Rebuilding Together Affiliates to Engage 40,000 Volunteers on 1,600 Rebuild Projects During National Rebuilding Month this April

Washington, D.C., March 28, 2017 – Rebuilding Together, a leading national nonprofit in safe and healthy housing that provides homeowners in need with critical home repairs, will host its annual National Rebuilding Month this April. Nearly 40,000 volunteers will serve in more than 1,600 affiliate-led rebuild projects across the country throughout National Rebuilding Month.

This 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.

“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has indicated at least 30 million homes have one or more health hazards present,” said Caroline Blakely, President and CEO of Rebuilding Together. “National Rebuilding Month is an opportunity to educate communities on the close relationship of health and housing, to highlight the critical need for our home repair services and to call individuals to action until we ensure every person has a safe and healthy home.”

National Rebuilding Month will culminate on National Rebuilding Day, Saturday April, 29 and will engage volunteers in a concerted effort to complete repairs on homes, nonprofit facilities and community spaces. The event will bring immediate, transformational change to communities across America on the same day.

National Rebuilding Month originated in 1973 in Midland, Texas with volunteers helping neighbors rebuild their homes. The group founded Rebuilding Together, at the time “Christmas in April,” and gathered around a month of service each year in April. The mission then grew from the idea of providing service one month per year to bringing volunteers together to provide homeowners in need with critical repairs year-round.

For more information on National Rebuilding Month, visit rebuildingtogether.org/nrm and follow #RebuildingMonth on social media.