Through two different days, a group from Mars Hill U-District – joined by some students from Huskies for Christ, volunteers from ROOTS, and some shelter guests – painted the walls of the main room from a dingy off-white to a clean white, painted the office from blue to white, and painted the accent columns, doors, and trim various shades of green. As the first paint job in more than a decade, the transformation was amazing. The different volunteer groups mingled, shared, and laughed together as they built relationships over green and white paint. The most encouraging part of working with the shelter is that this painting project became the jump-off point for other projects. Before we even started, the University Temple United Methodist Church paid for someone to professionally repair the many holes and gouges in the walls, which was a repair we were planning on doing ourselves but would have been difficult. Conversations are continuing about remodeling the kitchen, making the shelter wheelchair accessible, and increasing the space to allow more guests to stay at the shelter. Another encouraging thing is that a couple of the volunteers have started helping out at ROOTS, at least one on a weekly basis. ROOTS’ program director Kristine Cunningham wrote, "We are deeply grateful for all Mars Hill and your volunteers have done for us. You provided much more than freshly painted walls here at ROOTS, your team truly were ambassadors for the values and compassion your church instills." The hardest part about starting the project was knowing where to start. I’ve never done a painting project before so knowing what we would need was a roadblock for a long time and ultimately the budget was off because we needed more supplies than I expected. We then got a professional painter, who volunteers at ROOTS, to help us on both painting days and he gave me a supplies list. The paint was also more than the ROOTS program coordinator and I could have guessed as armatures just by square feet. The project served 25 - 7,000 people (the shelter serves 25 guests every night, though some are regulars, plus staff and volunteers). Corrin Cole is a member of Mars Hill Church's Ballard campus and a volunteer at the U-District service location. If your community group has a neighborhood project you'd like to be considered for funding as a micromission, talk to your community group leader.