Neighbors Helping Neighbors: A History of Rebuilding Together

Volunteers cut wood to create benches for one a community enhancement project with Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte.

Rebuilding Together, the national organization, started with the simple act of neighbors helping neighbors. In 1973, a small group of people in Midland, Texas, realized a growing need in their community. Homes in their community had fallen into disrepair and their neighbors could not afford to fix them on their own. The group volunteered their time and skills to rehabilitate the homes of their neighbors. Realizing the potential impact of this work, the group formed Christmas in April, with the intent of performing repair and rehabilitation work in their community every April.

News of the group’s good work spread slowly but eventually achieved national recognition. The mission spread beyond the idea of providing service once a year in April to bringing together partners from all walks of life to help our neighbors year-round. The national office opened in 1988 and became Rebuilding Together.

Today, Rebuilding Together has grown into a leading national nonprofit organization repairing the homes of people in need and revitalizing our communities. Through the network of affiliates, the national organization works proactively and collaboratively with community leaders, long-term residents, funders, and volunteers to foster dialogue and create safe, healthy communities together across the country.

Five Core Values

Community

In order to realize its mission of repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives, Rebuilding Together must be active members of the community. At Rebuilding Together, we amplify each other’s voices, mobilize our resources, and engage our assets for neighbors.

Teamwork

Everyone uses their individual skillsets and voices together to deepen, widen, and broaden successes at Rebuilding Together.

Diversity

Everyone has a story to tell. We strive to recognize, accept, and celebrate those stories to promote equity and justice in our communities and among one another.

Innovation

At Rebuilding Together, we are wiling to try, fail, and try again, embracing vulnerability and transformation to advance our work.

Mission

We are passionate about our mission and believe in sustainable change as we repair homes, revitalize communities, and rebuild lives.

History of Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte

Founded in 2010, Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte served neighbors in need as a volunteer affiliate of the national organization until 2018, when board chair Beth Morrison left her career in the banking industry to lead the organization as its first full-time employee. Before Beth became the executive director, RTGC was completing a handful of critical home repair and accessibility modification projects a year. These projects were made possible with the help of corporate partners who provided the funds for materials and the volunteers to complete each task.

Since 2018, RTGC has grown into a team of staff members dedicated to serving neighbors in need. Holding a general contractor’s license through Director of Construction Nikki Quick, we are able to perform many of the repairs with our in-house construction team, who still hosts volunteers.

According to our 2022-23 Annual Report, we completed 35 homes last fiscal year. An average of 24 repairs were made per home, and the average household annual income of homeowners we served was $27,606.42. Corporate and community partners provided the necessary funding to maintain our operations and complete projects. More than 400 volunteers contributed 2,647 hours and about $80,000 in value toward client services.