San Ramon’s now 10-month old Home Rehabilitation Grant Program is appearing to be a success story, helping assist low-income residents to apply for up to $5000 in grants for home repairs.

Since its creation, the program has helped 49 San Ramon residents pay for their roofing, plumbing and other problems in the household. Out of those beneficiaries, 18 were seniors and 10 were female heads of their families.

The city’s Home Rehabilitation Grant Program has been such a hit that town officials would like to see it grow. At first, $125,000 had been allocated to the redevelopment fund but has now agreed to settle on a budget of $375,000 a year to keep up with the overflow of grant applications.

San Ramon isn’t considered a pioneer in this kind of city relief service – Hayward, Pleasanton, Livermore and Pleasant Hill have made similar efforts.

It’s good to hear about a program implemented by local Tri-Valley cities that have a genuinely positive impact on the residents that need dire assistance. I don’t see why other cities with large populations of low-income residents in the Bay Area couldn’t benefit from a similar type of program.

- Joseph Natividad

Downtown Pleasanton is taking things to another level. Already known for its assortment of shops and outdoor cafes, city officials are attempting to make it a place for local artists to showcase their work.

$50,000 has been set aside each year by Pleasanton since 2000 and now their fund now has grown to over $350,000 and counting.

The downtown area is rich in architectural history but has little public art to show for it. The city’s plan is to bring pieces that “reinforce community identity and values.”

There have been quite a few ideas thrown out in the open that the city council is deliberating over. Among them are a rotating exhibit of banners, a sculpture on one of Main Street’s corner and artistically inspired benches all over the downtown area.

Another interesting proposition was a chalk festival on Main Street. Children and adults alike would be allowed to draw on sidewalks during the two-day-long event. I thought to myself: that would be quite a sight to see a bunch of hopscotch squares and names written in funky colors.

- Joseph Natividad

Penny Pennington of Livermore heard about a request for small-batch ice cream recipes and she gladly turned in a simple one she had for peach ice cream. The recipes were meant to be used in smaller electric ice-cream machines and hers turned out to be the unanimous favorite of all the testers.

I learned that most beat up, overripe fruits help make the best tasting ice cream and sorbet. They end up getting mashed and pureed so their appearance doesn’t really make for much of a difference anyway.

I was always curious as to how homemade ice cream could be made. Penny Pennington’s recipe sounds simple enough for a novice in the kitchen like me. Her recipe yields about eight servings and takes 10 minutes to make.

She uses fresh peak-season peaches and blanched them in boiling water for about a minute to loosen up the peels. Click here for the recipe.

The summer heat has been turning up as of late and no time is better than now for a scoop of some of your favorite ice cream. Penny Pennington proves that you don’t have to drive to your local Cold Stone Creamery or try to get a hold of the neighborhood ice cream truck before it drives away. All you need are some overripe fruits, a few kitchen appliances and other common ingredients and you’re pretty much set!

- Joseph Natividad

Hope Hospice has been providing the Tri-Valley area with end-of-life and bereavement care for the past 27 years. Lately, it has been desperately searching for a new place to call home in order to move out the space they are renting on Dublin Boulevard.

Jim Tong, the man who oversees a number of property holdings in the area, heard about the organization’s problems and looked to see what could be done to help. He talked to the Lin family, who was willing to donate a half-acre of land to Hope Hospice near Fallon Middle School on Keegan St. and Kohnen Way.

The organization’s intended land savings will now be used to build a permanent office space.

This is not the first time that the Lin family was able to give a helping hand to the city. They had previously donated a large sum to the Dublin Library, which opened sooner than it would’ve without them.

It’s nice to hear a story of people giving back to the community especially on this Labor Day weekend. You don’t have to necessarily allocate huge sums of cash to your local charity. Just think about donating your time to help volunteer locally. It can be at a soup kitchen or a senior home — you can certainly make a difference in someone’s life.

- Joseph Natividad