Rebuilding Together AmeriCorps celebrates the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

Washington, D.C. , January 13, 2014 – Members and alumni of Rebuilding Together’s AmeriCorps program, CapacityCorps, will observe the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on January 20 through 22 by rebuilding homes and revitalizing communities in Pittsburgh.

In honor of the Martin Luther King Day of Service, 65 AmeriCorps members serving with Rebuilding Together, along with 15 program alumni, will come together from 25 different states to perform critical home repair services for veteran and senior citizen homeowners in need. More than just one day, these members and alumni will provide a full week of service to the Hazelwood neighborhood in Pittsburgh.

The event is being hosted by Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, an organization that repairs and renovates the homes of low-income, elderly homeowners, military veterans, and individuals with permanent physical disabilities.  Since 1993, Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh has invested more than $9 million of free repairs in 2,060 Allegheny County homes.

Rebuilding Together AmeriCorps members and alumni, serving a collective 3,000 hours, will repair eight homes for homeowners in need. The projects will be clustered together for maximum impact to improve the homes and lives of Hazelwood residents.

“Hazelwood has struggled for decades since the collapse of the steel industry that lined its waterfront,” said Steve Hellner-Burris, Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh.  “With new development projects now finally taking shape, Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh is proud to partner with Hazelwood community leaders to stabilize the housing conditions for the long-time residents so that they can stay safely in their homes and realize the benefits of an improving neighborhood economy.”        

Rebuilding Together CapacityCorps is a National*Direct AmeriCorps program with 65 full-time members. Rebuilding Together AmeriCorps members build the capacity of grassroots 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.