DEADLINE EXTENDED Until February 28

COVINGTON – An opportunity for approximately 40 lucky homeowners to receive a complete external painting of their house done for free on June 7 is coming to Latonia, thanks to outreach and work performed by the Center for Great Neighborhoods in conjunction with the Latonia Small Area Study. The program seeks approximately 40 homes in Latonia that corporate sponsors can paint for homeowners in need of help.

Paint the Town chooses one community each year to focus its efforts. This year, Latonia has been chosen.  

Tom DiBello, Executive Director of Center for Great Neighborhoods says, “We are excited to work with volunteers from Give Back Cincinnati and the Latonia Small Area Study to bring this event to Latonia.  This is a wonderful opportunity to assist seniors and lower-income homeowners with exterior house painting which in turn helps CGN and the Latonia community  meet our common goal to improve the quality of housing in Latonia.”

Last summer, Center for Great Neighborhoods engaged Paint the Town to introduce them to citizenry in Latonia, as a potential target community for the program.  Give Back Cincinnati (GBC) also had a very successful Paint the Town event in Covington back in 2008, so the organization was already familiar with the overwhelming sense of pride inherent in the community.

Criteria

In order to qualify for the program:

·         Homes must be based in Latonia to be considered.

·         Applicants must own the home and live in it. Renters need not apply.

·         Applicants must be physically or financially unable to perform the work themselves.

·         The home must be determined to be in need of painting to improve its overall value.

How to Apply

All applications will be reviewed and all applicants will be interviewed in person by the Paint the Town Committee.

Deadline for applications is February 28. Applicants must complete the application, available online here: http://apply.paintthetowncincinnati.org/. Alternatively, applications can be picked up at the Center for Great Neighborhoods or printed out here [pdf]. Please send all hardcopy applications to Rachel Hastings at the Center for Great Neighborhoods by email Rachel@greatneighborhoods.org or mailing it Attn: Rachel Hastings, 1650 Russell St., Covington, KY  41011).

What is this “Paint the Town”?

Paint the Town is a daylong event that engages more than 1,000 volunteers to rejuvenate homes in need of a little TLC. Painting a mass of homes in a concentrated area can truly serve as a catalyst to lift up a community. Neighborhoods are chosen according to need, and qualified homeowners are encouraged to apply for the service. Community groups are instrumental in spreading the word about Paint the Town. Volunteers work in teams led by experienced team leaders to paint a house. If needed, houses are prepped for painting prior to the day of the event. Volunteers are provided with breakfast, lunch, drinking water, a team T-shirt, and painting supplies. Volunteer sign-ups will take place in spring 2012. Paint the Town has painted a total of 310 houses in the communities of College Hill, East End, Price Hill (twice), Northside, Madisonville, Hartwell/Carthage, and Avondale and Evanston in Ohio, and Covington, Bellevue and Dayton in Kentucky… and we’re just getting started.

Paint the Town is a non-profit 501c3 and started out as an idea that was kickstarted by Rob Porter in Detroit MI. Paint the Town is a program under Give Back Cincinnati, a 501c3 non-profit founded 12 years ago in Cincinnati. The program has grown to service over 300 communities. The premise of the program is that Corporate sponsors gather teams and paint over 40 homes in a single day.

Latonia was chosen as this year’s target community as part of the program’s outreach efforts within Northern Kentucky.

Why Paint houses?

Our community is a sum of its total, and our housing is a big part of that equation. 

Our houses are our homes, a place that we share memories and grow in community with our neighbors.  Houses require a tremendous amount of upkeep and things like painting a house can be an overwhelming financial cost for many members of our community.

Painting a home can give a renewed sense of pride to the homeowner, improve the image of the neighborhood and serve as a catalyst for community improvement.

Through service we are able to provide an incredible team building experience for corporations to get out of the office and into the community, helping others.  This event also is a great way to introduce many new faces to the type of work Give Back does all year round in Cincinnati.