Extreme Home Makeover: U.S. Bank’s Edition
No, this is not the ABC reality show. It is actually called “A Brush with Kindness”—a program of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. U.S Bank has been part of this program for several years. The goal of the program is to revitalize homes and strengthen neighborhoods by providing services such as painting, landscaping, and minor household repairs. I signed up two months ago and was fortunate enough that my internship schedule allowed me to take part in this program.
Last Saturday, I joined the U.S. Bank’s Controller group to repair a house in St. Paul, Minnesota. The house owner is a retiree, who could not afford to maintain his house. His house looked almost like an abandoned house in a middle of a beautiful neighborhood.
My task was to paint the front siding of the house. The caveat is it was my first time holding a paint brush. I never did any wall painting or yard work before. After getting a few tips how to paint, I started creating my piece of art with a bucket of white paint on my left hand and a brush on my right hand. Gladly, the front siding was well-covered by the white paint and the piece of art ended on my skin and t-shirt (i.e. my arms and t-shirt were full of white abstract painting).
It was really a rewarding opportunity. I could help people while getting to know more people in the bank and learning new skills (i.e. painting). However, the best reward was when the neighbor of the house owner stopped by and thanked us. I guess what we did was not really extreme. Many people have helped me throughout my journey. This is just my way to pay forward the kindness of those people.
