Shrouded by an overgrown laurel hedge in Portland’s Cully neighborhood is Beverly and Dale’s backyard. They’ve made this community their home since the late 1970s and used to spend every summer maintaining it; but as one year skipped to the next, the once groomed hedge became too stubborn to reckon with alone. What used to be a cozy spot to sit and watch their two dogs play had become an unwieldy nuisance. As the hedge encroached upon their back steps, they knew it was time to reach out for help.
“As you get older, things become a little harder to maintain,” Beverly says. “Without Habitat, we wouldn’t have been able to take care of it. The payments are reasonable and the whole process has been very easy.” 
Shortly after applying for Habitat for Humanity’s home repair program, the couple set sights on repainting their home as a way to contribute their “sweat equity” hours. While our Home Repair Manager Sam cleared the shrubbery from their backyard, Beverly and Dale were busy reviving their home’s natural luster with a soft yellow paints and blue trim to compliment.
One final buzz of the power hedge trimmers, the clearing revealed a forgotten shed and room enough to establish a rain garden via our partners at Verde. 
“This is one project we couldn’t do alone,” Dale says. “We have a backyard again.”
With a fresh coat of paint and new backyard, the whole home has undergone a 360-degree transformation. With the money saved by partnering with Habitat, Beverly and Dale plan to complete small indoor projects on their own. 

“It’s important for us to be independent,” Beverly says. “I’d like to stay out of a nursing home for as long as possible and now I can do that. Working with Habitat has made it affordable for me to stay in my home. I appreciate it so much.” 

Need a hand with exterior home repairs? Apply online today.