By Anderson Colemon/tr news editor
Armed with white paint and brushes, TR Campus volunteers teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to paint a home Oct. 5.
TR student development associate Elena Walker and several students worked through the cold, windy morning to ensure a Fort Worth home belonging to ImaJean Willis was restored.
Willis’ home was among those selected because she didn’t have the financial means or physical ability to paint her house herself. Her home was previously rotting, and paint continued to chip off layer by layer until she had enough.
“I needed somebody to paint my house,” she said. “My neighbors would tell me how people came to paint their house and told me how pretty their houses turned out.”
Willis wanted the same thing for her home. Willis’ granddaughter told her volunteers through the City of Fort Worth painted homes for free and registered her grandmother for the Cowtown Brush Up.
Willis said a man from Habitat for Humanity housing and economic development services interviewed her to see if she qualified for the program.
“I told him I wanted [my house] painted the previous color it was before,” she said.
The interviewer told her the only colors they had left were red and white. She went with white and waited for the primer to dry before the volunteers finished the job in the morning.
“I like this [program] because it was given to me, and it didn’t cost anything to have it done,” she said. “I appreciate that, and I want [the volunteers] to know that. I thank them for it.”
Walker said Fort Worth’s revitalization program is successful.
“In 1991, 33 homes in low-income neighborhoods were given a fresh coat of paint, which in turn enhanced the image of the neighborhoods,” she said. “As of today, more than 2,300 homes have been painted.”
Trinity Habitat and the City of Fort Worth select the homes.
“They then let different groups sign up and register, like we did at Trinity River Campus,” Walker said.
TR student volunteer Amy Mendias said she thought the experience would be good for the family and the volunteers.
“It’s a benefit for people who are not able to do it for themselves, and we can give back to the community by doing this,” she said.
TR student Coy Studer said he got an email from Walker and registered as soon as possible.
“It certainly helps the individual,” Studer said. “It lets the neighborhood know we are here to help them.”
