Rebuilding Together Alexandria: Rebuilding Homes, Rebuilding Lives

A person’s home is his or her sanctuary – a place where they can relax and feel safe. Unfortunately, for many people living in impoverished communities, the place they call home does not feel like it. Many repairs and renovations need to be done in order for it to be suitable to live in – and that’s what Rebuilding Together does.

Rebuilding Together is a nationwide non-profit organization that helps with the repair and improvement of homes. The home rebuilding program began in 1972, when a man from Midland, Texas challenged his Sunday school class to help in rebuilding and repairing homes in their area. Soon after, the program expanded outside of Texas and spread out throughout the United States.

The city of Alexandria in Virginia was one of the cities that adapted the Rebuilding Together program. The Alexandria chapter of Rebuilding Together was initially called Christmas in April and was spearheaded by Barbara Joseph. The first project of Christmas in April was the renovation of two shelters for the homeless and eight homes badly in need of repair in 1987. The first Rebuilding Day was well attended as over 170 volunteers came and helped out with the renovations needed. The project was indeed a success and Rebuilding Day became an annual event that the volunteers and beneficiaries of the organization look forward to. Barbara Joseph has attended each and every one of the Rebuilding Day activities except for the one held in April 1995 when she spent the day recruiting nurses to help out for the next year’s event.

Christmas in April changed its name to Rebuilding Together Alexandria in 2004 to align itself with the Rebuilding Together National Office. The change in name also meant that they have adopted many of the core organization’s other projects such as A Home of Your Own, the Veteran’s Housing Initiativ, and the Green Housing Initiative.