p style=”text-align: justify;”>On a sunny Saturday morning in Moreno Valley, the HPAC UCR students as well as sweat equity volunteers arrived at the home of Bertha a 61-year-old homeowner and grandmother of 12 grandchildren. Bertha recently moved to Moreno Valley to be closer to her family; however, her income is less than what she was earning in the State of Washington. Bertha could not afford to have her house painted since she is working to spruce up the inside of her home. The park manager referred her to Habitat for Humanity, Riverside to help her painting situation and to rebuild three set of steps that lead into her home. These steps posed many safety concerns for Bertha. This was not just an ordinary Saturday morning for Bertha, this was the day her home received a beautiful paint job through one of Habitat for Humanity, Riverside’s programs called A Brush with Kindness. It was looking like a great start to a blessed New Year for our homeowner.
Prep work was done by the Habitat staff before the volunteer day to get the house ready for painting. They removed of shutters to be painted and removed leaves and other debris around the house. That morning, the volunteers arrived ready to help Bertha in an immense way. As in any ABWK project we began with the ground rules and the volunteers were informed of Habitat’s mission and vision as well as our own affiliate’s goals. The volunteers were then split into two teams. The first team focused on two sides of the home and was led by Cory, CAP VET Program participant, and the second team focused on the other two sides, which was led by Daniel our AmeriCorps National Member. Later in the morning some volunteers joined together to paint the window shutters, which were hung later that day.
The volunteers gathered their paint brushes and yellow paint and began to be paint horizontally along the metal exterior of Bertha’s home. Smiles were seen on the volunteers’ faces and laughter filled the air throughout the whole work day. However, no one had a bigger smile than Bertha, the homeowner, who offered us snacks and her restroom, which we were more than grateful for because the nearest one was at the club house which was about a 7 minute walk. Not to mention, getting lost was also likely to happen on the way there!
Though the sun was beating down on the volunteers and sweat was dripping left and right, it did not slow the group down one bit. We finished Bertha’s home right on time! Before we knew it, all the volunteers were working together to clean up the site. When we finished loading up the truck, we decided it was time for group picture@ Bertha took so many pictures of the volunteers with her camera and phone it delighted us to see her overflowing with joy and gladness. These moments are truly the reason why volunteers return to Habitat for Humanity, Riverside week after week to give their time and effort to bless a wonderful homeowner like Bertha, who truly is blessed beyond understanding.
