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below 80% of the local AMI.

Each affiliate has different income requirements. The D.C.-Alexandria affiliate requires that a client’s income be 80% or less of the AMI of Alexandria and Washington, D.C. Montgomery County’s affiliate requires 50% or less of the county’s AMI, which is $120,000. Their average client has an income of around $22,000 a year.

Professionals first assess a home’s condition, generally following guidelines from the National Center for Healthy Housing. Using the center’s 25-item healthy homes checklist, they look for warning signs like peeling paint, musty odors and tripping hazards. Then they recommend repairs or retrofits.

Rebuilding Together assigns low- and high-skilled volunteers, many over the age of 50, to tasks like painting, yard work and basic carpentry. Common requests include installing smoke detectors, adding insulation, repairing windows and doing plumbing repairs. Volunteers can also install accessibility modifications like higher toilets, walk-in tubs, hand rails and grab bars.

For more complicated projects, the organizations fundraise and hire professional contractors. They typically complete jobs involving electrical wiring as well as roof, furnace and air conditioning repairs.

Rebuilding affiliates often partner with home products companies like Bed, Bath and Beyond and Lowe’s. Some partners donate supplies.

Founded in Texas

In 1973, a group in Midland, Texas, noticed that some houses in the community were in disrepair, so they volunteered to help their neighbors who could not afford repairs. Calling their effort “Christmas in April,” they intended to do repair and rehabilitation projects in their community every April.

As news of their work spread, more and more people became interested, and they formed partnerships. In 1988, the project took on the name Rebuilding Together and opened a national office to “repair homes, revitalize communities and rebuild lives,” according to Rebuilding Together’s website.

Today, its corporate partners include the American Red Cross, HGTV and DIY Network, Lockheed Martin, the National Basketball Association, Sherwin Williams and Wells Fargo.

In Maryland, in addition to Montgomery County, the group has affiliates in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Kent and Queen Anne’s counties.

In addition to the Washington, D.C.Alexandria affiliate, Virginia affiliates are in Arlington and Fairfax Counties, Falls Church and Richmond.

Rebuilding Together’s 2021 survey found that after receiving home repairs, clients feel more included and have more pride in their homes, better health and less stress. In fact, the survey found, 89% of homeowners reported an increase in happiness after repairs.

That was certainly true for 76-year-old