Rebuilding Together is a nonprofit, community-based partnership of volunteers from local government, businesses, and other nonprofits, that rehabilitate the homes of low-income homeowners and improve neighborhoods.
On two April Saturdays each year, approximately 1,000 skilled and unskilled volunteers join together to make repairs to about 20 homes in a selected St. Joseph County neighborhood. All repairs are completed at no cost to the homeowner.
History
In 1972 a group of volunteers in Midland, Texas, decided to devote one day in April to repairing and sprucing up the homes of their low-income, disabled, and elderly neighbors. “Why, this is like Christmas in April,” they were told. The spirit of giving spread to local affiliates across the country.
Christmas in April St. Joseph County began in 1989. Following the lead of the national organization, the local Board of Directors voted to change its name to Rebuilding Together, St. Joseph County in 2002. Over the organization’s history, nearly 30,000 volunteers have donated their time and skills to rehabilitate over 1,000 homes, with repairs valued at over $12 million, in South Bend.