History

Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan

In 1992, a small group of people in Highland, Michigan founded Christmas in April for Oakland County and began completing home rehabilitation projects on the last Saturday of April every year. They grew the program to provide free home repairs for homeowners across all of Oakland County and eventually changed their name to Rebuilding Together to provide year-round services to the community.

Since inception, we have completed over 1,100 home repair projects throughout Southeast Michigan for low-income seniors, veterans, individuals with disabilities and families with children ensuring that they have a warm and safe home to live in. 33,000 community volunteers have performed over 415,000 hours of volunteer service, delivering $8.8 million in market value.

In 2017 the Rebuilding Together National office asked Rebuilding Together Oakland County to consider expanding its services to include Detroit. During the August Board of Directors strategic planning session the Board decided to pursue expansion and set a strategic goal to eventually serve Oakland County, Wayne County and Macomb County. In January 2018, our name officially changed to Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan (RTSEM).

After meeting with community groups in the City of Detroit we decided to begin our expansion with the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood in City Council District 4, on Detroit's east side; partnering with Jefferson East Inc, the Southeast Waterfront Neighborhood Association, Jefferson-Chalmers Citizens’ District Council, HOPE Community Outreach and Development and Creekside Community Development Corporation to create a sustainable program for the neighborhood.

In 2018, RTSEM began completing home repair projects in Jefferson-Chalmers and executed a housing survey on the exterior conditions of nearly 2,000 homes in the neighborhood. Walking every street in the neighborhood not only allowed us to better understand Jefferson-Chalmers' housing stock, it also gave us the opportunity to interface with countless residents. We heard their stories and gained a greater knowledge of the strengths and needs of the neighborhood.

In December of 2019, we expanded our Detroit service area to include all of City Council District 4. We plan to continue our efforts in Oakland County while growing our capacity in Wayne county and eventually expand our footprint to include Macomb County. If you are interested in being a part of our growth please contact our office!

Rebuilding Together (National Office)

In 1973, a small group of people in Midland, Texas, realized a growing need in their community. Their neighbors’ homes had fallen into disrepair and the homeowners could not afford to fix them on their own. They 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. We became Rebuilding Together and opened the national office in 1988.

Rebuilding Together is a leading national nonprofit in safe and healthy housing with more than 40 years of experience. Rebuilding Together’s local affiliates and nearly 100,000 volunteers complete about 10,000 rebuild projects nationwide each year. Today, Rebuilding Together has grown into premier nonprofit housing organization, garnering five consecutive four-star ratings from Charity Navigator.

 

OUR MISSION

Repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives.

OUR VISION

Safe homes and communities for everyone.

Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan

Rebuilding Together Southeast Michigan (RTSEM) is one of 129 affiliates in 39 states, which mobilize volunteers to perform critical home repairs at no cost to help low-income homeowners, veterans, seniors, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable families with children. Rebuilding Together puts the Principles of Healthy Homes into practice to correct health and safety hazards in older, high-risk homes through a volunteer-based delivery system of unmatched cost effectiveness. As a local nonprofit organization, RTSEM is grounded in our community, partnering each year with 40 small businesses, corporations, civic and faith-based organizations to mobilize more than 1,000 volunteers to assist 50 low-income homeowner households per year. Since 1992, RTSEM has leveraged $8.8 million in volunteer labor to help over 1,100 low-income households.

Our Values
  • Equitable: we strive to treat all people with integrity and respect in our actions

 

  • Community-minded: we are collaborative and seek to engage in meaningful partnerships with residents, neighborhoods, organizations, faith-based groups, and municipalities 

 

  • Proactive: we are cognizant of the diverse needs of every homeowner and community, we respond by being open and creative in evolving our model of care 

 

  • Data-driven: we track and sustain data on our service to make decisions and educate based on quantifiable and consistent information 

 

  • Sustainable: we are committed to strategic thinking that upholds a model of longevity, financial responsibility and maintaining a standard of excellence