Exciting New Partnership with Christian Public Service!

This month RTS and Christian Public Service are starting a partnership that will serve even more homeowners in need!

Christian Public Service (CPS) is a national non-profit of the Mennonite faith. Small groups of young men rotate through a 6 month commitment of living and serving in a community.  The group recently expanded to Seattle and is serving with a few non-profits, including RTS.  This group will take on a few Safe at Home projects a month!

We are very excited to begin working with CPS!  Keep an eye out for updates on this partnership and all the projects we will complete with their help!

To learn more about CPS, please visit their website here.

More Photos from WA Conservation Corps

Check out these great before and after photos from the WA Conservation Corps project last week!

Before                                                    After

  Before                                                    After

 Before                                                    After

 Before                                                    After

 Before                                                    After

 Before                                                    After

Before                                                    After

Thanks again for all your great work, Wade, Olivia, Chloe, Kerry and Bryan!

WA Conservation Corps Helps Out RTS Homeowners

RTS was very excited to have members of the WA Conservation Corps working at two sites on Tuesday and Wednesday, doing what they do best- clearing out invasive species and cleaning up green space!!

The WCC team! Olivia, Chloe, Kerry, Wade, and Brian

Two RTS homeowners were in desparate need of some help on their property.  Contrary to what you might think, unchecked growth of bushes and trees in a persons' yard can lead to safety hazards and compromised health of the home.  Both homes had trees hanging over their roofs and in powerlines, and both needed clearing of pathways leading to and from the entryways to their homes.  The team took care of these projects and so much more! 

Brian describing the action plan for this crazy bush

Olivia at work

Assessing the remaining projects

Chloe getting serious

Thank you, WCC!!

(stay tuned for some amazing before and after photos!)

Hearts Rebuilding Homes 2013 begins on Friday, February 1st!

Give the gift of a warm & safe home

Who will YOUR Valentine be this year? February 14th is right around the corner, which means it's almost time to kick off our 3rd annual Hearts Rebuilding Homes Valentine's Day campaign!  From February 1st through February 14th, we asked our supporters to make a difference in the lives of homeowners in need by making a donation to our organization, in honor of their loved ones.

Thanks to the generosity of our 2012 Hearts Rebuilding Homes donors, we were able to help three families in need. Last year's campaign raised about $1,000 more than the inaugural year! We hope to keep the momentum going in 2013 and make an ever bigger impact for the homeowners on our waiting list.

Katy & Shawn, Hearts Rebuilding Homes 2012 family

This year, Rebuilding Together Seattle is excited to celebrate the third year of Hearts Rebuilding Homes, starting on Friday, February 1st. Our supporters will have fourteen days to make a donation online (or by mail) to Rebuilding Together Seattle in honor of their Valentine.

After receiving confirmation of your donation, Rebuilding Together Seattle will mail a special card to your Valentine, notifying him/her of your donation. Later in the year, we'll send an email greeting to all donors and card recipients to let them know about the families we were able to help with your support.

Here are four families on our waiting list who need your support this Valentine's Day:

Jessica is a young single mother of an 8 year old and an infant living in White Center. Jessica’s family is in need of new front steps and a ramp, new bathroom flooring, and a new faucet.

Thomas and Janet are an elderly couple living in West Seattle. Thomas is in a wheelchair and they need their ramp updated to address rot, new kitchen flooring, clutter removal, yard work, and a new stove.

Yuk-Sung is an elderly widow of a veteran living in North Beacon Hill. Yuk-Sung desperately needs a new stove.

Earline is 80 years old and disabled, living in Rainier Beach. She requires grab bars in her bathroom and needs help with plumbing leaks throughout her home.

Questions? Please visit http://rtseattle.org/hearts_rebuilding_homes.php or email coatey@rtseattle.org.

Please note: RTS will encourage everyone to make their donations by February 11th in order to ensure that your Valentine gets his/her card or e-greeting in time!

Give the gift of a warm and safe home to a homeowner in need 

this Valentine's Day.

Washington Conservation Corps Will Help 2 Homeowners with Disabilities in West Seattle

Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) is an AmeriCorps program that is through Washington State Department of Ecology.  Conservation Corps members serve year-long terms working closely with the DNR and the City of Redmond.  The members make up crews of 5 that do different conservation projects around the state like removing invasive plant species and building fences to protect trees.  They work 10 hour days, rain or shine.

AmeriCorps members are encouraged to do a service 

project for Martin Luther King Day.  The crew from Washington Conservation Corps has selected Rebuilding Together Seattle as the organization they want to partner with for their MLK service project.

On January 22, they will be helping clear the yard of Gary, who lives in West Seattle.  Gary suffers from Osteoarthritis and is in need of a knee replacement.  He also has elevated blood pressure.  Gary said he was shocked and very happy to hear that he would be getting help with his yard.  He is very grateful for the help from RTS and WCC.

On the 23rd, they will be helping Shelley who lives in Alki.  Shelley just had a hip replacement and lives in her childhood home with her daughter and 2 grandchildren.  Shelley said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" when we told her WCC would be helping out with her yard.

Both Gary and Shelley really wanted help with their yards, so they are great matches for WCC!

Thank you so much Washington Conservation Corps for helping deserving homeowners in Seattle!

photo source

To learn more about the great work WCC does around the state, check out their website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/wcc/index.html

Van Ness Feldman campaign raises over $20,000 for RTS!

Rebuilding Together Seattle is thrilled to announce the end to a very successful holiday match campaign with Van Ness Feldman GordonDerr!  After roughly two months of receiving donations from the Van Ness Feldman community, RTS has received $10,575 from individual donors and businesses, $9,525 which will be matched by Van Ness Feldman for a grand total of $20,100!

In April, Van Ness Feldman will utilize some of their funding to sponsor their own rebuilding day and help a deserving homeowner in need of critical home repairs.  RTS looks forward to working with Van Ness Feldman volunteers to complete a successful event!

RTS sends a big thanks to Van Ness Feldman, Julie Brandsness, Jay Derr, Tracy Nagelbush, and all of our participating donors who made the campaign such a success.  We can't be more grateful for your support!


THANK YOU, DONORS!

Van Ness Feldman GordonDerr

Anne Ackenhusen and Mike Johns

Ann Bailey

Gary and Angie Ballas

Mary and Greg Blazek

Nolan and Alicia Bradbury

Bruce Brandsness

Julie Brandsness and Rick Griese

Linda Brown

Peter L. Buck

Bucklin/Evens PLLC (c/o Kerry Bucklin)

Nancy Cahill

Brent Carson

Clothier & Head P.S.

Stew Cogan and Nona Hasegawa

Michelle Connor and Mark Levensky

Lori Cora

Jay and Gaynelle Derr

Kati Dunn

Peter Erickson

Mary Fairhurst

Alix Foster

Charlie and Mikal Foushee

Marjorie Frost

Tom Frye

Dan and Lisa Gemme

G-Logics, Inc

Adam Gravley

Renee and Josh Hartnett

Mary Hotchkiss

Nancy Hovis and Janine Johnson

Sarah and Joel Ihrie

Cristina Jorgenson

Ariane and Darren Justus

KBA, Inc. c/o Kris Betty

Lyn Keenan

John Koreny

Tim and Betsy Lane

Christopher Libby

Livengood Fitzgerald & Alskog, PLLC

Bo McFadden and Sharon Davidoff

Patricia McShea

Arnie Mondloch

Mundy Jo Holdings, Attn: Michael Crowson

Laureen Nicolay

Offices of Sharon Rice, Hearing Examinder, PLLC

Steve Parkinson

Sandra Lynn Perkins and Jeffrey Karl Ochsner

Plauche & Carr LLP

Russell Porter

Randy and Amanda Rademaker

Kenneth Raedeke

Gayle Roberts

Schacht Aslani Architects

Russ and Nancy Schultz

Sabina Shapiro

Susan Shyne and Kirk Dawson

Susan Skillman and Philip Fenner

John and Shannon Stokke

Lorraine Taki

Margie Thirlby

Arthur Wahl

Thomas T. White Jr.

To learn about how your company can get involved with Rebuilding Together Seattle through your own match campaign, please email mthirlby@rtseattle.org.

Volunteer of the Month: Harry Rodriguez

Volunteer of the Month: 

Harry Rodriguez

It was easy choosing Harry to be our Volunteer of the Month for January! Harry has been an incredible asset to RTS since he joined the Safe at Home team last summer. As a licensed electrician, Harry has been invaluable in helping our homeowners who need electrical repairs. Most recently, Harry helped reinstall heat for one of our homeowners before winter set in.

 

"Harry has been such a joy to work with. He is always willing to help with whatever project we throw his way and understands our mission to help homeowners live in warmth, safety, and independence. I always look forward to calling Harry up about a project we need help with; sometimes I don't know what we would do without him!"  - Claire Oatey, Program & Development Associate

Let's hear from Harry!

1. How did you get involved with RTS?

I got involved with RTS through a friend who donates to Senior Services. After speaking with Senior Services, they got me in contact with RTS, because it was more in line with the type of volunteering that I was looking to do.

2. What do you enjoy most about working with our organization?

I most enjoy the reaction of the deserving people that we are able to help. The office staff is also pretty awesome.

3. What do other volunteers say about RTS? 

I have only had one opportunity to coordinate with another volunteer. Pat Thirlby had only good things to say about RTS.

4. What about RTS' mission are you most drawn to? 

I believe that the volunteers are like minded people. Just wanting to help. RTS makes that possible and extremely easy. This was just exactly the type of organization that I was looking for. It is a good match. Looking forward to a great year.

Thank you for all that you do for RTS, Harry!!