Making a House a Home

Journal employees united for the day to help some friends over at United Way. The day was the annual United Way Day of Caring, and the project was to fix up a house associated with the WAVES Agency.

Sixteen of us piled in front of the elevators at 8:20, armed with directions and our mission to strip wallpaper, paint two rooms and clean up the yard. When we arrived at our destination a half an hour later, we were met with a slightly different task.

Two rooms turned into five. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, the living room and the kitchen. The yard work, I assume, was a hefty task as well. The guys, plus an eager Vikki, handled the work outside, while the girls grabbed paint brushes and rollers and transformed the Easter-themed pink walls into various shades of browns, yellows and ‘Mother Earth’ green.

Sure, there were a few snags. There weren’t enough paint cans. There were way too many wet walls that were run into way too many times. There were a few paint drips that missed the drop cloth. There was a rogue bug on the loose. But we got it done, and we had fun.

The most successful part of the day, besides the obvious success that came with finishing the task, was how happy everyone was to help – in any way. People climbed furniture and diligently taped edges to ensure the perfect paint job. Others patiently cleaned every last paint brush and picked up every last leaf. Our photographer even traded his camera for a paint brush and a roll of tape to help out. And at the end of the day, Maime, the house mother who oversaw our work, was completely overwhelmed and impressed with all we were able to get done. And that felt like a pretty big success too.