Habitat for Humanity Peninsula | Hampton, James City County, Newport News, Poquson, Williamsburg & York County

A Brush with Kindness is a home repair program serving low-income, elderly and/or disabled homeowners who have struggled to maintain the exterior of their homes. It complements Habitat's homebuilding mission by further impacting neighborhoods in need of revitalization.

The program focuses on exterior services such as painting, minor outside repairs, safety-related improvements, landscaping, weatherization and outdoor clean-up. Work is performed using volunteer labor and, when possible, donated materials. We do not provide roof repairs at this time.

ABWK QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants must be low-income, elderly and/or disabled homeowners living in Hampton, James City County, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg or York County who are willing to partner with Habitat providing both sweat equity and financial support through a no-interest loan.

You may download and print the ABWK application from here: ABWK Application

You may also pick up an application at any public library in Hampton, James City County, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg and York County; the housing authority in Hampton and Newport News; the office of housing in York County, James City County, Williamsburg and Poquoson; and the Habitat ReStore.

Please return all applications to the Habitat main office (11011 Warwick Boulevard in Newport News), along with supporting documents and the $10.00 processing fee. Incomplete applications will not be processed.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis; all year round.

As of January 2012, the following income requirements must be met for the ABWK program:

Family Size	1	2	3	4	5
Minimum Income	$14,900	$17,000	$19,150	$21,250	$22,950
Maximum Income	$24,850	$28,400	$31,950	$35,450	$38,300

Proof of home ownership, income and home owner's insurance must be provided with the application. There will be a minimal zero-interest loan for the approved project, payable up front or over an initially-agreed upon period of time.

PARTNER WITH ABWK
A Brush with Kindness connects teams of volunteers from all over the local community with homeowners in need. Skilled volunteers will be trained as Team Leaders to partner with and guide up to 40 dedicated volunteers on each project.

A Brush with Kindness also relies on local business partners to donate building materials for each project.

A Brush with Kindness uses the volunteer labor, donated materials and no-interest loans to make repairs affordable, helping lower-income homeowners continue to live independently and securely in their homes.

If you are personally able to fund or supply building materials for a project, or are part of a business, church or organization that can do so, please call 757-596-5553 ext 6 or email ABWK Director Julia Lawson at julia@habitatpgw.org.

If you are skilled in a related trade (construction, plumbing, carpentry, etc.) and would like to be a team leader, please call 757-596-5553 ext 6 or email ABWK Director Julia Lawson at julia@habitatpgw.org.

If you want to volunteer on ABWK and other construction projects, we need you! Please sign up in our volunteer database to receive email alerts for when we are seeking construction volunteers for both ABWK and the homebuilding program. You can read more about the volunteer process here.