Thanks to a generous grant from Wells Fargo, we were thrilled to be one of just eight Rebuilding Together affiliates to participate in the Healthy Housing Challenge this year, which focuses on making health and safety-related repairs for low-income homeowners. On September 18th, we partnered with 45 volunteers from Wells Fargo to complete health and safety repairs at three homes across the Twin Cities.
We continued to make accessibility modifications to a donated Real Estate Owned (REO) in Columbia Heights. We are remodeling this home to make it completely handicap-accessible. Wells Fargo volunteers repaired and stained the wheelchair ramp, installed window wells, finished interior demolition and framed interior walls to accommodate Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. When the renovations to this home are completed, we will sell it to a low-income family, an individual living with disability, or an older adult looking to remain in their home for many years to come.
We also helped Ms. Priscilla in the Longfellow Neighborhood of Minneapolis. A long-time nurse at a local nursing home, Ms. Priscilla has lived in her Minneapolis home for 52 years. She raised three children there and currently has three grandchildren, who love coming over to sample her cookies and breads. Ms. Priscilla was recently cited by the city for a code violation with her garage and could not afford to fix the problem herself. The volunteers from Wells Fargo spent the day stripping the garage and re-painting it.
We were also able to repair the home of Mary and Charles, who have been married for over 38 years and have lived in their home in the Central/North End area of St. Paul since 1999. They raised their three sons there, one of whom passed away. Currently, they have one son and one grandson living with them. Unfortunately, due to Mary experiencing complications related to her diabetes and Charles suffering a massive stroke two years ago, they were forced into early retirement. Charles and Mary would like to enjoy this retirement in their beloved home, but health problems and limited finances prevent them from performing the necessary repairs and upkeep to do so. Volunteers from Wells Fargo replaced flooring in the kitchen, painted the kitchen and dining rooms, fixed up the mudroom, and weather-stripped the doors.
THANKSÂ to Wells Fargo for your continued support of our efforts to help homeowners in need live in safe and healthy homes!
