Editor’s note: Home Sweet Home is a feature appearing Mondays in McKnight’s Home Care Daily. The story focuses on a heartwarming, entertaining or quirky happening affecting the world of home care. If you have a topic that might be worthy of the spotlight in Home Sweet Home, please email Diane Eastabrook at [email protected].

A fresh coat of paint on a house can make a huge difference, especially in the lives of seniors living at home. 

That’s what the goal is of Boise-based Paint the Town, a program organized by NeighborWorks Boise. Every June, hundreds of Idaho volunteers go out and paint the homes of low-income seniors, veterans and the disabled.

“The homeowners we help deal with a lot of different [financial] challenges.” Inga Hadder, director of communication and community engagement at NeighborWorks Boise, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily. 

With help from a donation from Mountain America Credit Union as well as other smaller corporations, 25 teams of volunteers went out to paint a total of 25 homes around Boise during the second week of June. 

“There is a lot of demand for this service, and those who are selected are really grateful,” Hadder said.

Sandi Wallace, 76, a homeowner who was selected for Paint the Town this year, explained how having her house painted personally affected her.

 “Due to my surgery in December, I could not afford to have my house painted,” she said. “Now, it’s going to look great, and the team is great.”

After the teams meet the homeowners, they begin their weeklong process of planning, priming and then painting each home. Homeowners have the opportunity to choose a color of paint from a list of options. 

“The teams and homeowners are able to develop a neat relationship” over the course of the week, Hadder said.

Teams often go above and beyond for homeowners, going back to previous homes they had painted to fix lights or plant plants. “One group installed new patio tiles,” Hadder recalled.

Paint the Town also receives donations from grants as well as local businesses that donate annually to the organization.

Paint the Town has been in operation since 1983 and has painted nearly 3,300 homes, with the help of over 89,300 volunteers.

This article originally appeared on McKnight's Senior Living