---
title: The Timaul Family Receives A Brush With Kindness
description: A Brush With Kindness performed necessary repairs and added a touch of paint to make the Timaul family's new house feel more like a home.
---

[Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Blog ](https://www.tchabitat.org/blog)

# [The Timaul Family Receives A Brush With Kindness](https://www.tchabitat.org/blog/bid/98460/the-timaul-family-receives-a-brush-with-kindness)

 Written by [Becky Engen](https://www.tchabitat.org/blog/author/becky-engen) | 3:45 PM on December 2, 2013

The Timaul family of three has lived in their North East Minneapolis home for nearly three years. Tilkiewattie is a single mom from Guyana, with a daughter studying marketing at St. Olaf College, and her son in his senior year of high school.

Before owning a home, the Timauls lived in apartment complexes where the rent kept increasing and living quarters were cramped. Tilkiewattie decided to buy a home to give her family some financial stability and a comfortable living environment, where the family would have space to cook Guyanese food and watch movies together.

Earlier this year, the Timaul's house was broken into; thieves damaged the front door and stole valuables from the home. Between the expenses of a child in college, house payments, and the daily costs of raising a family all on a single income, Tilkiewattie was unsure how she was going to find the money to replace the front door.

After hearing about the incident, Tilkiewattie’s neighbor told her about Habitat's *A Brush With Kindness* program. Once she was accepted into the program, the *A Brush With Kindness* crew was not only able to replace Tilkiewattie’s front door; they were also able to provide new paint to make her new house feel more like a home for her and her children. Tilkiewattie is relieved to once again feel safe in her home and hopes to pass it on to her children one day. 

 

[View full post](https://www.tchabitat.org/blog/bid/98460/the-timaul-family-receives-a-brush-with-kindness)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Becky Engen"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2019-02-08T17:21:26.533Z",
  "datePublished" : "2013-12-02T15:45:00Z",
  "headline" : "The Timaul Family Receives A Brush With Kindness",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 781,
    "url" : "//cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/92650/file-391141104-jpg/images/tilkiewattietimaul.jpg",
    "width" : 634
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.tchabitat.org/blog/bid/98460/the-timaul-family-receives-a-brush-with-kindness",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60.0,
      "url" : "https://92650.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/92650/social-suggested-images/www.tchabitat.orghs-fshubfsLogos2020tchfh%20header%20logo.png",
      "width" : 178.57143
    },
    "name" : "Building Community Blog"
  }
}
```