Paul and Norma Geivett, who have lived in their Mission home for 50 years, got to watch a crew of volunteers spiff up their home in September, at no charge.

The work was done by Johnson County judges, both active and retired, from the 10th Judicial District of Kansas in Johnson County. They traded their gavels for paint brushes to make improvements to three homes in Mission, joined by scores of attorneys from the Johnson County Bar Association.

The project, organized through Heartland Habitat for Humanity and endorsed by the City of Mission, earmarked the homes for improvements. Two of the houses received fresh coats of paint. Yards were raked, flower beds cleaned out, a driveway sealed, small trees, bushes, weeds, and a stump removed, some small home repairs completed.

The tasks were performed by a labor pool of three dozen volunteers from the Johnson County legal community on Sept. 16 and 17. Since 1999, Johnson County judges and local attorneys have volunteered to assist in a Heartland Habitat for Humanity project in the Kansas City metro.

The homes in Mission are part of the "A Brush with Kindness" program started this summer by Heartland Habitat for Humanity. The program is part of a new focus for the nonprofit agency, known for building houses for lower-income people for more than two decades. In a time when the housing market is struggling, Heartland Habitat is concentrating on serving more families by revitalizing existing homes in addition to building new homes. Both missions use volunteers.

The Geivetts had been contacted by the city's Neighborhood Services Department about some code violations, and they couldn't afford to pay someone to do the work. Both live on fixed incomes. He is 86, recovering from fractures limiting his mobility. She is 84, has health challenges of her own, and spends most of her time caring for her husband and maintaining the inside of their aging home.

The Mission home improvements are the second "A Brush with Kindness" project in Johnson County this year. The first occurred in July in Roeland Park, with minor exterior repairs to a home. Future projects are in the planning stages for one home in Olathe and four or five in Prairie Village.

If you feel that your home might qualify for the A Brush with Kindness project, contact Kate Fields, director of resource development for Heartland Habitat for Humanity: 913-342-3047 or kate@heartlandhabitat.org.

See the September Best Times for a comprehensive article about Heartland Habitat for Humanity. www.TheBestTimes.org.