Habitat for Humanity's "home repair blitz" underway

MILWAUKEE -- A group of repair crews are working on five homes along South 22nd Street in Milwaukee as part of Habitat for Humanity's home-repair blitz, "A Brush With Kindness."

"We're doing a little bit of everything. We're doing some porch repair, repairing some stairs, we're doing some siding, a lot of scraping, scraping windows and repainting and priming," Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity Development Director Melissa Herguth said.

The "A Brush with Kindness" program provides home repairs to about 30 families in need each year.

"Most of our families that we work with are having to choose between buying their kids new clothes or food with having to do home repairs," Herguth said.

About 75 volunteers are on-site each day, working hard to improve the lives of Milwaukee families.

"The best part is to see the homeowner's face -- to see what you've done, and they always have the biggest smiles and the appreciation. It's just wonderful," Habitat for Humanity volunteer Meghan Timperley said.

"If I can use some of my skills to help people feel more secure or have a better environment to live in, that's part of my giving back for things that I learned over the years," Habitat for Humanity volunteer Michael Taylor said.

Not every volunteer has a carpentry background, but that doesn't matter. Every helping hand is welcome.

"Usually I go to my husband, but after working with 'A Brush of Kindness' with the painting and maybe installing the windows, I won't have to go to my husband for absolutely everything anymore," Timperley said.

Habitat for Humanity kicked off the "A Brush With Kindness" home repair blitz on Tuesday, July 10th and they plan to wrap-up on Saturday, July 15th.

For more information on applying for "A Brush with Kindness," homeowners can call the homeowner information line at (414) 255-3565.

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