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Charity Profile

Rebuilding Together Baltimore

August 19, 2008
By Tyisha Manigo

 
Rebuilding Together Baltimore
 

CHARITY’S MISSION

Rebuilding Together Baltimore is a volunteer-based nonprofit dedicated to making sure low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners in Baltimore City and Baltimore County stay warm, safe and dry by providing home repairs and renovations.

BACKGROUND

Rebuilding Together Baltimore is a local affiliate of Rebuilding Together, which has 225 groups nationwide. Rebuilding Together, formerly known as Christmas in April, began in 1973 after a group led by Texas oil scout Bobby Tremble decided to spend the day repairing the homes of several neighbors in Midland, Texas. By 1988 Christmas in April programs were active in 13 cities throughout the country; today the renamed charity serves more than 955 cities and towns.

Rebuilding Together Baltimore — the name was changed in 2000 — has repaired more than 975 houses in more than 30 Baltimore-area communities since its inception in 1989.

WHAT DOES REBUILDING TOGETHER BALTIMORE DO?

Rebuilding Together Baltimore spends the entire year planning and working with volunteers, corporate sponsors and community leaders for its annual Rebuilding Day, which is held the last Saturday in April. An estimated 800 to 1,000 volunteers spend an eight-hour day repairing 20 to 25 homes in both the city and the county, in addition to working on community beautification projects in those neighborhoods.

This year, roughly 1,000 volunteers gathered on April 26, in sweltering heat, to work on homes in Pen Lucy (Baltimore City) and Turner Station (Baltimore County).
Executive Director Bonnie Bessor says the work can range from very minor repairs like fixing a leaky faucet to something as major as adding a full bathroom or wheelchair ramp for a disabled homeowner. All the work is designed to improve the quality of life for residents, she says.

“We’re doing home repairs; we’re not doing a total home makeover or gut rehab of a home,” Bessor explains. For example, Rebuilding Together Baltimore makes sure homes are well-insulated to cut down on residents’ fuel bills; it also checks for safety hazards in the homes of disabled or elderly people.

Rebuilding Together works in “targeted communities,” which have included Colgate, Harwood, Mondawmin, Oliver, River View and Woodlawn, Bessor says. The charity looks at income level and the rate of homeownership, as well as investments in the areas by other organizations and community leaders. Homeowners — who are disabled, elderly or have children — need to meet certain income criteria and must occupy the home.

Even after Rebuilding Day, Rebuilding Together remains in the communities it helps for two years, selecting other homes to rebuild and continuing beautification projects. This year, volunteers turned some of the barren, vacant lots along Old York Road in Pen Lucy into areas filled with grass, shrubbery and walking paths.

Erin O’Keefe began volunteering for Rebuilding Together in 2000 when she was a student at Loyola College. Now a Rebuilding Together board member, O’Keefe led this year’s community beautification project in Pen Lucy. “It is one of the most exciting experiences to see hundreds of volunteers working with neighborhood leaders and homeowners and coordinating a good deal of working on one day of the year,” O’Keefe says.

For the second year in a row, Donella Johnson worked on a home sponsored by the Women’s Committee of Associated Builders and Contractors and her company, Commercial Interiors. She and the other volunteers secured doors and installed C02 monitors, smoke detectors and a shower bench for the elderly homeowner, who suffers from arthritis. “Rebuilding Day is a great day where you see the kindness of mankind,” Johnson says. “Everyone comes out and they’re in good spirits; everyone lends a hand and the homeowners are very appreciative. At the end of the day we may be tired and beat, but we’re so happy we were able to get in and help somebody out.”

RECENT MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS/GRANTS/AWARDS

Rebuilding Together Baltimore, in partnership with HGTV, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, will work on HGTV’S community revitalization and environmental awareness campaign titled “Change the World. Start at Home.” Baltimore was among five cities selected to participate in the campaign, which will focus on three revitalization projects — a private home, an educational facility and an outdoor space — in the city.

BUDGET/FUND-RAISING EFFORTS

Rebuilding Together Baltimore’s budget for the fiscal year 2008 is $386,000.

BOARD MEMBERS

Tracey M. Barbour (vice president); Bonnie Bessor (executive director); Jeanann Ferguson; George Hack (president); Laura Hartman; Kevin Hroblak;
Lou Kozlakowski (counsel to the board); Michael LeSavage; Erin O’Keefe (treasurer); John R. Schultz; Greg Susman; Eric Vondy; Cliff Webster Jr. (secretary).

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Rebuilding Together Baltimore welcomes volunteers. No experience is necessary, but licensed trade workers are especially needed. For more information, please call 410-889-2710 or visit www.rtbaltimore.org.

 
 
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