Habitat for Humanity helps with repairs
Terria Smith • The Desert Sun • February 28, 2010

On Saturday, 20 volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, the Palm Springs Police Department, and the city's Office of Sustainability partnered for a local “A Brush with Kindness” project.

The focus was a home at 2345 Deborah Road, in the city's Racquet Club Estates neighborhood. The owners, James Peron, a military veteran, and his wife, Cheryl, are both disabled.

The group of volunteers started the repairs and landscaping upgrades at 7 a.m.

Cheryl Peron said removing the overgrown weeds and crabgrass was a hardship for them.  “They changed everything,” she said.

According to a Palm Springs news release, the goal of the program is to serve low-income homeowners who struggle to maintain the exterior of their residences by providing painting, landscaping, weatherization and other minor exterior repairs.

Cheryl Peron said she and her husband learned of the program from their neighborhood organization.  “It's just a dream come true for us,” she said.

The following are comments from Brooke Beare, Anchor for KPSP Local 2 News, who was also onscene at the event:

- By the end of the day we moved some 15 tons of earth!  (including rock & decomposed granite!)

- Veteran James Peron and his partner, Sherrol Voight told us... "it's so beautiful everybody helping it touches my heart. This makes me feel stronger, because I'm not gonna be laying in this bed the rest of my life."

- In addition to the injuries James suffered in the Vietnam war, James became paralyzed last August due to a complication from an illness. 

- The work crew was made up of about 20 volunteers from KPSP Local 2, the Palm Springs Police Officers Association, and of course, the crew from Habitat for Humanity.

- We worked from 6:45 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and really did wonders! 

Brooke Beare, Anchor

KPSP Local 2 News