As we drove into the mobile home park, the volunteers discovered how wonderful and elegant the homes and landscapes were. Habitat for Humanity Riverside has had several A Brush With Kindness paint days in the park and we were welcomed with opened arms from the community because of our history with the management and the residents. This project was a paint day and though it was around 8 in the morning, our volunteers were eager to help out the homeowners.

The homeowners Anna and Alfred are both seniors living on Social Security. Anna is getting ready to have knee surgery soon while Alfred gets around slowly but surely with a cane. During Habitat Riverside’s home inspection, we noticed that their home seemed satisfactory from the street; however, on closer inspection the original metal plank siding was faded and never been painted, and the home’s exterior was definitely showing its years of wear and tear.

Years ago the yellow paint color most likely shined and was very inviting, yet now the once yellow bright color is now a fading yellowish green tone. On the paint day there were 15 volunteers with eagerness to help and work hard. Among the volunteers we had Erik and Gabby who are working on their sweat equity hours towards the purchase of their Habitat home. The majority of the volunteers are employees of the Riverside Probation Department. Habitat Riverside was blessed to have a professional group who took care of business with a happy heart.

The volunteers finished Anna and Alfred’s home around 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a joyful sight to see Anna the homeowner shed some happy tears when she viewed her newly painted yellow home with Alfred and the group of volunteers. She called them her Habitat Angels!