Small Towns, Big Cities

 

         

 

Rebuilding Together South Sound has been serving the low-income homeowners of Pierce County, Federal Way and Auburn Washington with needed home repairs and modifications since 2001, and has invested $3 million dollars market value back into these areas.  There is a great need for our services as more than 44 percent of homeowners in Rebuilding Together South Sound’s service area are low income. Rebuilding Together South Sound participated in its first National Rebuilding Day in 2002 and most recently completed 23 home repairs with over 500 volunteers on National Rebuilding Day 2009! These 23 Rebuilding Day projects are just a portion of the 65 projects completed in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Rebuilding Together South Sound is in an exciting period of transition and growth. A Home Modification program launched in 2007 has been incredibly successful and has allowed many homeowners to stay safe and independent in their homes with the help of new wheelchair ramps, handrails, grab bars, adapted showers and tubs, and modified kitchens. After a period of tremendous growth from 2005-2008, the capacity of Rebuilding Together South Sound has increased three-fold in the last year with the addition of two AmeriCorps members to the office. The CapacityCorps program places AmeriCorps members in participating RT affiliates across the county in order to increase the ability of affiliates to serve more homeowners. This growth has allowed for a re-evaluation of the organization and the way projects are completed. This coming year will mark the launch of the Year Round Services Program which will incorporate emergency home repairs into the existing Home Modification Program.

Our growth has been made possible by expanding existing partnerships with agencies including the Remodelors Council of the Master Builders Association of Pierce County, Paint Tacoma Pierce Beautiful and Goodwill YouthBuild, and developing exciting new partnerships with agencies such as Habitat for Humanity of Seattle-King County.

For more information about Rebuilding Together South Sound, please visit www.rebuildingtogetherss.org.

 

Rebuilding Together Calcasieu has been working to improve the lives of homeowners in Calcasieu Parish since 1992.  Started by the Junior League of Southwest Louisiana, this grass roots organization has grown from a one-event per year program to a year round program.  We do emphasize on two major events; National Rebuilding Day in April and Law Enforcement Rebuilding Day in October. 

Our National Rebuilding Day event brings together more than 300 volunteers to work on 13 to 15 homes. The Law Enforcement Rebuilding Day event brings together 200 law enforcement officials who work on 7 to 10 homes.  These two events have had a major impact in the Calcasieu Parish area. 

The Law Enforcement Rebuilding Day program was created in response to hurricane Rita which hit SWLA in 2005.  RTC had a responsibility to serve a community that was hurting.  Volunteers came together from across the nation to help pick up the pieces of the broken homes and lives.  These, along with the other events and rebuilds RTC participates in, has helped us grow tremendously.   Since 2005 we have had an estimated $1 million in volunteer labor donated and have rehabilitated over 130 homes.