Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna Helps 5 Low-Income Families Preserve Homes During ‘A Brush with Kindness’ Week

From Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna:

Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna is one of nearly 40 Habitat affiliates who collaborated with Valspar, Habitat’s national paint partner, and Wells Fargo, to launch A Brush with Kindness Week, Sept. 19-26. A Brush with Kindness Week is a nationwide effort to transform neighborhoods by painting, providing minor exterior home repairs, landscaping and cleaning up yards in partnership with more than 153 low-income homeowners, many of whom are elderly or have a disability. Last week, 16 Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna volunteers worked on five projects in Aberdeen, Abingdon and Edgewood.

Volunteers worked a total of 75 hours on various projects in the community. Under the direction of Construction Manager Jeremy Bopst, volunteers installed storm doors, gardened, replaced rotting wood and painted exterior trims. Bopst said, “Not everyone has the ability to maintain their home on their own. Home preservation opportunities like ABWK week are a way to encourage and pull together members of a community and put forth just a small personal effort towards a much greater goal. The impact is huge- the volunteers achieve immediate satisfaction for what they accomplished in one day, the physical community sees an instant beautification, and the community as a whole becomes stronger by having come together to achieve a common objective.”

Valspar, lead sponsor of A Brush with Kindness Week, is also the founding partner of Habitat’s home preservation services which help low-income homeowners who struggle to maintain the exterior of their homes. Habitat uses volunteers, donated materials and no-profit loans to make the repairs affordable, helping low-income homeowners continue to live independently and securely in their homes. Habitat has served nearly 13,000 low-income families through exterior home preservations services between 2008 and 2014.

“Habitat for Humanity’s home preservation work focuses on affordable housing in existing communities and often helps homeowners continue to live independently and securely in their homes,” said Jonathan T.M. Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “We are grateful for the commitments of the volunteers and sponsors partnering with low-income families across the country.”

Habitat for Humanity would like to thank Valspar and Wells Fargo, for their help in making A Brush with Kindness Week possible.

For more information on A Brush with Kindness Week, contact Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna at 410-638-4434.