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. 
 

We have an ambitious home rebuilding project this year based on St. Francis' last year's great attendance.  We still need more volunteers.  Please encourage others to join us and RSVP to help. The "House Info" ...  The 2008homeowner is, a low-income, elderly person with Parkinsons and couldn't quite keep up.   He could not maintain his home on his own and has no family members available to help him. Some tasks in 2008 include: The house has many repair needs.  Front door and door going upstairs do not work.    Plumbing problems - toilet pipe leaks.    Kitchen faucet nozzel is broken.      Problems with back door & drippy faucets. There is also a TON of yardwork; Plant flowers.   We'll get some help with the plumbing from the professionals on hand.

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.

We’d love to have you join us. Please let us know if you’re interested and please feel free to invite your friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors (you get the idea). 

Can teenagers help?   Yes, teenagers (especially high schoolers) can volunteer and contribute.  They can attend without their parents, but those under 18 must bring along a completed, signed copy of the "minor release form" found at 
www.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)

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

The Housing Bureau for Seniors is identifying homes in the Ann Arbor area, and Neighborhood Senior Services is identifying homes in the Ypsilanti area.  Since the application deadline on 2/23 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 on 4/28. 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)