Super Bowl-Sanctioned Event, Kickoff to Rebuild, Returns to Glendale

February 3, 2023
by Jax Wasylak, Director of Programs at Rebuilding Together Valley of the Sun

Next weekend, people from across the country will flood the city of Glendale to see their football teams go head-to-head in the Super Bowl. However, within five miles of State Farm Stadium, the glitz and glamour of the Super Bowl fade into everyday life. In the Ocotillo Rose neighborhood, many of the neighbors are in need of safe and healthy housing.

This year, Rebuilding Together Valley of the Sun along with 200 Lowe's store associates, corporate and community volunteers are providing essential repairs to six homes in the Ocotillo Rose neighborhood, including repairing leaking roofs and ceilings, installing safety modifications like grab bars, repairing broken tiles and flooring, replacing windows and more. In addition to these homes, we are providing repairs and upgrades to Heart for the City’s Community Garden, a nonprofit providing opportunities and nourishment to this community, and the Swift Kids Branch of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley,  an engaging place for 120 youth to get involved in safe and productive activities.

These six homeowners were all selected because their homes need costly essential repairs. Debra and Linda are two of six homeowners receiving repairs next week. Both women have fond memories of their homes that compel them to remain in their homes and within their community.  Linda has lived there for more than 30 years, and raised her children and is helping raise her grandchildren in that home. Debra has lived in her home since she was 12-years-old; her house isn’t just a house, it’s her home. Linda and Debra have been neighbors for decades. Together, they have watched their children grow, the community change, and developed a deep-rooted connection within this community.

Through the decades, time has withered certain aspects of their houses.  Now that Linda is retired and Debra is earning a limited income to support her family, these repairs are more difficult to manage, physically and financially.  Not only will their houses be safer and healthier, it will also allow them to remain in their homes, with their loved ones, and their community, for many years to come. 

For the past 28 years, Rebuilding Together has worked in partnership with Lowe’s to rebuild homes and revitalize communities in Super Bowl host cities across the country. To date, Kickoff to Rebuild has impacted more than 170 homes, engaged more than 5,000 volunteers, and invested more than $5 million in communities nationwide.

Additional sponsors who made Kickoff to Rebuild in Glendale possible include ADT, Wells Fargo, Republic Services, Brooklyn Bedding and the City of Glendale.