Obama Paints Walls At Teen Homeless Shelter

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: White House

(CBS)

Clad in jeans and a white dress shirt, President-elect Barack Obama today did some painting as part of the renovation of "safe space" housing for homeless, runaway or troubled young people at Sasha Bruce Youthwork in Washington D.C.

"The upstairs temporary shelter is in need of a renovation," Presidential Inauguration Committee Communications Director Josh Earnest said in a statement. "Currently, it has the feel of an orphanage or hospital. The goal is to transform it into a space that encourages positive attitudes, social activity and awareness by installing curtains, energy-efficient light fixtures and desk assembly, and painting walls and lockers."

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The president-elect and his family are participating in community service as part of today's national day of service.

Mr. Obama said during his service that "everybody's going to have to pitch in" during the economic crisis, as the Associated Press reports, adding that there can't be "idle hands" at a time like this.

Though the event inevitably had the feel of a photo-op, Mr. Obama tried to get some real work done. At one point, after painting a wall with a roller, Mr. Obama said, "I think I've got this wall covered."

UPDATE: The AP reports that Michelle Obama, her daughters, and Jill Biden helped assemble care packages for U.S. troops as part of today's day of service. They did the work at RFK Stadium in Washington.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by toolmangler-2009 January 20, 2009 1:42 AM EST: Posted by TIMNGUYEN1 at 10:09 PM : Jan 19, 2009

The swift boaters are paying you well, aren''t they!!!
As for his presidential campaign (600 millions), he raised that himself, (check it out). The last I heard he was paying for his inauguration ceremony from his campaign funds,

"He swears to clean up Washington DC, but he failed to first clean up his homestate Illinois,"

He was never in charge of his state, (Blago was)...

"And his favorite slogan is "Yes, we CAN", yet he himself CANNOT quit smoking at all !!!"

I can''t fault him for that, I didn''t quit til the day I died, It turns out, GOD wasn''t ready for me yet and I was revived. (I quit smoking that same day) Now with those answers, please show me what Obama lied about??????????; Reply to this comment


by toolmangler-2009 January 20, 2009 12:55 AM EST: It was a photo op and meant to be symbolic.
Posted by andie52 at 07:46 PM : Jan 19, 2009

He can sell that sweat stained shirt for thousands on Ebay; Reply to this comment


by lucasnico January 19, 2009 10:53 PM EST: That''''s right. Neither one''''s gonna do squat for America.

Posted by b4ucmyI

No, only bush didn''t do squat for America!! In one day Obama''s managed to show more compassion and leadership than monkeyboy did in 8 years!; Reply to this comment


by andie52 January 19, 2009 10:46 PM EST: Great job painting in a dress shirt, Barack! Looks like you''''ve done a lot hard labor in your time. Guess that makes you a man for the lower working classes.

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Posted by Mihann at 07:34 PM : Jan 19, 2009

It was a photo op and meant to be symbolic.; Reply to this comment


by mihann January 19, 2009 10:34 PM EST: Great job painting in a dress shirt, Barack! Looks like you''ve done a lot hard labor in your time. Guess that makes you a man for the lower working classes.; Reply to this comment


by b4ucmyi January 19, 2009 9:55 PM EST: ---------------------
Bush did EXACTLY the same thing, but he painted for 2 second, then went to a 15 course meal and talked about waterboarding the homeless before jailing them........

Posted by raflin0010 at 06:23 PM : Jan 19, 2009

That''s right. Neither one''s gonna do squat for America.; Reply to this comment


by kiddoat44 January 19, 2009 9:50 PM EST: Ok...He painted a wall in a dress shirt...I hope that he encourages more men like Martin Luther King, Bill Cosby, Will Smith,and many others to be the kind of role models that WE all need...No matter what color your skin is we need more role models as the above named mentioned. I admire all of these men and I want to admire Barrack Obama...I pray that he doesn''t let us down...; Reply to this comment


by toolmangler-2009 January 19, 2009 9:33 PM EST: So who cares if he can paint..who cares if he wrote a letter to his girls, who cares that he has 2 years experiance in the senate..if he does not keep America safe and prosperous, he will need his "painting" experiance in the future.
Posted by peace4321

You are truly ''clueless''.; Reply to this comment


by b4ucmyi January 19, 2009 9:07 PM EST: After painting the wall for five seconds, and posing for the photo op, Obama and his staff limoed to a five course meal where they discussed jailing the D.C. homeless during his inauguration.; Reply to this comment


by soldat44 January 19, 2009 8:40 PM EST: If Obama gets all of his Pro-abortion express going there will not be enough teens to do any painting.

www.priestsforlife.org; Reply to this comment