The Paul Jungnickel Home for Adults with Disabilities is an amazing place in Pretoria, South Africa where the staff work tirelessly for their 160 residents. But as time passed, damage to the walls built up from wear-and-tear, colors became dull and uninviting and it became clear that the residents needed the clinical setting to be made a little bit homelier.
As part of our COLORFUL COMMUNITIES™ initiative, we sought to remedy that. A team of over 40 volunteers, including our colleagues, family and suppliers, were sent in to renovate and revitalize the building to ensure residents were comfortable and happy in their home.
The Paul Jungnickel Home is part of the Kungwini Welfare Organization. It provides a variety of social work services and frequently supports community development projects. In 2017, we helped to beautify The Kungwini Children’s Home, another part of the organization. You can find out more about it here.
Creating a Home, Not a Hospital
Our team set aside three days to complete the task and equipped themselves with over 1,000 liters of Prominent Paints paint and primers – a rainbow of colors to work with!
Inside, the passages, dining and TV rooms were revamped. Outdoors, our volunteers painted the new benches and levelled the paving area to ensure the safety of wheelchair-users. To finish up the new home, we also added new bed linens and curtains to each room to increase the comfort of the residents.
However, the most touching part would certainly be a mural titled the Tree of Remembrance, which volunteers carefully painted on the wall of the residents TV room. With every leaf on its branches, the tree honors residents who have passed away. Hopefully, this will be a sweet reminder of friends and loved ones.
Bringing Joy to the Residents
We didn’t just bring color to the home to make the building attractive – properly decorated and bright environments can truly increase positivity. We hope that the residents feel at home, comfortable and joyful in their new surroundings. Our team were humbled to see the residents upbeat, pleased and moved – in particular, the Tree of Remembrance was a touching addition.
At PPG, we believe that forming alliances with non-profit organizations such as the Kungwini Welfare Organization are the best way to support local and social change while bringing smiles to faces in our community.