Rebuilding Together Dutchess County

Rebuilding Together Dutchess County

Have you ever driven by a dilapidated house, with peeling paint, broken windows or a sagging roof and wondered, “Why don’t those people do something?” Or heard a story on the radio about a house that burnt down because of bad wiring and thought “How could that happen?” Or maybe you have a neighbor or relative who had to go into a nursing home prematurely because they needed grab bars in their bathroom or a wheelchair ramp instead of stairs.

People in these situations often want to repair and live safely in their homes but lack resources to make changes happen.

Since 1992 Rebuilding Together Dutchess County (formerly known as Christmas in April) has performed significant repairs and modifications to over 300 homes.

This grassroots, community-focused program is about “Neighbors Helping Neighbors.” We focus on low-income families with limited resources, including homes with senior citizens, people with disabilities, veterans, or school-aged children.

Our work provides these families with a safe, warm and dry home while at the same time revitalizing our communities and preserving low-income housing stock.

In addition to our home renovation and repair projects, we’ve recently expanded our Safe-at-Home Program, which helps people with mobility issues move about their homes safely.

To help us do these things, we have a dedicated and hard-working all-volunteer board and over 600 volunteers who turn out for our “Rebuilding Days.” Electricians, plumbers, painters and contractors, as well as people who are handy or just enthusiastic, donate many hours to help make our projects happen.

Since we provide our services free of charge, we rely on the financial support of local and national organizations and businesses, including Meyer Contracting.

Meyer Contracting sponsors at least one project a year. Chris Meyer is on the board and volunteers his time to do home inspections and evaluate projects in the Fall. As part of the “Championship Culture” developed at Meyer Contracting, Chris believes is important to “ pay-it-forward” by participating in community projects.

And the need for our program keeps growing.

In 2009 alone we rehabilitated 40 homes including: 19 projects on National Rebuilding Day in April, three additional Flag Day weekend projects to celebrate our Veterans, five Safe at Home Modifications with projected completion of six more, and six additional projects for the Fall Rebuilding Day. The market value of work totaled over $300,000.

In coming years we’d like to do even more. But we can’t do it alone. So next time you pass by an unsafe house, instead of wondering why someone doesn’t do something, maybe you could give us a call or stop by our website to see how to get involved. We’ll bring the hammers!

Our next project is a rehabilitation of a mobile home in Dover Plains on April 20th. If
you would like to volunteer on this or any other project, please contact Chris Meyer or Rebuilding Together.

Written by acting Rebuilding Together Director, Dave Dobson
www.rebuildingtogetherdutchess.org
845-454-7310