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Brush With Kindness Giving TLC To Metro Homes

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Linda Anderson could barely stand the sight of her house in Brooklyn Center until a non-profit came in to help. Years of focusing on family left little to no time for repairs.

"I'd come out and I'd literally be in shame. I don't want to start crying, but it was that bad," said Anderson. "I probably have about six citations, so I thought I've got to do something."

She found A Brush With Kindness. Since she is employed and considered low income, Anderson was a prime candidate. So a crew of staff and volunteers set up shop at Anderson's home.

"What we're looking for is a partnership," said Mike Robertson with A Brush With Kindness. "We're looking to give a hand up, not a hand out. We're looking for families who can work with us."

For one week, the crew and the Anderson family focused on fixing the exterior.

"I couldn't entertain anymore, my backyard was so bad," said Anderson.

"The gutters were in pretty tough shape on the front. They were vinyl and had deteriorated pretty badly, so we're putting up some new aluminum gutters to keep the rain water out of her house," said Robertson.

Anderson says the work has made a dramatic difference and is thrilled with how her home now looks. The experience has changed how she looks at her home.

"We've been so up close and personal to our own house, we know it takes hard work to keep up your house. And it's something we have to figure out how to do ourselves," said Anderson.

This work doesn't cost the home owners a dime. A Brush With Kindness keeps costs down because supplies are donated, and a lot of the work is done by volunteers.

Angela Davis and Mike Binkley are emceeing this Saturday's Hard Hat and Black Tie Gala, benefitting Habitat for Humanity. It's this Saturday night at the St. Paul RiverCenter.

The silent auction gets underway at 5:30 p.m. and dinner and a live auction start at 7:00 p.m.

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