It’s National Rebuilding Month!

Did you know that April is National Rebuilding Month?  Nearly 40,000 volunteers will serve in more than 1,600 rebuild projects led by Rebuilding Together affiliates across the country this month.

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.

In our community, Rebuilding Together Twin Cities is hosting several home repair projects and a nonprofit facility improvement project during National Rebuilding Month. We are proud to be part of this nationwide effort to improve the homes and lives of those in need during National Rebuilding Month!

The Opus Group Makes a Difference on Founder’s Day

On Friday, April 21st, we partnered with volunteers from The Opus Group to provide much-needed home repairs for two South Minneapolis homeowners in need and make improvements to a charter school in East Saint Paul.

One of the homeowners we helped is Celeste, who moved into her South Minneapolis home in 1967 and raised her family there. Now a grandmother and widow (her husband was an Army veteran), Celeste remains an active member of the community in her golden years. She has taken on a leadership role within her church and volunteered many hours at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, until mobility issues forced her to step aside two years ago. These same mobility issues have prevented her from using the rear-entry steps to her backyard for over a year.  Volunteers from The Opus Group made accessibility modifications to the front and rear entries so Celeste can safely and independently come and go from her home and made several other repairs to her home.

We also helped Carolyn, who has lived in her South Minneapolis home for more than 20 years. A retired nurse, Carolyn now suffers from severe arthritis that has greatly limited her mobility. She loves her home, is surrounded by friendly neighbors, and is close to grocers, the library, and her church; however, getting around is a significant challenge. She has fallen in her home several times, and is now wheelchair-bound when going outside.  Volunteers from The Opus Group made accessibility modifications to the front and rear entries of Carolyn’s home, so she can leave her home independently; painted her kitchen walls and ceiling; installed new light fixtures; replaced storm windows; and replaced flooring in the living room and kitchen.

The Opus Group also made improvements at the Twin Cities Academy, a charter school located in East Saint Paul. Volunteers helped established a garden classroom on the site of the school, which will provide hands-on learning activities to accompany and enhance the science curriculum. Volunteers spent the day building and installing raised bed garden plots, an open-air classroom with benches, compost bins, walking paths, and arbors and trellises.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of The Opus Group and the hard work of their volunteers!  Together, we have made a meaningful difference for two homeowners in need and the students served by the Twin Cities Academy!

Safe at Home Volunteers Help Homeowners Live More Independently and Safely

Rebuilding Together Twin Cities believes that everyone should have a safe and healthy home. Our Safe at Home volunteers work on projects focused on improving the accessibility of the home, so that the home’s residents can live more safely and independently.  For example, Safe at Home volunteers Sam and Liz recently helped us finish a handicap-accessible first-level bathroom in a South Minneapolis home. The homeowner was wheelchair bound and had to take sponge baths because she could not access the second-floor bathroom where the shower was located.  The addition of a downstairs bathroom increased the homeowner’s independence and greatly improved her quality of life.  We are grateful to all of our Safe at Home volunteers for helping to improve the independence and safety of the people we serve!

Thanks to Cities 97!

We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a $6,000 grant from Cities 97 Sampler to provide home accessibility modifications for homeowners who are older adults or are individuals living with a disability!  THANK YOU to everyone who bought the Cities 97 Sampler 28!  You helped support our efforts to ensure that those in need live more independently and safely in their homes!