Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PHOTO BY MELISSA WALLACE/THE GAMECOCK Volunteers will be repainting houses like this one as part of Columbia's annual Operation Paintbrush. Operation Paintbrush assists needy homeowners BY JAMES WITHERSPOON THE GAMECOCK Seven Columbia homeowners are having their homes improved this week as part of the city’s Operation Paintbrush, which assists eligible res idents with home repairs. Originally scheduled for July 12 -16, the project was pushed back to this week. The program is a cooperative mis sion with the city of Columbia and the Southern Baptist Convention group “World Changers,” an organization that sends volunteers to paint and fix up homes and bring them back to code. Operation Paintbrush pairs needy homeowners with these volunteers and resources to repair homes. This year, 140 volunteers from five states will team up to restore homes in the Columbia area. Since the program approached Columbia’s community development office in 1997, each summer has marked another year of community service for teens involved in youth groups at their church and home im provements for a handful of Columbia residents. While Operation Paintbrush hap pens once a year, the application process is year-round. According to of ficials at the city’s community devel opment office, the process of picking which individual or family will re ceive aid depends on factors like in come, age and condition of the prop erty. Usually someone, perhaps a neighbor or friend, will make a re quest to the office stating who they think should be given the charity, of ficials said. The program requires that the per son receiving the service own his or her home. In the past few years, most of the recipients have been low-in come, elderly females. This year, the highest household income out of the seven homes is $27,000 and the lowest $5,500. Organizers said the program will continue to operate as long as the resources are available and it contin ues to be accepted by the public. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc.edu Campus Door loans can cover up to 100% of the cost of education for undergraduate and graduate students. Our loan application is streamlined and online with approvals that take only a minute. Your payments can be deferred for up to 12 months after graduation and you have up to 20 years to repay. See for yourself. Visit us at www.campusdoor.com or call 1.800.786.0002.