Union Bank employees from all over the Inland Empire united to help a disabled homeowner and daughter freshen up their Riverside home. Jonnie and her daughter Consuela live in Santiago Estates Mobile Home Park. Jonnie is retired and cannot get around like she used to in the past. Consuela helps take care of her mom while working and taking care of her teenage son. The park manager asked Habitat to help this family. Their home was starting to show the effects of the Inland Empire heat and wind. The sun had faded all the trim and the Santa Ana winds had blown dirt into the paint all around the home. It was time to repaint.
Vicki, Assistant VP Branch Manager of Union Bank Glen Avon, which was also the team leader of the day, got to the home early to make sure everyone was wearing their team blue shirts and that they were all signed in. Most of the Union Bank volunteers had painted with us before and this made it easy to split off into groups. There were some that were new volunteers in the crowd as well. They admitted they didn’t have much painting experience, but no worries, because we gave them a quick hands-on training session. And we reassured them that if we did have any spills, there were plenty of tarps to catch the paint!
This home was a bit different from houses we usually paint. This mobile home had the foundation level within the ground so we did not need as many ladders. Instead, our volunteers used extension poles to reach the high and low areas while standing on the ground. The high detail at the peaks and trim still needed ladders and we made sure everyone was safe by assigning volunteers to hold ladders for the painters.
The Union Bank volunteers worked like a great team all morning! They were definitely determined to make Jonnie’s home beautiful, again! They were such hard workers that they finished right at noon without a minute to spare. After clean-up was finished, the Union Bank members helped walk Jonnie to the front door of the home to take a picture with them. Of course, they wanted to have Jonnie’s daughter in the photo, so Consuela joined in as well. Both Jonnie and Consuela saw how much better the home looked than before and were very thankful we were there to help.
During the middle of the paint day, our Union Bank volunteers took a break to celebrate along with Karin Roberts, our Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity, Riverside. These Union Bank members not only came to paint with us that day, but to give back to Habitat for Humanity, Riverside with a check of $20,000. This was not only a celebration of our long time partnership with Union Bank, but for all the great projects we will build in the future! With Union Bank’s support, we will be able to move forward with our Veteran Build in Jurupa Valley. We are so excited to have Union Bank on board with us as we continue to build homes and communities! The Union Bank volunteers were more than grateful to be able to give back to the family and the community.
Thank you Union Bank volunteers for helping on this day and continuing to be great partners with Habitat for Humanity, Riverside.
