On April 28th, Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan had our annual rebuild blitz day called National Rebuild Day. Many Rebuilding Together affiliates participate on this day, blitz renovating many homes in their respective areas. The day started when, in 1971, a group of neighbors in Texas saw one of their own struggling to keep up with the maintenance on their home. They came together and performed many repairs on their neighbor’s home, calling it Christmas in April. Afterward, the neighbors formed a group after the same name and many years later, changed their name to Rebuilding Together, to reflect the many kinds of neighbors that participate.
Here in Southeast Michigan, 20 teams performed various repairs on multiple homes in multiple cities. The size of each home repairs varied, but it included painting, roof repairs, flooring, plumbing, and landscaping.
With Rebuilding Together, two steering committees, in Huron Valley and Farmington Hills, gathered volunteers in their area to work on homes in their areas. Huron Valley’s team, headed up by painter Kathy Selke, performed four home repairs in Milford, Waterford, White Lake and Highland Townships. The Farmington Hills team, headed up by Joe Hejka, performed home repairs at six homes.
Other teams did home repairs in various parts of Oakland County, many of them in the communities where their churches or organizations are located. The repairs most teams performed included painting, floor replacements, plumbing repairs, electrical and landscaping. In total, 20 homes in Oakland County received repairs on April 28th.
The repairs performed by Rebuilding Together volunteers vary and also aids in the safety and health of the homeowner. Many injuries and diseases occur in the home, especially for more home-bound people. Our repairs help prevent needless falls and other injuries by 90%. We also help with lessening hospital visits with our repairs. Lastly, we also help homeowners stay in their homes longer by making repairs that prevent falls and other injuries that can cause homeowners to bed displaced.
We hope that our Rebuild Day teams volunteer with us next year to help with more homeowners in need!