Two of us had done work with Habitat in the past, but we were not as familiar with A Brush with Kindness, so we researched it before arrival and found that it focuses on helping out people who aren’t physically able or cannot afford to keep up their homes or property. Initially we thought it would be mainly painting, but when we arrived we found out quickly that it also includes many other things!
The first day we put up a roof, and since then we have spent time building a couple of porches and putting down flooring. Our team feels that the work is meaningful and it is nice to see the visual impact after a day of effort. The first homeowner we helped was so grateful and worked alongside of us for the whole week and really made an impression on us. We still talk about it.
It’s also interesting to see how seemingly unrelated tasks pull together in the end when we are building something like a deck or wall. Construction really requires us working together as a team, probably more so than some other types of work. We feel that A Brush with Kindness is an important complement to Habitat’s work, and we are looking forward to spending more time on site!
Joy Holleman and the Cedar Two team