Rebuilding Together Seattle Provides Twenty Years of Free Home Repairs to Senior Citizens

Margie Thirlby, Executive Director, Rebuilding Together Seattle

Local Volunteers to Celebrate 20th Annual Spring Rebuilding Day

Honeywell volunteers with homeowner in Greenwood.

Greenwood homeowner Linda* and RTS employee Jason Cummings on Honeywell Rebuilding Day.

An RTS volunteer makes repairs to create a safer, more accessible front porch.

Tarragon volunteers.

RTS volunteers celebrate a job well done!

Since 1990, Rebuilding Together Seattle has repaired and rehabilitated over 700 homes and community centers with over 22,000 volunteers, providing over $4 million in improvements in the greater Seattle area. All projects were made possible through the support of community sponsors and volunteers. 

Rebuilding Together Seattle (RTS) is a 501.c.3 non-profit organization that provides free home repairs for low-income homeowners. RTS is a local affiliate of the national nonprofit organization, Rebuilding Together (formerly Christmas in April), committed to helping others live independently in warmth and safety. Since July 2009, RTS has already completed over six projects, and plans to complete 30 more by the end of the fiscal year.

In the fall of 2009, RTS volunteers from Honeywell assisted Linda*, a homeowner in Greenwood, who in 1983 was hit by a driver who sped through a stop sign, leaving her disabled and living in a home with limited wheelchair accessibility. In less than eight hours, over 30 volunteers repaired a broken shed, installed skid strips on a wheel chair ramp, installed bathroom grab bars, and replaced a cracked concrete walkway with a handicap-accessible gravel path. Upon returning to her home that afternoon, Linda could not believe the transformation, and exclaimed, "This is just more than one person could ask for!" Today, Linda uses her bathroom, ramp, walkway, storage space, and kitchen with ease!  

On April 24th, RTS will celebrate its 20th Annual Spring Rebuilding Day, assisting over 25 homeowners and non-profit facilities in one day, with the support of over 1,000 volunteers. Spring Rebuilding Day is also known as National Rebuilding Day, because RTS volunteers will be joining 64,000 other volunteers from 200 affiliates throughout the nation, completing approximately 3,000 projects in one day.

RTS Youth Board Advisor Laura Lee is excited to volunteer for her fifth time on Spring Rebuilding Day 2010: "The first time I volunteered for RTS, I was on site for eight hours," Laura Lee said. "When we finished, the owner of the house, Mary*, came up to each of us with tears in her eyes and gave us each a hug. After experiencing that wonderful moment, I was hooked on Rebuilding Together Seattle and all that it stands for."

RTS looks forward to helping more homeowners in need like Mary and Linda. To qualify for the program, homeowners must be unable to do the repairs themselves and live on a fixed or low income. RTS assists the elderly, disabled, families with children, and veterans in need living in most areas from Tukwila to Everett.

To apply, volunteer, or find out more about Rebuilding Together Seattle, please visit www.rtseattle.org or call 206-682-1231.

* Out of respect to the RTS clients and to keep all information confidential, the first names of clients have been changed in this article.