A Letter from a homeowner helped by ABWK

November 29, 2011

Dear Brush With Kindness Staff,

Last week when while reflecting on all I am thankful for, I realized that the help I received from your program is at the top of my “gratitude list.” Thanks to the many hours your staff and volunteers contributed to scraping and painting my house, the city is no longer threatening to take action, my neighbors are pleased, and my house looks beautiful! And you didn’t stop at painting! Not only did you address the issue the City had cited me for, but when a problem arose with my front steps, your volunteers took out the old broken ones and built new wooden ones that add a touch of class and definitely have more curb appeal than the old steps had. They also replaced the back landing and steps which weren’t as bad, but had some rough spots. My oldest daughter had been teaching in Korea for a year, and when she returned in October we welcomed her back to a home that’s in much better shape than it was when she left.

I also appreciate the other things that were done that don’t show as much. One volunteer rebuilt a storm window for my dining room, so for the first time in three years all three of the windows will be storm windows which will help with my winter heat bills. Another person replaced a sash cord on one of those same windows. Your staff made a couple trips to the compost site with debris and yard waste.

We moved into our house in 1989 when my girls were two months and almost four. They grew up there and we have close ties with our neighbors, so I wanted to maintain the stability of staying there when their dad and I separated eight years ago. There have been challenges due the house having “old age issues” (it was built in 1916,) and my being unemployed for several months made money for repairs and maintenance hard to come by. Thanks to A Brush With Kindness, our home now not only meets the City’s standards, but it looks great and I’m proud to call it home. The people who came out on the different crews, and especially your staff who lead the groups, were all amazing and wonderful to work with. I am so grateful to all of you!!!

Thank you for being the best thing that happened to my house (and me) in 2011!

Sincerely,

Mary G., St. Paul