Happy Holidays!

With the holiday season in full swing, the Rebuilding Together Twin Cities Family would like to take this opportunity to thank ALL of YOU for your support and hard work to help homeowners in need this year.  We were able to help more homeowners than ever live independently in safe, healthy and warm homes – thanks to the donations and hard work of people like you.  We wish you and your family a safe, healthy and happy holiday season!

Help Build a Wheelchair Ramp for Deb

Deb, 57, is a career nurse suffering from a neurological disease that limits the use of her legs.  She is currently confined to a wheelchair and cannot leave her home because she does not have a wheelchair ramp.  Deb needs our help so she can safely get in and out of her home.  To learn more about Deb and how you can help, please visit Barnraisings.

It’s Cold Outside! Is your House Ready?

The official start to winter is December 21st, but it’s already very cold outside!  There are a few things you can do to make sure your home is ready for winter:

It’s important to remember to shut off water to exterior faucets. It’s easy to forget to shut off the water, but Mother Nature will likely remind you if you forget!

You may want to switch the direction of your ceiling fan to help redirect the warm air from your ceiling down. Just don’t forget to switch it back when it starts heating up again in the summer.

It’s always a good idea to replace the filter in your furnace at the beginning of the winter. This will help your furnace run more efficiently.

Make sure all of your windows are closed securely with a tight seal.

You may want to consider caulking around your windows and exterior doors to help prevent heat from escaping your home.  While this project is slightly more labor intensive, it will help your home to stay warm and can even decrease heating costs.

Thanks To…

North Central University – Built a ramp for a homeowner living with a disability in Saint Paul, repainted a garage in Minneapolis, and helped paint a mural and provided some much-needed upkeep at our office.

Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce – Volunteered at the Real Estate Owned (REO) project in Columbia Heights on October 29th.

Tom Wendt, instructor at Jennings CLC, a charter school serving at risk youth in St. Paul – Led groups of his students on two Safe at Home projects, as well as a build at the Columbia Heights REO property.

Perry Franzen, instructor at Saint Paul College carpentry program – Led his class in installing 14 new windows on one of our projects.