THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504180098
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
For years, Thomas Belcher has watched his Wards Corner home crumble before his eyes.
Disabled from polio and crippling arthritis, this 74-year-old Norfolk man has not been able to do repairs on his home for some time. For a while, his wife, Jeanette, took over some minor maintenance chores, such as touching up the paint or cleaning out the gutters. But in recent years, she, too, has grappled with physical ailments that prevent her from doing household repairs.
``We have so many things that need to be done around here that just go undone,'' said Belcher, a retired watch repairman. ``I can't do them, and I can't afford to hire anyone to do them for me.''
For the last two years, Jeanette Belcher's sister has sought help for her relatives from the Chesapeake Rotarians during the group's annual ``Paint Your Heart Out'' program. Since 1992, hundreds of volunteers have spent a day each spring repairing and painting the homes of low-income elderly Chesapeake residents for free.
But the program was solely for Chesapeake residents; the Belchers live in Norfolk.
This year, the Rotary Club of Norfolk decided to join its sister club's efforts by starting its own program. On Saturday, in Norfolk's first ``Paint Your Heart Out'' day, three teams of 25 Rotarians and other community volunteers will spend the day painting and repairing selected houses throughout the city.
One of those homes is the Belchers'.
``I'm just tickled pink,'' Thomas Belcher said. ``This is such a big worry off me.''
When volunteers, conducting a pre-inspection tour, told Belcher the amount of work that would be done he was ``flabbergasted.''
``I figured they'd just paint,'' Belcher explained.
In addition to painting, the volunteers will power-wash asbestos shingles, rebuild a rotten stoop over the front porch, repair gutters, install new screens and landscape.
``I think it's just wonderful they're doing all this,'' he said. ``I know there's a lot of senior citizens like me out there who need this kind of help. I was really surprised they picked me, and I'm so thankful to everyone involved.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by BILL TIERNAN
At left, Tom Wright, owner of Wright Construction, and his son Tom,
on the ladder, remove a rotten overhang on the side porch of Thomas
and Jeanette Belcher's Wards Corner home. Thomas Belcher, above, who
is crippled from polio and arthritis, is having his home repaired
and painted in the Rotary Club of Norfolk's first ``Paint Your
Heart Out.''
Graphic
PAINTING NORFOLK
``Paint Your Heart Out - Norfolk'' will be held Saturday.
Volunteers will spend the day painting and repairing three Norfolk
homes. Selected homes are in Ingleside, Wards Corner and
Huntersville.
At various times throughout the day, Mayor Paul Fraim will visit
each site and present a bouquet of flowers to the homeowners.
In addition to the Rotary Club of Norfolk, other groups involved
in the project include Maersk Shipping Co., Norfolk Sunrise Rotary
Club, the Armed Forces Staff College and Master Gardeners.
To qualify, homeowners must be at least 62 years of age and have
annual incomes of $12,000 or less.
Some 1,000 Chesapeake volunteers also will spend Saturday
tackling 25 homes in that city.
by CNB