Children's Aid and Family Services is to help children, families and communities to heal, to learn and to grow. Since 1899, the organization has helped thousands of individuals of all ages and walks of life to thrive in their communities.

"This outreach project embodies IBEW Local 164's commitment to creating a better tomorrow for our children," said Richard Dressel, business manager and a certified electrician, who spent a recent Saturday running and splicing electrical wire and installing new electrical fixtures, outlets and switches.

As a leading benevolent organization, Local 164 provides fundraising support as well as electrical and telecommunications workers and materials to a wide range of charitable construction and fundraising projects throughout Bergen, Hudson and Essex counties. Past projects have included lighting the Ramapo and Indian Hills High School athletic fields and Little Ferry hockey rink; rewiring Gilda's Club of Northern New Jersey in Hackensack; and electrical wiring on behalf of two Bergen County Habitat for Humanity homes.

Additionally, IBEW Local 164 donated electrical services and materials to Bergen County Habitat for Humanity's first two-family dwelling in East Rutherford.

Local 164 has also established Project Grandma, a fundraising campaign on behalf of breast cancer. In its fourth year, the project has raised more than $100,000 for the benefit of Holy Name Hospital's Stella C. Van Houten Women's Outpatient Center, which provides a full range of support groups for those diagnosed with cancer and their loved ones and children.

As a result of these efforts, IBEW Local 164 is a past recipient of the President's Service Award from former President Clinton and the Points of Light Foundation as well as the Trailblazer Award from Zonta Clubs of Bergen County. Dressel has been recognized as "Builder of the Year" by Bergen County Habitat for Humanity, Humanitarian of the Year by the Colleen Giblin Foundation and will be honored at the Oakland Mayor's Ball later this month.