24 students from Rich East High School in Park Forest helping renovate a foreclosed home.

Represented are IBEW Local 134, Ideal Tools, and YouthBuilds.

In honor of Martin Luther King Day volunteers, in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity, paint SouthStar Services in Chicago Heights.

Clyde Wilson thinks the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would have been impressed Monday had he been in Chicago Heights.

“He’d be overwhelmed as we have a cross section of young people doing something in his memory,” Wilson said. “Most of all, he’d be impressed that people are coming together to make this world a better place.”

Wilson, 69, of Park Forest, was among about 60 volunteers who spent Martin Luther King Day painting walls at SouthSTAR Services, 1005 West End Ave., a center for the developmentally disabled.

Wilson has a personal memory of Dr. King that dates back 46 years.

“In 1966, when Dr. King marched from Memphis to Jackson, Miss., I was a senior at Jackson State University and I had the opportunity to shake Dr. King’s hand. Little did I know that he would become who he is today, He was large in 1966, but not like (he was) later on,” Wilson said.

Most of Monday’s painters came from Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs, Chicago Southland YouthBuild, Aunt Martha’s, and Lewis University. Not Wilson.

“I came out here on my own. This is an excellent way to give back and to keep the legacy of Dr. King alive,” Wilson said.

“But I’m really enthusiastic about the number of young people here doing this. It’s great to be here. I’m retired with nothing else to do, but I can’t find anything else better to do today than this,” Wilson said.

He thinks today’s young people could have a better grasp of King’s legacy.

“I’d like to see more parents and community service organizations doing things in memory of Dr. King. Everything African-Americans share today is in part directly related to the efforts of Dr. King. He did things he didn’t have to do. You find very few people today willing to face death like he did.

“And it wasn’t’ for just one race of people. Dr. King’s efforts were universal in nature. As I was telling some young people at my church Sunday, had Dr. King been of the Catholic faith, he may be a saint by now for what he did,” Wilson said.

Wilson was painting walls in the locker room, carefully using a brush to spread gleaming white paint over walls that had been a dingy shade of beige.

Xavier Coats, 23, of Calumet City, was busy painting another wall. He attends Chicago Southland YouthBuid, a vocational school.

“I’m here to help out, Dr. King was all about helping the community, so I figured that’s what I should do,” Coats said.

SouthSTAR Services helps about 450 developmentally disabled people every year, said CEO Dan Strick. And it had been at least 10 years since anyone has painted walls there, he said.

“Dr. King was about community development, and community services. This is one more example of it,” Strick said.

David Tracy, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs, came ready wearing a paint-speckled pair of pants.

“Why paint? Why not? It’s a great concept, giving back, whether it’s a holiday or a Saturday or any day. That’s what volunteering is about,: Tracy said. “On King Day it’s become part of the theme to give back rather than take the day off. It’s great to help another non-profit.”

Volunteers used painted donated by the Valspar Corp.

Cheryl Cherny, director of development for SouthSTAR Services, called the volunteer painters “wonderful.”

A distinctive green star design on one wall was covered with white paint by volunteers using rollers on the cinder block that had quite a thirst for paint.

“We need to refresh our logo. We need to brand and let the community know who we are. We’ve been here 60 years and a lot of people don’t know who we are,” Cherny said. “We plan to bring out our history. We have pictures from our whole history that will be on the walls.”

Jeffrey Matlock, 32, who lives in a SouthSTAR Services group home in Park Forest, is a longtime client. He took time to shake hands with many volunteers, thanking each for their hard work.

“Oh, it’s pretty good,” Matlock said of the turnout. He enjoys putting together window latches when he’s working at SouthSTAR Services.

Tracy thinks more people should spend the holiday helping others.

“It’s about helping those who need help,” Tracy said. “It’s such a simple thing.”

Several Organizations came out to paint at SouthSTAR Services this MLK Day!

Years back, a project in his 103-year-old house was only supposed to result in tearing out a cracked plaster ceiling. By the time he was done, the entire first floor was gutted down to the studs — and then he had to figure out how to put it all back together.

It took him some time, but he did it and learned a lot along the way. The bottom line is you’re not as helpless as you think when it comes to home improvement. And doing it yourself will surely help your bottom line, because on average, the cost of a project is split 50/50 between materials and labor.

Follow some of these tips to save some green when you try to be a weekend warrior:

PAINTING: If you’ve ever bought painter’s tape, you know how expensive it can be. But it’s also unnecessary to mask off all that trim in your house. Instead, use a 12-inch drywall knife and place it on top of the trim so the blade end is touching the wall. Use a brush to paint the edge of the wall, then slide the drywall knife over and continue on. A word of warning though … a brush that’s overloaded with paint will give you a sloppy end result. If you’re unsure if you can handle this technique, try it first on an area of the wall and trim that will be hidden behind furniture.

DON’T BUY, RENT: There are projects where you’ll need a special tool, such as a compound miter saw or nail gun. If you don’t think you’ll ever use the tool again, rent it. Rental Max and The Home Depot have a huge selection of tools and will rent them in 4-hour blocks or by the day.

THINK OPPOSITE: Is your furnace on its last leg? Have it replaced in the summer, when you’ll be more likely to score a deal. A/C on the fritz? That’s right, cheapskate, do it in the winter instead of waiting for that summer heat wave to hit. Yes, you won’t be able to swap those suckers out yourself, but you can still score a sweet deal when paying someone else to do it.

EASY 7 PERCENT DISCOUNTS: Mr. T never pays full retail for anything from The Home Depot or Lowe’s. Whether you’re buying one gallon of paint or putting on a new deck, stock up on discounted gift cards from ABCGiftCards.com or PlasticJungle.com. The gift cards there are almost always discounted 7 percent off face value. The sites are secure, your gift card purchase is guaranteed and Mr. T has only had good experiences dealing with them.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY RESTORES: These places can be a gold mine — but be forewarned that their inventory rotates out quickly, so what you see one day may not be there the next. From flooring to doors to paint, you can find it there, and cheap. Mr. T picked up a really cool solid-wood door from an old Victorian house for chump change, then refinished it and turned it into a headboard for the oldest Teenie Tightwad. And at the Joliet store, you can’t beat the $5 gallons of paint, as long as you aren’t afraid to try tinting it yourself (it’s actually pretty easy). The two stores in the region to check out are in Chicago Heights (180 W. Joe Orr Road) and Joliet (200 S. Larkin Ave.).

LEARN TO DIY, FOR FREE: The Home Depot regularly runs home improvement workshops on a variety of topics. And guess what? The workshops are free. Whether you want to learn how to caulk that tub or lay down ceramic tile, to name a few, they’ll show you the way. Contact your nearest store to get a schedule of seminars they will be offering.

PAINTING, PART 2: Cleaning those paint brushes and rollers can be a pain in the butt — and Mr. T has known many people who simply throw them away when they’re done. That’s silly. Save that paintbrush and roller and use this trick, especially if your painting project is spanning a few days. Tightly wrap aluminum foil around the roller or brush, then toss it in the freezer to keep it from drying out. Take it out of the freezer a few hours before you need to use it and you’re good to go.

ONLINE HELP: Even Mr. T sometimes gets stumped in the middle of a project. Check out these sites, which are loaded with tutorials:

www.naturalhandyman.com

www.thisoldhouse.com

www.askthebuilder.com

Painting a house as part of “A Brush With Kindness” outreach.

Formerly abandoned home was gutted and upgraded to meet Energy Star guidelines.