July 11-14, Zion volunteers painted a house at 3334 Colfax Ave N in Minneapolis. This year, instead of hammers, volunteers wielded scrapers and paint brushes as they worked with an arm of Habitat called “A Brush With Kindness”. This program works with residents that have been cited by the city for code violations, helping bring them back into compliance. ABWK volunteers worked Tuesday to Friday. Tuesday was spent setting up ladders, scraping loose paint, filling holes and sanding and preparing the walls for painting. Wednesday walls were primed and on Thursday and Friday walls and trim were finished with two coats of paint. All work was done on the outside of the house which was greatly helped by favorable weather. Besides those who did the actual painting, several volunteers helped with food. Food was also purchased using funds from an Action Team grant provided by Thrivent. Site supervisor Joe provided great leadership, and AmeriCorps volunteer Chloe also provided lots of help.
