Right next to campus, about five houses are springing up for low income families sponsored by a grant from the city of Westminster and by Habitat for Humanity, an organization that works to build houses for families in need.
They’ve been putting out a call to students to volunteer. A few of my fellow RAs and I decided to go as a group and put in a few hours, so today after my JanTerm class, we walked down. In one of the houses, we were haphazardly handed rollers, brushes, and paints, and directed where to paint. My only painting experience having been twelve years ago when my mum renovated the lounge in our house in New Zealand, I was surprised that our coordinator trusted us enough to be able to put on two finishing coats.
I painted the walls and ceiling of a staircase, managing to get almost as much paint on my hands and face as I did the walls. I don’t think the walls looked very professionally done; however, I was very proud of my job on the ceiling–it turns out I sometimes can manage to paint straight lines, but only on the harder areas.
I was shocked to find that they’re currently scheduled to have families move in during the first week of February. There still seems to be so much that needs done. It’s super easy to schedule volunteering, though, so hopefully with enough volunteer work coming in from the community, they’ll be successful!
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