Neighborhoods in Bloom

Blight can’t be painted off. Nor will a fresh coat turn a rundown house into a mansion. But paint can brighten up a community and help salvage a ramshackle neighborhood.

Some families who can’t afford the paint have benefited from a summer-long painting party that would make Tom Sawyer proud. The Neighborhood Housing Services--a partnership of residents, business and the City of Los Angeles--organized the “Paint Your Heart Out” program to spruce up houses in six neighborhoods.

Builders Emporium donated 1,200 gallons of paint, 200 brushes, drop cloths, scrapers, primer, rollers--the works. Other business executives ought to follow that lead.

Close to 200 volunteers have prepped, primed and painted dozens of houses in Boyle Heights, the Barton Hill community of San Pedro, the Vernon-Central and Crenshaw districts of Los Angeles, northwest Pasadena and the Centinela Heights area of Inglewood. Volunteers in the Crenshaw area, where the program originated, included members of the Los Angeles Urban League, the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce, the National Council of Negro Women, the Guardian Angels, Top Teens of America and youngsters recruited by Community Youth Gang Services. More volunteers are needed, because more houses are due for fresh coats--free of charge. At least 60 will get the full treatment before the painting ends next month.

Even after the painting stops, improvements can continue. Low-income homeowners can borrow from a revolving loan fund set up by the city’s Community Development Department to make other repairs.

A new coat of paint does not a new house make, but it can certainly begin to put a bloom onto a neighborhood to take the place of blight.