Over the past two Saturdays Habitat for Humanity Riverside’s A Brush With Kindness program has been busily working in the City of Corona to help Green River Village homeowner Sandra to reclaim her yard and improve the appearance of her home. Due to a heart condition and diabetes Sandra gets out of breath easily, making it hard for her to maintain her yard. She lives alone and has called Green River Village home for the past 15 years. Sandra retired from the City of Corona’s Planning Department five years ago.
Saturday, September 7, was yard clean-up day!
Yard Clean-up in full swing!
A group of Habitat Riverside women volunteers and a few of their teenage sons tackled the overgrown yard to clear the weeds and trim Sandra’s beloved rose bushes.
The yard after volunteer day 1
The transformation was everything to Sandra, “I can’t express strong enough how heavy the burden of a yard gone wild was on me. I woke up and it is like this burden has been lifted and for the first time in the last five years I feel like I can begin to take back control of my household.”
Yard cleared and awaiting paint day!
The following Saturday, September 14, a group of Habitat for Humanity Riverside volunteers arrived bright and early to beat the heat and begin painting Sandra’s home. The group of new and experienced Habitat volunteers all split into four groups, each group being assigned a side of the home to paint.
Such big smiles on all of our painters.
Along with the painting of the home and trim, the front awning and hand rails along the porch got a fresh coat of green paint. The awning presented some challenges to our volunteers, but their innovative spirit and dedication got the job done. The front porch steps were also able to get a much needed update. Sandra was outside with the volunteers the entire morning, offering water and expressing just how much she appreciated what Habitat was doing for her.
What a difference two weekends can make!
A huge thank you to all of our hardworking volunteers these past two weekends!
