Thanks again to the incredible volunteers who helped us at the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show from February 27th through March 3rd. We had a great time sharing information about how we help homeowners in need. And, thanks to The Toro Company for donating the snowblower that we gave away to one lucky visitor to our booth!
March 9th – 17th was AmeriCorps Week, which is an opportunity to highlight the impact of AmeriCorps members on communities across the country. As part of AmeriCorps Week, Tim Erkel, one of our AmeriCorps members, joined other members from the Rebuilding Together affiliate network in Durham, North Carolina for the Safe and Healthy Housing Summit from March 8th-10th. This event was supported by ConocoPhillips and included 33 AmeriCorps members from 17 states. The AmeriCorps members came together to identify housing-related risks for three low-income Durham families and develop and implement solutions to make their homes safer, healthier and more energy efficient.
Tim said of his experience, “The Safe and Healthy Housing Summit in North Carolina was a fantastic experience that presented a wonderful opportunity for me to bring knowledge and insight back to my affiliate and to do some good in a different community than my own. Learning about the house as a system and how improvements that we make affect it was enlightening, and going out in to the community and practicing those principles with my fellow CapacityCorps members was inspiring. I’m deeply honored to have been selected to attend the Summit.”
Rebuilding Together CapacityCorps is a National Direct AmeriCorps program with 65 full-time members serving at 35 local affiliates in 20 states. Rebuilding Together AmeriCorps members build the capacity of Rebuilding Together programs so that they become sustainable, effective and efficient in helping additional low-income homeowners in need. As developing housing preservation leaders, these AmeriCorps members serve essential roles in building the capacity of their host sites in areas such as recruiting and managing volunteers, performing direct home repairs, building community partnerships, and creating new programs.
Dear Friends,
Earlier this month I tendered my resignation to the Board of Directors at Rebuilding Together after six and a half years of service to this wonderful organization. My resignation followed months of discussions about the organization’s future priorities, and how to best position our wonderful affiliates to better serve the critical needs of their communities. My resignation was planned and without regret, and I will continue to work with the board through the transition.
My tenure as the President and CEO of Rebuilding Together occurred during a period of tremendous growth for the organization. Our growth, impact, and ability to meet the housing needs of hardworking families, occurred because we were able to tap the very best of our national spirit. We successfully marshaled the will of our nation’s volunteers; the genius of our charitable impulse; and our common concern and empathy for our neighbors in need. These noble traits, rolled into one, provided the critical foundation for our work, and the execution of our mission.
As volunteers, sponsors, donors, and partners alike, each of you played an essential role in the success of our work. We simply could not have advanced our agenda – our mission, without your support. To each of you, I want to extend a personal and heartfelt thank you.
My departure, however, should not distract from the fundamental importance of our vision of a safe and healthy home for every person. More than ever, low- and moderate-income families need the support of organizations like Rebuilding Together. Our ability to perform renovations and repairs on the homes of deserving families – free of charge – provides much needed relief and security at a time of continued economic uncertainty. The preservation of the home contributes so much to the well-being of the family. Quality homeownership provides the primary source for inter-generational wealth transfer, positively affects educational outcomes, and is a major contributor towards health outcomes for family members. Your continued support is needed.
As Rebuilding Together undertakes this important leadership transition in the months ahead, I am confident that this critical nonprofit and network of almost 200 affiliates will continue the important work that has characterized our history. I would like to thank you for your encouragement and friendship during my tenure, but more importantly, for your continued support for this incredible organization as we seek to assist as many needy families as our resources will allow.
With gratitude,
Gary A. Officer
We were thrilled to partner with Honeywell to coordinate a community service project at the Sunshine Foundation’s Dream Village in Davenport, Florida last month. The Sunshine Foundation’s sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children, ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to the financial strain that child’s illness may cause. The Dream Village is a 22-acre resort nestled in a fairy tale setting and offers amenities and activities, all specially designed to be accessible for wheelchairs and other special needs. Guests at the Dream Village enjoy the theme parks and attractions nearby and return each day to relax in their cottage. Since its opening, the Dream Village has welcomed over 20,000 children.
Our Construction Supervisor Dave Christensen and his wife Nancy helped plan, coordinate and carry out this project. They supervised volunteers from Honeywell who completed a therapeutic riding arena, including building a small barn and shade structure for horses, building a fence around the arena perimeter, building a shade structure for playground area and landscaping.
Dave said of the volunteers, “The Honeywell crew was amazing and very enthusiastic. We had to make them stop at the end of the day. They wanted to keep going. It was a GREAT event!”
The project at the Dream Village was just one of three community service projects completed by Honeywell volunteers on January 18th. In addition to the project at the Sunshine Foundation’s Dream Village, volunteers completed service projects at the Eatonville Police Station and Denton Johnson Community Center. Honeywell held its annual sales kickoff meeting in Orlando that week and completed these service events as a thank you to the hosting region. Approximately 150 volunteers infused more than 600 hours into the community, and Honeywell contributed approximately $23,000 to Rebuilding Together Affiliates to fund these projects.
