Rebuilding Day volunteers to repair homes

Heroes At Home, a program created through the partnership of Sears Holdings Corporation and Rebuilding Together, announce the beginning of their spring 2010 Heroes At Home projects. Heroes At Home is a key initiative for Rebuilding Together, the nation’s leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership, and is dedicated to improving the lives of the military and their families through extensive home rehabilitations. Heroes At Home projects will be completed in several cities, including: Tacoma, Houston, Green Bay, Philadelphia and New York. The projects include renovations for our nation’s veterans that are unable to live in their current home conditions, due to injuries or obstacles that threaten their avenue to a safe and healthy home.

“Heroes at Home is a key program that is essential to the mission and vision of Rebuilding Together,” said Gary A. Officer, President and CEO of Rebuilding Together. “Sears Holdings has allowed us to reach out to more veterans than ever before and make life-changing renovations to veterans’ homes. This spring we will experience even more homes and lives being impacted through the Heroes at Home program.”

To date, Sears Holdings has raised nearly $9 million for the Heroes at Home program via a nationwide in-store fund-raising campaign. These donations have made possible well over 500 projects for veteran homeowners across the country. The success of this program is only expected to rise as more projects begin.

Rebuilding Together South Sound, the local affiliate of Rebuilding Together, will be completing two projects through the Heroes at Home Program. These projects will be taking place on National Rebuilding Day, April 24th. National Rebuilding Day is the foundational annual event of 200 Rebuilding Together affiliates nationwide where volunteer teams come together to complete major home repair projects for their neighbors in need – particularly the elderly, people with disabilities, or families with children.

In Tacoma and Auburn, the Heroes at Home projects are two of 25 projects that Rebuilding Together South Sound will complete on National Rebuilding Day. Nearly 700 local volunteers will devote their Saturday to completing home repair projects that will ensure their most vulnerable neighbors can remain safe and independent in their homes. “We look forward to Rebuilding Day all year long,” says Amy Hoyte, Executive Director. “It is amazing to see the community come together to help their neighbors in need, and the real impact that volunteers can have. The families and the volunteers alike are changed by the experience.”

The two Heroes at Home projects that Rebuilding Together South Sound will take on are:

• Michael and Patricia of Auburn, 64 and 61: Michael is a Vietnam veteran. Patricia has cerebral palsy, which limits her mobility, and last year the couple was involved in a car accident that has Patricia relying on physical therapy to this day. Volunteers on Rebuilding Day will construct a ramp, repair the back deck, finish an accessible bathroom, modify the kitchen and replace the leaking roof.
• Cheryl of Tacoma, 61: Cheryl is a veteran from the Vietnam era. She has osteoarthritis in both knees and has other mobility issues due to a hit-and-run car accident in 2003. Volunteers will install a new hot water heater, a new stair landing and a Safeway Step to make it easier to use her bathtub. Volunteers will also reinforce her weak flooring.

Congressman Adam Smith will join Rebuilding Together volunteers at Cheryl’s home on National Rebuilding Day. Congressman Smith has long been a supporter and advocate for veterans and military families. “One of the most important commitments we have as a nation is supporting the men and women who keep us safe and protect our freedoms,” said Congressman Adam Smith. “Projects like this can make all the difference in the lives of our veterans and organizations like Rebuilding Together as well as our veterans deserve all of our support.”

Rebuilding Together is the nation's leading nonprofit organization working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods by providing extensive rehabilitation and modification services to those in need at no cost to those served. With the help of everyday citizen volunteers, skilled trades people, the support of local business and major corporate partners, Rebuilding Together affiliates in America’s largest cities and smallest towns make life considerably better for thousands of low-income homeowners and the communities in which they live by completing 10,000 projects per year. Rebuilding Together has programs dedicated to energy efficiency, veteran’s housing, aging in place and gulf coast reconstruction. For more information, visit www.RebuildingTogether.org. You can also follow Rebuilding Together on Twitter @rebldgtogthr or become a fan on Facebook at Facebook.com/RebuildingTogether. Media Contact: BCarter@rebuildingtogether.org (202) 518-3500.

Rebuilding Together South Sound was founded in 2001 in response to the growing need for help in the Pierce County area where 44% of the homeowners are low-income. The mission is to bring volunteers and communities together to improve the homes and lives of low-income homeowners – particularly the elderly, people with disabilities and families with children. Rebuilding Day is an annual volunteer workday during which volunteer teams from supporting organizations make significant repairs for homeowners in need. Additionally, a year-round Home Modification program provides accessibility improvements such as ramps and grab bars to homeowners with limited mobility. With the volunteer and in-kind support the community provides, each dollar raised translates into a minimum of $4 worth of work for homeowner recipients. This year, Rebuilding Together South Sound plans to complete 70 home repair and modification projects. For more information, visit www.rebuildingtogetherss.org. You can also become a fan on Facebook at Facebook.com/RTSouthSound. Media Contact: cmuller@rebuildingtogetherss.org (253) 753-4591.