SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WSBT) — More than a dozen homes in South Bend will be getting repairs done this month.
Rebuilding Together St. Joseph County is bringing volunteers to 21 houses in the city to make those fixes happen. Rebuilding Together is a nonprofit, community-based partnership of volunteers from local government, businesses, and other nonprofits that rehabilitates the homes of low-income homeowners and improves neighborhoods.
For several homeowners in South Bend, these repairs can be a massive weight off their shoulders,
Frankie Davis has been in her home for 50 years, and says there’s a lot of issues that need to be taken care of.
“They’re fixing a lot of things, the roof I believe, the furnace, hot water heater, maybe some window replacements or repairs, some foundation work, some plumbing work in the basement, a lot of pipes that need to be changed, they’re doing them,” said Davis.
Rebuilding Together has been helping those who may not have the ability to fix their homes for 35 years. The program focuses on assisting the elderly and disabled, and all repairs are completed at no cost to the homeowner.
They’ll spend April 13th and 27th doing just that, in part thanks to nearly 10 other organizations.
“We would not be able to do this work without volunteers, if volunteers did not come out and help us, we would not be able to achieve it, no different than if the trade unions did not come out and help us, we would not be able to achieve the goal of succeeding to help repair these homes,” said Andre Waddell, Board Chairman for Rebuilding Together St. Joseph County.
“We’ve got great old housing stock here in south bend, and we want to preserve as much of it as possible, and that’s great for the whole neighborhood, and the entire community as well,” said Mayor James Mueller, South Bend.
For Davis, these repairs couldn’t be coming at a better time.
She says once she found out this was really happening, the tears started flowing down her face.
“I knew sooner or later, I was going to need a roof because it’s over 20 years old, my furnace is on its last leg because this past winter, I had to get some repairs done to it, and my plumber already said well, one more fix will get you through the winter but it’s not going to last very long so I’m just thankful and grateful,” said Davis.
Waddell tells me they’re hopeful they can find around 800 volunteers to help make those dates in April successful.