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Non-profit Revitalizing Santa Ana One Home at a Time
July 19 , 2010
The house that Norma Sepulveda lived in for the past 59 years needed some TLC long before her husband of 63 years died last summer.
“Things had been put off for years,” the Santa Ana resident recalled.
But the 85-year-old widow could not afford to do the work herself and initially was loathe to ask for assistance.
Paint Your Heart Out Santa Ana stepped in and not only painted her 1951 house yellow, but spruced up Sepulveda’s backyard, replaced broken window screens and cleaned out an overflowing shed that had been on the family’s “To-Do” list for several years.
“This was the first time that I have asked for help and I felt a bit guilty,” said Sepulveda, who lives with her daughter and three granddaughters.
But the team of volunteers from Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro cleaned up everything “beautifully” and even brought their own food and water, Sepulveda said.
“They were not condescending at all,” she said. “In fact they were a God send.”
PYHOSA and teams of volunteers in the past six years have painted and cleaned up nearly 100 homes for low-income senior adults, low-income disabled and low-income homeowners in Santa Ana. The free program is part of a broader outreach in Orange County that started in Anaheim 20 years ago and now includes five cities.
Teams of volunteers from local colleges, churches, companies spend weekends rehabbing and painting neglected homes.
“The teams go above and beyond what they are required to do,” said Debbie Schultz, executive director of non-profit Paint Your Heart Out. “Oftentimes the volunteer teams adopt the homeowner and home.”
Along with assistance from hundreds of volunteers, PYHOSA gets community grants from the city and paint and painting supplies from Santa Ana's Behr Paint Co.
“This is an incredible organization that is doing an incredible job,” said Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero. “Homes of low-income homeowners are being improved and the ripple effect is improving the quality of life of entire neighborhoods, one home at a time.”
PYHOSA often selects homes for renovation after receiving referrals from city code enforcement officers who cite homeowners for such things as peeling paint, hidden or missing house numbers and fallen down fences and gates.
For more on PYHOSA go to www.pyho.org or call (714) 970-1150.
