PORT ANGELES — A new coat of paint was the finishing touch to renovations that have rejuvenated Rose House, Healthy Families of Clallam County’s transitional home for women and children fleeing domestic violence.
The shelter — once blue with burgundy trim — was painted gray with green railings and an orange door.
“We decided to give it a new fresh look,” said Margo Petersen-Pruss of Soroptimist International of Port Angeles, which spearheaded a yearlong drive to fund improvements to the 1927 Victorian home on a quiet Port Angeles street.
Soroptimists raised $34,378 in community donations for the renovation.
Improvements include a new roof provided by a $14,493 grant from the city of Port Angeles and installed by Diamond Roofing Inc.
The fresh exterior appearance was funded by an anonymous donor and painted by Liquid Painting LLC.
Soroptimist International took on interior painting in the kitchen and dining room, and added track lighting and a bedroom makeover.
The Ben & Myrtle Walkling Memorial Trust granted $2,000 for a new exterior storage building, lawn mower and refrigerator. (The home uses five refrigerators.)
Other donations included $1,150 from Angeles Furniture Co., $1,000 from The Mac Ruddell Community Fund and $750 from United Methodist Women Methodist Church.
The house, which was built in 1927, was the home of Rose and Red Crumb.
After they raised their large family, Rose Crumb made the house the first site of Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, which she founded in 1978 and served as the volunteer director for until 2009.
In 1995, after being moved from near City Hall on Fifth Street, it became a shelter operated by Healthy Families for women and children.
The amount of donations amazed Petersen-Pruss.
“I was really amazed how generous the community was,” she said.
“It’s a very giving and gracious community.”
