Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity

Wesley Myhre, Northeast Minneapolis homeowner, recalls the first time he heard about Habitat for Humanity. “I was reading an article in the newspaper,” he said, “and it profiled a Habitat neighborhood revitalization program called A Brush with Kindness that focuses on keeping homeowners in their homes.”

Myhre had no idea that years later he would need services that Habitat could provide.  At the time he and his wife had steady, well-paying jobs and were always in position to pay bills on time along with having the liberty to set aside money for home improvements.

Six years after the Myhre’s bought their home, Wesley lost his job of 22 years at the local phone company. He was only a few years from reaching retirement with full pension. Not long thereafter, his wife, Marsha, was laid off from her position at a medical assessment company. Suddenly the Myhre’s found themselves without any income.

The Myhre's continued to pay bills until their resources were so depleted that turning to credit cards was their only option .  A year later, the city warned them that they needed to fix the peeling paint on their garage and add a gate to a second story door on their home in order to keep it within local regulations.  They hired someone to fix the paint, but he did a poor job. “The guy we hired was slow getting out here and he said that the paint job he did would last ten years, but it was barely five years and the city was back on us for peeling paint again.”

This time the Myhre's didn't have the finances to pay for another round of home improvements. The couple could deal with regular house maintenance, but when they heard from the city again they found ourselves in a really tight situation. "We had credit debt from unemployment and we really needed to look for help," Wesley said. "It was then that we found out that since we were low-income we could apply to get this done through Habitat for Humanity's A Brush with Kindness program."

Upon program acceptance, US Bank volunteers and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity employees began work on the Myhre's home. They repainted the house and garage and built a barrier for the second story door on their home.

The Myhre's especially enjoyed working alongside the volunteers from US Bank. "They were a group that seemed to get a lot of satisfaction out of helping people," Wesley said. "The A Brush with Kindness program is living proof that volunteerism is not extinct. "

Contributed by Jessie Houlihan