Thank You for the Rebuilding Together Project 2009!!! Members St. Francis of Assisi participated in the Rebuilding Together national “Day of Rebuilding” on Saturday, April 25th. Rebuilding Together is a national nonprofit organization with the mission of preserving safe and affordable housing by bringing together volunteers, building professionals and donated materials to repair and rehabilitate the homes of low-income, elderly and physically challenged homeowners.  This work is provided at no cost to the homeowners.  Nationwide, an estimated 10,000 homes were renovated in over two hundred locations this year.  In Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, the lives of fourteen homeowners were improved by nearly two hundred volunteers.  Members of Ann Arbor’s St. Francis of Assisi and St. Mary Student Parish and St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parishes in Ypsilanti participated on various homes that day.  Completed tasks included construction of a wheelchair ramp, exterior door and lockset replacements, roof repairs, electrical repairs, kitchen and bath updates, exterior painting, railing installation and repair, dead tree removal and other yard work. Special thanks to Linda & Jim Wiseman for being our project leaders this year.  And, Thanks to all who contributed to our successful project! Your generosity will be remembered by the receiving family for years to come - Well done!   St. Francis volunteers (& other friends):  Maya Bruer, Thomas DuRussel-Weston, Anya Holodnick, Cherie Holodnick, Justin King, Mary LeMire, Fr. John Linden, Oleg Mihans, Susan Mihans, Erin Norton, Brian O'Neil, Alexander Pietrasiuk, Cathy Pietrasiuk, Max Romero, Reynaldo Ronquillo, Robert Scott, Allison Strassburg, Patricia Strassburg, Randy Strassburg, Russ Strassburg, Kevin Tallio, Jacob Tallio, Jim Wiseman, Linda Wiseman, Joe Wottreng, Mark Wottreng, Jamie Zawistowski, Matthew Zawistowski, & The St. Francis Edge Youth Group.   A Note of thanks from Brian O'Neil on Thu, May 28, 2009:      Regarding the day – it went very well.     We were very blessed with a glorious day, all the more remarkable because it SNOWED on the Tuesday or Wednesday before.    We had a nice mix of new and familiar faces, and we were able to get almost everything completed that Mrs. Noland requested – drywall replacement in a bathroom, a fantastic hand rail on the front porch, a roof repair, a TV cable reroute, and of course tons of landscaping and brush clearing.  And the tree removal was a bonus job – everyone pitched in and got it done quickly – actually, we were ALL done by 4 PM this year, which was nice.    Mrs Noland was very appreciative of all the work, and very relieved that a very dead tree that threatened her home and yard is now gone.    Kudos to Jim for not only pulling all this work together, but for coordinating lunch and breakfast for ALL (fourteen) Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti homes.    Now that I’ve had a few weeks to recover, I plan to stop by Mrs. Noland’s house to see how she’s doing, so I’ll send a note to all of our volunteers.   We also have our county meeting next week so hopefully we’ll have a few dollars left to take care of some very balky windows for Mrs Noland.     Scott, thanks again for coordinating all the volunteers – we couldn’t do this without you.      Mary, thanks for the great photos.     Jim, thanks for EVERYTHING. Brian O'Neil SEE ALL PAST PHOTOS In April 2009 & 2008 & 2007

Plan to meet at 8 AM (or close to it) at the home. 
Not all jobs take all day, but some will - so we want to get started early. 

Help revitalize a house in our community.  The homeowner selection process gives priority to low-income, elderly persons who cannot maintain their home on their own and have no family members available to help them.

When you volunteer with the " Christmas in April - Rebuilding Together" effort you are committing to serve for just one day, at just one house with about 25 other awesome volunteers here in Washtenaw County. 

We’ll PROVIDE some BREAKFAST snacks, LUNCH and cold DRINKS, and, we ask you to bring any work tools, gardening tools and work gloves.  If you can't work the whole day, that's fine.  There will be professionals on hand to guide and instruct us. 

All the St. Francis Parish volunteers (& other friends) can work together on this one-day program to do home repairs here in the Ann Arbor - Ypsilanti area on a house that needs a small group of skilled workers, and a larger group of less skilled workers. Invite your friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors (you get the idea). 

If you want to help this year but don't want to get your hands dirty, volunteer to pick-up and deliver the food at lunchtime. It only takes a little of your time and your efforts will be greatly appreciated by the workers.

Can teenagers help?   Yes, teenagers (especially high schoolers) can volunteer and contribute.  They can attend without their parents.  The only teen-agers who need to bring the “minor release consent form” are those who will NOT be accompanied by their parent(s) – the purpose of the form is to provide the ability to perform emergency medical treatment if a parent is not there.   The form is found at 
rebuildingtogetherwashtenaw.org/forms/rtminor_release.pdf

To participate, Contact: Scott Wright (734-821-2121) 

Learn about the Washtenaw County projects at: 
www.rebuildingtogetherwashtenaw.org

Learn about the national organization at:
www.rebuildingtogether.org/
 
 

Leadership? You are invited to simply help on the day of the event, or, you are also welcome to serve in some leadership capacity:  as a House Captain (This will require 10-20 hours of work before the Christmas in April  day) or,  as House Leader (This will require 5-10 hours of work before the Christmas in April Day)  as a Committee member, or, as a helper to review houses for selection  please call early in March: Carolyn Hastings (998-9337)

Current home owner referral forms are on the website.
(Click on 'forms and publications'. Make as many as you need, distribute as many as you can and send them to the correct address on the right.)

The Ann Arbor chapter and the Ypsilanti chapter merged together in 2007. 

The Housing Bureau for Seniors identifys homes in the Ann Arbor area.  Since the application deadline is the end of February we have been visiting all the homes to make certain the applicants understand the process. Soon we will visit again to closely examine the work to be done. Eventually we will pare down our existing list (of about 40 homes) to about 20. 

If you wish to help, at this point there are two avenues - volunteering and monetary donations.

In all, about 400 volunteers will be a part of RT last Saturday of April. Others will help in the many preparations that must be done before 'the day'. If you might have dollars to donate, they will be used to buy materials. Some materials will be donated, but some are very specific and need to be purchased. Some materials are sold at very low prices, but do need to be paid for.

Almost all of the work will be to address health and safety issues. For example, kitchen linoleum is replaced when it curls and becomes a tripping hazard. Stair railings are installed or tightened. Quite a bit of weatherization is done, to cut down on drafty homes and high heat bills. You might be surprised at the number of toilets about to fall to the floor below because of leaks which cause the floor wood to rot and soften. Plumbing and electrical work is done and many roofs are patched or redone. It is very remarkable.

To participate, Contact: Scott Wright (734-821-2121)