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13 · Friday, January 22, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Hometown heroes support Walls of Hope By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Sera Mansueto is a hometown hero. By trade, she is a mural artist, the rest of the time she is founder and director of Walls of Hope. And Walls of Hope -- specifically Mansueto's four right-hand people -- just recently won the Lowe's Canada Home Improvement Warehouse Hometown Hero contest, thanks to her nomination of them. With winnings -- worth $10,000 from Lowe's -- in its tool belt, the local charity is not sweating its next project set for summer 2010. Walls of Hope won the contest through City-tv just after capping off its latest project, a renovation of Oakville resident Naomi Borges' home. "My holiday season was definitely topped off by winning the Lowe's Hometown Hero Contest. I heard of the contest on a commercial on City and entered a submission," said Mansueto. "My entry was for Linda Montalbano, Mike Leyer, Wendy Speck and Vicky Hare. These four people have been with Walls of Hope since the beginning, or one project in. They are selfless people who have huge hearts and made my dream of helping others larger than I ever dreamed of," offered Mansueto. "Linda, Mike, Wendy and Vicky, thank you for inspiring me and making Walls of Hope a great group to be part of. You are the hometown OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTOS HEROES BRING HOPE: From left,Walls of Hope founder Sera Mansueto and volunteers Linda Montalbano and Mike Leyer. The latter, along with Wendy Speck and Vicky Hare were voted Hometown Heroes at Mansueto's nomination. heroes to me," said Mansueto. Leyer and Montalbano are from Oakville. Speck and Hare are from Port Credit. "Its kinda cool the Lowes Hometown Heroes are right here in our community," said Manseuto noting Walls of Hope is also open to any local nominations for its August project. "We would love to hear from Oakville residents if they know of someone here." Walls of Hope aims to give families, particularly those with kids -- and who are really working at breaking the cycle of hardship -- a hand up to help get them escape the cycle. Since forming in 2005, Walls of Hope has assisted nearly a dozen families doing nine residential renovations and two public building renovations including the Halton Trauma Centre in Oakville. "They are me," said Mansueto recently as she gave an interview to the Oakville Beaver on the eve of Walls of Hope's latest project. The Oakville woman remembers when her own marriage fell apart. The blow was followed by the realization that she was in a very bad financial situation. Manseuto, whose educational background was in the fashion industry, turned that eye for fashion into being a residential painter. "When my life fell apart, I had to find a job. I wanted to set a good example for my two daughters." "I wasn't living well, but I was living," she said explaining she ultimately founded her own business, the Art of Paint, in Oakville. The concept of Walls of Hope came to her while working one weekend, she said. She had been hired by a family to redo the room of the family's toddler. She began thinking about how the young toddler would feel about the new room and how the same scenario may feel to those who could never dream of such a surprise. Mansueto is backed by lots of supporters and business contacts -- old and new -- who are constantly coming to the fore for Walls of Hope. Like Mike Leyer who operates Signature Homes here in Oakville and builds custom homes. The four hometown heroes, however, remain modest. Leyer, while working on the Borges home renovation, said it's fun to help out on makeover weekends and it makes him appreciate all he has in his own life. Volunteers and donations are always welcome, for information contact Mansueto at sera.sunrise@sympatico.ca or visit wallsofhopecanada.org. HERITAGE Lifestyle Home Furnishings SINCE 1977 SA Do WAR JAN VI n' EH UA NG t M OUS RY S U is E SA P T s O LE O ut! 50 % Incredible Reclaimed Timber Table + 4 Leather Chairs Regular $ 2199 $ 4205 Fairview Street, Burlington 1299 SPECIAL OFFER 905-634-5298