Rebuilding Together - Richmond. Make a Difference in a Day.

Rebuilding Together hosts Room to Rebuild,
a mini build day with Choice Hotels

Richmond is one of 19 cities to host Choice Hotels in the fall of 2009. Choice Hotels is the worldwide lodging franchisor of the Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands as well as the Ascend Collection membership program.

The Choice Hotels International Foundation funded Rebuilding Together with a $1.5 million grant for home repair projects for low-income families.
RT Richmond applied a grant for $13,000 to roofing, windows, HVAC, safety and security repairs and misc repair needs for one low-income homeowner. This work occurred in Bellemeade, the 2010 Rebuilding Together target community.

Wow, this was quite an amazing project!!! More than 30 volunteers from Choice Hotels, RT Richmond, River Road United Methodist Church and Trinity United Methodist Church gathered to give a fantastic effort at Ms. Harris’ house on a damp and chilly Saturday morning. The energy and ‘can do’ spirit the volunteers brought to the event allowed us to complete an impressive list of repairs. The work accomplished by this group of hard working volunteers tells a story about the power of joining together with others to create a big change and impact…what an incredible list of work you all knocked out in a day!

Here’s a look at a few of the more than 40 tasks completed on Project Day:

Re-point mortar in brick work on front steps from street to house.
Shutters on front two windows
Crawlspace door completely rebuilt.
Install a drain system along top of wall & from downspouts.
Add lighting along front steps.
Add handrail along front steps from street.
Add handrail along brick 4-step in back yard.
Fix light (hanging with wires exposed).
Fixed security light on back of house.
Installed new toilet tank kit.
Installed smoke & CO2 detectors.
Replaced bulbs with CFLs.

Click here to learn more about Room to Rebuild

Saturday's lucky homeowner described the repairs as an early Christmas present.

"I feel like a five-year-old kid at Christmas that just got the first bike on the block," said home repair recipient Deborah Harris.

For Harris, the sounds of working hammers and saws are long overdue.

Harris is legally blind and a dialysis patient.

She says people would be surprised at the tasks that pile up when you're disabled.

"It was doing more damage to my house with the water leaking in and I'm tripping up and down the stairs because I can't see," she said.

Impressions of the day from volunteers:

Just got back from Richmond muddy & dirty all over but feeling great. …the people who showed up worked hard & I'm proud of all of them. The staff of Rebuild Together Richmond were great. Amy & Steve kept everyone informed & organized & focused, but also had a lot of fun. The many other volunteers from local churches & community organizations were wonderful. Everyone gave their best.
– Peter
I hope everyone enjoyed Saturday as much as I did. What a wonderful program! God Bless.
- Fred
Despite the cold, Saturday was a good day (and I had mostly inside projects). Deborah and her cousin Shannon were such delightful people to meet and I’m glad we were able to help. Deborah’s attitude is amazing. The folks from Choice Hotels were nice, and coming from an hour or so away so was pretty cool.
- Valerie