Recently I received an e-mail from our friends at Lowe's asking if we would do a hero project with them. Lowe's would donate the materials and labor if we had a project for somebody in need.  Shortly after reading this e-mail I received a call from a woman named Lorraine who told me of a friend of hers that was in need of A Brush with Kindness.

Cecile Roth is an incredible woman who has devoted herself to her community helping those in need for over thirty years. In 1979 she started the Le Phare Community Help Center serving Vancouver and Clark County. Thirty years later she is still going strong and helping those in need.

After meeting with Mrs. Roth, I knew I had found the hero project for our friends at Lowe's. The deck on the back of her home was rotten and unsafe and in desperate need for replacement.

On the first day of the project some of our regular volunteers came out and did the demolition of the old deck and prepared things for the next day. Day two the Lowe's volunteers gathered in the early morning cold to tackle the project at hand.

At one point one of the volunteers disappeared for a while. When she returned she was crying. When asked what was wrong she replied she had just spent twenty minutes talking to Mrs. Roth, and she was so deserving of this work being done.

At the end of the day not only did Mrs. Roth receive a wonderful gift from her community, the volunteers and I left with an incredible warm feeling that comes from giving of one's self. 

A Brush with Kindness is part of Habitat's broader holistic community development strategy, which assists communities as well as families. It revitalizes the appearance of the neighborhood, strengthens connections within the community through community work days, and helps preserve affordable housing. For more information, please call or email AmeriCorps Crew Leader Dave Gray at (360) 737-1759 or dave@ehfh.org. More information, including an online interest form, is available on our website at http://www.ehfh.org/a-brush-with-kindness/