It was a busy Saturday morning for the members of UCR Circle K. There were 23 volunteers that came out to paint with us that morning at Santiago Estates in Moreno Valley. The UCR students all showed up to the home at the same time. Signing in everyone and making sure waivers were in order took a little more time, but Jenine took care of it. Once the group was all signed in, Dave rounded everyone up and started the safety talk and the morning prayer.
The home we had the pleasure of working on that Saturday morning belonged to Melody and Chris. They are both disabled. Chris used to be able to take care of the home, but with his disability he cannot due to a back injury. Before our volunteers came along, the yard was overgrown and all the steps around the house were in disrepair and one set off the patio was missing. This was a big safety issue. Park management cited the homeowners to repair and paint the house, which was where the Habitat volunteers came in!
The paint day that morning was a bit different from our usual Saturday mornings. This was because not only were we painting a house, but also building the steps for the home at the same time. Since we were painting and repairing the steps, a separate area was set up for the building process in addition to the Habitat truck in front of the home. There were lots of residents driving by during the morning wondering why there were so many people at their neighbor’s home! Many commented what a nice job everyone was doing as they drove by.
The project volunteers including our “step builders” ; David and Marty, volunteers from Kaiser Permanente Fontana site and our future homeowners Eric and Gabby went to work right away! David and Marty were assigned specifically to make the 2 set of steps that day so they were busy measuring, cutting and assembling the steps all morning. Eric and Gabby were in charge of the front steps. Since Eric wasn’t new to construction work, (Eric is a framer by trade) he was all ready to rebuild the steps. Eric and Gabby helped paint the home as well after the steps were complete.
Some of our Circle K members were first time painters so Dave went over a quick “Painting 101” lesson with them. Others were already grabbing paint brushes and heading to their assigned areas. Throughout the day, Dave assigned some volunteers to help move the wood that was going to be used for the steps. There was a lot stacked next to the house so we tried to move it so we had space to paint. By 9:30am, the shed was already done! Wow, that’s what happens when we have 48 hands on deck! The group that was painting the shed moved to the front of the home to start painting the front wall.
It was getting a bit hot around 11am, but thankfully with our big group we were well on our way to finishing. During this time we had to remove the 2 front awnings and have them painted. We set up a painting table and assigned a couple volunteers to finish painting them. By this time, many people were already working on the trim color around the house.
At 12:00pm we were right about finished with painting the home. It was time for clean-up! All our volunteers lent a hand picking up the bins of supplies, ladders, and tarp and loaded them into the truck. UCR Circle K volunteers and our homeowner, Christ took a group photo to conclude our paint day. Melody didn’t feel well that day and was taking a nap so we let her sleep. Later that day she called Dave to thank the group and Habitat for making her home feel safer and look better.
David, Marty, Eric, and Gabby stayed behind after the painting was done to finish up the steps! Even with the hot weather they were troopers and were determined to get the job done!
It was a very productive paint day for the UCR Circle K members, Kaiser volunteers, and a couple of Habitat’s future homeowners. Thank you all for working so hard and giving your time!