BALTIMORE — Rebuilding Together, a leading national nonprofit in safe and healthy housing that provides low-income homeowners with critical home repairs, is celebrating its annual National Rebuilding Month this April. Nearly 40,000 volunteers will serve in more than 1,600 affiliate-led rebuild projects throughout National Rebuilding Month.
In our community, Rebuilding Together Baltimore will host volunteers to repair 11 houses in Turner Station during National Rebuilding Month. Volunteers will also complete numerous community beautification projects in Turner Station.
Throughout April, Rebuilding Together affiliates and volunteers will serve veterans, older adults, low-income families with children and victims of disaster by providing them with a variety of critical home repairs, including: flooring repairs and replacement, weatherization repairs, roof and handrail replacements, accessibility modifications, painting, landscaping and other major home rehabilitations. The repairs are provided free of charge to the homeowners who, often faced with diminishing resources, must choose food and medicine over critical home repairs — choices that, over time, can lead to crumbling foundations, dangerously sagging roofs and windows and doors that can’t be securely shut.
“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has indicated at least 30 million homes have one or more health hazards present,” said Caroline Blakely, President and CEO of Rebuilding Together.
“National Rebuilding Month is an opportunity to educate communities on the close relationship of health and housing, to highlight the critical need for our home repair services and to call individuals to action until we ensure every person has a safe and healthy home.” National Rebuilding Month will culminate on National Rebuilding Day, Saturday April, 29 and will engage volunteers in a concerted effort to complete repairs on homes, nonprofit facilities and community spaces to bring immediate, transformational change to communities across America on the same day.
National Rebuilding Month originated in 1973 in Midland, TX with volunteers helping neighbors rebuild their homes. The group founded Rebuilding Together, at the time “Christmas in April,” and gathered around a month of service each year in April. The mission then grew beyond the idea of providing service one month per year to bringing volunteers together to provide homeowners in need with critical repairs year-round.
For more information on National Rebuilding Month, visit rebuildingtogether.org/nrm and follow #RebuildingMonth on social media.
About Rebuilding Together Baltimore: (www.RTBaltimore.org) is a nonprofit organization devoted to providing critical home repairs to low-income homeowners, and helping to revitalize our communities. Our services are provided at no charge to homeowners or neighborhoods. We serve seniors, families, people with disabilities, and the neighborhoods in which they live. Rebuilding Together Baltimore is an affiliate of Rebuilding Together, the nation’s leading non-profit organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and to revitalize communities. Over 150 Rebuilding Together affiliates operate across the country. Since 1989 Rebuilding Together Baltimore mobilized over 20,000 volunteers to repair more than 1,400 homes and revitalize 35 neighborhoods in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Our work represents a cumulative value of over $8 million for the Baltimore area.
About Rebuilding Together: Rebuilding Together is a leading national nonprofit in safe and healthy housing with more than 40 years of experience. Together, with our corporate and community partners, we transform the lives of low-income homeowners by improving the safety and health of their homes and revitalizing our communities. Rebuilding Together’s local affiliates and nearly 100,000 volunteers complete about 10,000 rebuild projects nationwide. Learn more and get involved at rebuildingtogether.org.