DASH for LaGrange Inc. is looking for volunteers to paint up to 15 houses, and still looking for qualifying homeowners who need the work.

“The last two years, we’ve done 10 homes each year,” said Ben Wheeler, Paint the Town director and DASH community liaison. “This year I’d really like to do 15.”

Wheeler already has begun interviewing potential homeowners to see if they are eligible for the program.

The event is scheduled for May 29 through June 3. It began six years ago, matching volunteers with homeowners who need their houses painted.

The program “was born out of the realization that many of LaGrange’s residents can neither physically manage nor afford routine maintenance and painting of their homes,” Wheeler said.

Paint the Town volunteers completed their 100th house last year.

Although it’s been a success, the program has since spurred DASH to create other programs for homeowners around LaGrange whose homes need more than just a new coat of paint, including a program that helps residents with new roofs and other repairs.

Paint the Town volunteer teams should be made up of at least 10 people. Youth groups are encouraged to volunteer, but must have at least two adult team members. DASH supplies the paint. Volunteers are asked to provide ladders, paint scrapers and brushes.

DASH also is accepting donations to pay for paint and construction supplies as well as other items needed during the event.

Wheeler said during Paint the Town this year, he hopes to get the homeowners more involved in the painting process. If homeowners are unable to paint their houses, he wants homeowners and volunteers to have more interaction.

Such relationships have sprung up through previous Paint the Town events. Wheeler said Twin Cedars Youth Services volunteers developed a relationship with their homeowner last year that proved meaningful to both by the end of the week.

“We want it to be a community-enriching project for the homeowners and for the volunteers,” he said.

To donate, volunteer or recommend a homeowner for Paint the Town, contact Wheeler at bwheeler@dashlagrange.org or at 706-298-0224.

Jennifer Shrader can be reached at jshrader@lagrangenews.com or 706-884-7311, Ext. 236.