Rebuilding Together: Day 3

Today was the third day with Rebuilding Together. We all were separated into separate tasks because the house is in the final stages of completion, which is super exciting to see. Today I did some more caulking and actually some tiling. Tiling is very difficult and definitely a craft. It was actually pretty frustrating and made me really appreciate home building/repairs even more.  When we ate dinner at the church tonight all I could focus on was how long it must have taken to do the entire back splash. I really appreciate how Rebuilding Together and the volunteers focus on providing quality home repairs; even if it means pulling of an entire of section of tile (which I sadly had to do). 

During lunch I talked to Jennifer about the application process for Rebuilding Together homeowners. She said that typically neighborhood associations ask Rebuilding Together for assistance or as she worded it “welcomed them in”.  Rebuilding Together then goes around the neighborhood promoting their restoration services to residents and answer any questions. Jennifer, Dan and Patrick do not do any of this promoting. This is the work of AmeriCorps Vista volunteers through Rebuilding Together.( Dan has worked as a AmeriCorps Vista volunteering before his term with Rebuilding Together. He said that Vista is more office work and said he personally thought on site service was more rewarding).  Interested residents then fill out a application. The application is lengthy. The application can take up from three months to an entire year to fill out. Jennifer explained that residents that receive home repairs from Rebuilding Together are usually low income, elderly, veterans, disabled, and/or heads of single parent households. The application process is so lengthy because there are many documents that are required, such as bank statements, that are required for residents to be considered.   

The great thing about Rebuilding Together is that chosen residents to do have to pay for any of the repairs received. Rebuilding Together receives funding for these projects through grants ,many which are written by AmeriCorps Vista volunteers, and donations. For example, the tile we used for the back bathroom was donated by a company that stopped making that model. Jennifer said sometimes lack of funding stalls home restoration. She said many individuals or companies tend to forgot how much assistance areas like New Orleans still need when other disasters such as Alabama are more recent.  Jennifer said that Rebuilding Together relies heavily on volunteers. She said that volunteers are frequent during March because of spring break and during some winter months. She said that Rebuilding Together lacks volunteers during the summer months, due to the almost unbearable weather.

Towards the end of the shift it started down pouring. Jennifer insisted that we have a dance party in the dark before we got back to work. This was just another reminder of how much I truly appreciate the positive environment of working with Rebuilding Together.  This was also another reminder that extreme weather in New Orleans requires safe homes with quality restorations.