JS Painting Company Paints a New Picture for Veteran’s Family

Reed Jennings with homeowner Cora

RTS is proud to recognize Jennings Sidoine Painting Company for their contribution to our Safe at Home Program.  For those not familiar with Rebuilding Together Seattle’s Safe at Home program, launched just two years ago, Safe at Home has allowed RTS to nearly double the breadth of our impact by helping homeowners who’s repair needs are either limited in scope or too technical to warrant a Rebuilding Day with a large group of volunteers and led by one of our sponsoring organizations or companies.  Safe at Home utilizes skilled or specialized volunteers to address top priority repair needs that meet our mission of helping low-income homeowners live in warmth, safety, and independence.  Owners Sammy Sidoine and Reed Jennings put forth tremendous effort and generosity in donating their professional services and leveraging their business relationships to help ensure homeowner Cora and her son Jerald have a home protected from the elements for years to come.

Through Rebuilding Together Seattle’s Veterans Initiative, Cora, the widow of a veteran, was able to qualify for assistance in repairing the siding of her home damaged by rot and woodpeckers, replacing a dilapidated set of stairs and deck providing entry to the house, and fully sealing the home with fresh exterior painting.  Sections of the exterior were completely bare of paint, allowing the forces—and creatures—of nature to take root.  If you met Cora, you would find that she ordinarily would invite anyone into her home.  However, the family of woodpeckers that had taken residence in her walls had long overstayed their welcome by the time she contacted us.  Damage from animals and insects was bad enough, but with water finding its way into her home and limited means to address the problems, 73 year old Cora and son Jerald—who has some medical conditions limiting his physical abilities—were at a loss of how they could fix their home on their own.

When JS Painting Company heard of Cora and Jerald’s plight, compounded by the fact that because of their home’s repair needs the family was at risk of losing their homeowner’s insurance, the company immediately set to work in remedying the situation.

Both RTS and JS Painting Company knew it would take a community effort to undertake the project.  Willing to personally donate their time to paint the house, Sammy and Reed took their commitment a step further by approaching the vendors they regularly do business with, asking them to pitch in with product donations that would make the project financially feasible.  Their tireless efforts took months of soliciting, coordinating, and waiting for word that they would have the material support they needed to move forward.

In the meantime, RTS activated other volunteers from our Safe at Home team to tackle rebuilding the deck and stairs, as well as removing and replacing all the damaged siding.  A multi-staged repair process on Cora’s home ensued after further inspection revealed that a second floor deck was also at risk of collapse.  Through the combined efforts of two separate volunteer groups the house was repaired and ready for painting just in time for summer’s drier weather.

Now nearly 6 months after the first repair on Cora’s home was completed, JS Painting was still at it, waiting on the final round of paperwork and confirmation to come through on a paint donation.  A lot of credit is due to Sammy Sidoine, who worked with Mallory Paint Store and Benjamin Moore Paints to put every piece in line.  By early July the project was ready to go and in a few long days for work, Sammy and Reed had scraped, washed, primed, and painted the entire home, including trim and the front stairs and landings.  Their work serves as a model for how companies of all size can join with other businesses and individuals in their community to make a real difference in the lives of our neighbors.

Thank you Sammy, Reed, and JS Painting Company!

If you or your company are interested in becoming a Safe at Home volunteer or partner, please contact Caleb Marshall at cmarshall@rtseattle.org.