The New Canaan CARES annual Home Tour—one of the most hotly anticipated, unique and interactive fundraisers in town—is scheduled for May 24 (patron party May 18). We put some questions to Jessica Huetter, chair of the nonprofit organization’s Board of Directors, in advance of the Home Tour.
Here’s our exchange.
New Canaanite: For our readers who may not be familiar with New Canaan CARES, could you please tell us about the organization, its history and what you all do.
Jessica Huetter: New Canaan CARES is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to empower youth, strengthen families and build community. We offer a variety of programs throughout the year aimed at this mission, including both high school and middle school leadership programs, social skill building at the elementary schools and presentations for parents on a range of topics including social media, anti-vaping, childhood anxiety and much more. For the last forty years, CARES has been a leading local resource for the entire New Canaan community.
How is New Canaan CARES supported and how important is the annual Home Tour to its fundraising?
One of the hallmarks of New Canaan CARES is our ability to provide our programs free of charge to the community. We rely on the generosity of our donors and Home Tour Sponsors to make this happen. We hold an Annual Appeal each year along with smaller fundraisers but the Home Tour is our biggest fundraiser of the year. All of the proceeds from the Tour go to supporting CARES’ mission.
Tell us about this year’s Home Tour. I saw that you have seven homes on it.
We are very excited about the houses on this year’s Home Tour. The seven properties are spread throughout New Canaan and all highlight something a little bit different. We are fortunate to have an extremely generous group of sponsors and are excited to showcase the time and energy they have put into each project.
How does New Canaan CARES select the properties to include on its Home Tour?
New Canaan CARES has a devoted committee who works tirelessly to ensure we have a great selection of homes. The Home Tour is a great opportunity for sponsors to present their work and more often than not, they bring the homes to us. We also get a lot of friend and neighbor recommendations on properties that would be a great fit for the Home Tour and its tour-goers.
How many people generally sign up for the Home Tour and what do you think the major draw is for attendees?
People can buy tickets on our website (https://newcanaancares.org/hometour-2-2/). The Home Tour is special because our amazing homeowners are opening up their family spaces for all to see. The Home Tour is a time honored New Canaan tradition that people look forward to each year and it is a great day to spend with friends touring beautifully designed and constructed homes.
What else, if anything, would you like to say about New Canaan CARES or the Home Tour?
Ahead of the Tour, on Thursday, May 18th at New Canaan Library, we will host a Patron Party for patron level ticket holders. The event will include a cooking demonstration in the Kend Family Kitchen by local chef and mom, Anna Gass. This is the 30th Annual Home Tour and we are excited to get back to the idea of the Heart of the Home for this year’s Patron Party.