Last Updated: August 16. 2011 1:00AM

Charles E. Ramirez/ The Detroit News

Richmond— Pat Morgan’s house needed some TLC, but she doesn’t have a lot of money for new vinyl siding, gutters and wood stain.

“My husband and I are on a very limited income,” she said. “We just can’t afford to do a lot things to our house.”

But last week, the Morgans were able to get those improvements and others, thanks to a new Macomb County Habitat for Humanity program called “A Brush with Kindness.”

The program aims to revitalize neighborhoods by helping senior citizens, veterans, military families, low-income homeowners and people with disabilities make needed repairs to their houses, said Jean Bodenstedt, neighborhood development coordinator for Macomb County Habitat for Humanity.

The Mount Clemens-based group plans to expand the program to fix up homes in Roseville next month, she said.

Morgan and her husband, Gordon, have lived in their home for 42 years. Gordon, 80, uses a wheelchair and receives dialysis treatments three times a week. His health issues have made it hard for them to pay for repairs to their house, which was built in 1900, she said.

“The program is just wonderful,” Pat Morgan said. “We would have never been able to do these things to our house without it.”

Habitat for Humanity chapters in other parts of the country have been offering the Brush with Kindness program for years, but this is the first time the Macomb County affiliate has done it, Bodenstedt said.

The program is also the first time the nonprofit has done work in Richmond, she said.

Under the program, the charity teams with city officials and community organizations to organize volunteers and obtain the needed materials to repair houses at a low cost to the homeowners. The group has collected donations to help pay for building materials.

Next month, the program’s organizers plan to zero in on homes on Jeanette, Lawn, Church, Oakdale, Blair and Pearl streets near 10 Mile and Gratiot in Roseville. The deadline for homeowners interested in getting help is Friday .

cramirez@detnews.com

(313) 222-2058

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