Realtors, Associates Get Boost From Habitat, Dow Chemical for Paint n Pride
Project Improves Neighborhood, Makes Everybody Feel Better, Says Sinicki
July 26, 2009
By: Dave Rogers
Cindy Sinicki, (left, on ladder) and Wade Eckenrod are hard at work painting 700 Garfield Avenue.
Employees of Executive Mortgage and the Dow Chemical Co. are scraping and painting the rear of the house.
"We wouldn't have been able to do it without Dow Chemical Company and Habitat for Humanity," said Cindy Sinicki, REALTOR, associate broker of Remax Results and chair of the Paint n Pride project of the Bay County REALTOR Association.
A core group of REALTORS was joined by half a dozen Dow employees and a group from Executive Mortgage on Saturday to spruce up a house at 700 Garfield Ave.
Dow provided the money and the Habitat group was able to umbrella their insurance to cover the REALTORS. The liability factor and lack of insurance had kept REALTORS out of the Paint n Pride work for the past four years, she said.
The REALTOR effort was a neighborhood revitalization project that positively impacted the Rexer-Jablonski Park area from Garfield to the Saginaw River in Bay City.
Workers targeted about 40 homes in the area and the REALTORS were involved in painting five different houses in the neighborhood, according to Wade Eckenrod of Remax Results and other members of the painting crew.
The weekend project was part of the annual Paint n Pride event of the REALTOR Association started about 30 years ago under leadership of M. Dolores Barron, formerly with Hollister REALTORS. She said the idea came from Grand Rapids and the first home painted was on Murphy Street and was done with help from neighbors as well as REALTORS.
"It's great to help out the homeowners who can't afford it and to see the wonderful cooperation and networking that goes on with all these groups working together," said Ms. Sinicki.
A tent was set up under Dow sponsorship in the Rexer-Jablonski Park on Water Street and 15th and refreshments and lunch were served to the volunteers.
The Bay Area Housing Alliance and groups from First Presbyterian Church and Saginaw Valley State University were also in on the action.
Bob Jarve, executive director of Bay County Habitat for Humanity, and David Dupre, vice president of Dow's Michigan Operations Manufacturing site, were among executives helping coordinate the project. "By partnering with local organizations for services and funding, we can stretch the dollars," said Mr. Dupre.
"It was a cheerful experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it," said Ms. Sinicki. "The best thing is that the community is brighter and cleaner and that makes everybody feel better about living here."