Want to Volunteer?

Want to Have Your Home Painted?

Links to Other Services for Seniors

Want to Volunteer?

We need painters! Full Crews take the responsibility of painting a house from pressure washing to putting back the house numbers. Partial Crews have too few people to take on a house by themselves and are paired with another group that needs additional painters.

Even if you hate painting, there's a place for you!

Painting closeup A Full Crew requires approximately 15 volunteers, and we recommend that each volunteer commit to at least two work parties. It generally takes 3-4 work parties to get a home prepped and painted; these are scheduled by the crew according to their own schedule. Houses are assigned in mid-June and are completed in mid-August. Technical advice is available to the crews from volunteers with painting and minor repairs expertise.

If you think an entire home is too much for your group's first year, you may choose to participate as a Partial Crew. In that case, we would pair your group with another crew. It's a wonderful way to do some significant volunteer work while getting to know some new people.

Individuals who are interested in painting will be matched with a crew. We ask you to bring brushes or rollers.

or call (253) 383-3056, ext. 106 to register

Technical Advisors

Technical Advisors are the quality control people with Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful. Each Tech Advisor is assigned five crews/houses and meets with coordinators to go over what needs to be done on their particular house. Tech advisors have expertise in exterior painting and minor home repairs; they are generally contractors, painters, building maintenance staff, or income-property owners who do their own property maintenance.

To be a good technical advisor, a person needs to (1) have the time to meet with the crew coordinator at the house at least once, (2) be able to speak in lay terms about what needs to be done at the job, (3) have some knowledge of minor repairs as well as painting, (4) be someone who answers telephone messages from crew coordinators promptly, and (5) take initiative and maintain contact with crew coordinators.

A Great Project for Your Group!

Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful is a great community service project for all sorts of groups. In addition to the primary purpose of the program -- helping Painter on roof someone who can no longer afford to maintain their home -- there are a number of reasons why it's a good project for most groups.

It's a short-term commitment": the crew coordinators have two meetings in June ([1] Orientation & Training; [2] meeting with the homeowner), and the entire crew has work parties (scraping, priming, possibly making some minor repairs) from mid-July to mid-August, culminating with the final coat of paint being applied on a Saturday in early August. (This is the schedule for most crews, though some schedules may vary if needed.)

2. The results of your labors are immediate, tangible and visible; these days, many of us work and work and work, and we rarely get to see a project come to a conclusion with clear results and consequences. Crews with Paint Tacoma-Pierce Beautiful immediately see amazing changes (often in the homeowner as well as the home) as a direct result of their labors, and it's a really positive experience.

3. It's a community-building and morale-boosting project for any group. Doing physical work together is a wonderful way to deepen friendships and group bonds.

4. It's also wonderful for children to experience this alongside their parents and neighbors: it's a good learning experience about what is possible if we are only willing to put out the energy.

Volunteer Rave Reviews

What volunteers have said over the years...

This program is good because while giving something back, we’re building community with friends and co-workers.

— Christy Flynn, Pierce College

The most enjoyable and fulfilling aspect of PTPB was the time I had talking with the homeowner and seeing the genuine happiness she felt for what we were doing. This project really helped our group bind together into a team and feel as if we could accomplish a big project.

— Ellen Lambert, Foss High School National Honor Society

I've been a volunteer painter and crew coordinator for the past ten years or so. Every spring I ask my coworkers "will we paint this summer?" and the inevitable answer is "yes: let's do it!” So we recruit a group of coworkers and their friends and relatives, then we schedule midsummer work parties and agree to spend some of the most agreeable evenings and weekends of the summer (yes when we could be hiking in the mountains or lounging on the beach) to paint a needy neighbor's house.

Why do we do it? Painting is fun - you get dirty, you get sweaty, you wash and scrape and prime, and finally you layer on that wonderful final coat of paint. A neglected-looking house looks beautiful again. The homeowner again feels proud of his or her home, sometimes the neighbors come by and help out, sometimes the neighbors start fixing up their houses too. The benefit of this project is immediate and visible.

There is another benefit - what the project does for us, the members of the paint crew. We are changed from mere co-workers into friends, now that we have something in common outside the office. We do the hard work of painting, and then we share a meal, feelings of accomplishment and fellowship. It’s community service you can SEE.

— Deb Hammond, VA Healthcare

You feel you’ve accomplished something, but you didn’t have to do it by yourself.

— Jay Langford, Tech Advisor

Juanita had two glaucoma operations during our time working on their house, and she never complained about it. We had to leave little jobs for Darrell to do because he wants to stay active; he wanted to hang his own screens and stack the one wood pile.

— Alan Harvey, Browns Point United Methodist

I think the best story is that not only are we making his house much more attractive, but we’ve brought life back into his life…He’s appreciating the company as much as he’s appreciating the work!

— Norma Zink / RSM McGladrey

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Paint Tacoma in providing a meaningful service to home owner and long time Tacoma resident, Beatrice Lindsey. Stories of her family and fresh baked cookies were a real kick. I’d like to say that the work was hard and time consuming and it was most certainly that! But it was equally if not more rewarding to reach out and connect with others in our community. Service of this kind can hardly be described as work when ultimately it brings people together and shows our better side. Thanks for the opportunity. I look forward to participating in this year’s Paint Tacoma. Keep up the good work!

— Joe Vincenzo, Port Agent, Seafarers International Union

We have coordinated a team each year for more than a decade. Our teams get genuine satisfaction out of making run-down homes look great again. The homeowner typically can’t believe anyone would do so much work for free without expecting anything in return (except use of the toilet). As an added plus, neighbors often stop by to compliment us on sprucing up the neighborhood. When we finish the owners beam with a restored sense of pride. Repainting each home leaves a “monument” we can fondly look back on knowing we made new friends and a difference in a family’s life.

— John & Mary Herem, Spanaway Lutheran Church

The surge of enthusiasm I feel for life and community while in the midst of painting my Paint Tacoma home is immense.

The pride on the faces of the new friends I’ve made stays long after summer fades, and I remember that I’ve helped paint the home of a person who just simply can't climb a ladder anymore.

— Bill Farmer, Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Just wanted to let you know we had the most wonderful call from our homeowner. She told us how beautiful the house was and how she almost drove past it when she came home because she didn't recognize it! And how much she appreciated the crew's hard work, and that she was thanking God and praying for us.

It sure made the work well worth it! This truly is a worthwhile project.

— Sally Favors

We are a homeowner-team. This project brought together a group of our family to do this painting in a way we haven’t been for a long time. We had a great time and everyone was very proud of the results.

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