Rebuilding Together Oakland East Bay

Volunteers and Donors. You are the Difference. - https://mailchi.mp/rtoakland.org/donate-298126

Volunteers and Donors. You are the Difference. -*https://www.rtoakland.org/donate*

Thank you!! Our amazing volunteers delivered 200 PPE bags to our seniors in Oakland. Common Humanity Collective graciously donated masks and hand sanitizer. We are so grateful.

What a difference a roof makes. Help us to continue with Roof Repairs. to perform Home Mobility Modifications, and allow us to keep operations moving ahead. - *www.rtoakland.org*

VOLUNTEER December 15th. Deliver PPE to Oakland Seniors on Tuesday. - https://mailchi.mp//gather-together-2020-online-free-regis

Gratitude to all of our community partners in Alameda County. Thank you Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. #gratitude #partners #together

Time for the next installment of our Behind every front door campaign: The Cathedral. Mr. and Mrs. F. insisted they could do everything themselves. Sound familiar? Their niece, Linda, completed their request for help because she knew they wouldn't. Together, our skilled and unskilled volunteers finished repairs, discovered a patio under inches of dirt and overgrowth in the yard, and completed replacement of a rear entrance stairway - with a small sitting area added for ...comfort. We know it takes a lot of trust to accept help. Now in their 90s, Mr. and Mrs. F told us that we earned their trust. They shared their gift of poetry and storytelling with us. "We've named the stair and sitting area ‘The Cathedral.’ It is a place to contemplate and appreciate everyone who has helped us. Every day as we step out and feel the fresh air, we experience the bounty of your kindness." Mr. and Mrs. F., thank you for letting us earn your trust. Your donations and your volunteer time make it possible to help neighbors like Mr. and Mrs. F. https://www.rtoakland.org/volunteer.html Please donate here today. https://www.rtoakland.org/donate1.html

You guessed it! Time for the fifth installment of our Behind every front door campaign. A man and his best friend, Hey. Mr. Gilbert is a very sweet man who has a hard time walking and breathing. His dog, Hey, is his best friend and his only companion. Although they live in a house, Mr. Gilbert lives in a single room and is unable to leave the house due to health issues. The stairs to the yard are broken. And even if they weren't, there is no dog door for Hey to get outsid...e, so Hey relieves himself inside the house. Mr. Gilbert does what little he can to clean up. Then, they sit together and keep each other company the way friends do. Desperate to get Mr. Gilbert some help, his social worker reached out to RTO. We visited his home and saw things were even worse than described. The interior animal waste and debris have created a cascading number of issues, including contributing to Mr. Gilbert’s poor health. Our sponsor partners, Wendel Rosen LLP and Bell Investment Advisors, were able to repair and replace Mr. Gilbert’s rear deck, stairs and door, and install a dog doora good first step. We tried to pull up the carpet, but once we lifted the edges, we knew we needed to call in an industrial cleaning crew. The subflooring may also require replacement. Sometimes, we need to pay professionals to do the industrial-strength work. And typically, these partners give us a discount or provide some services for free. Our ability to provide the help our neighbors need relies on your donations and your volunteer time. https://www.rtoakland.org/volunteer.html Help us to rebuild the lives of Mr. Gilbert and Hey, and so many of our neighbors in similar situations. Donate here today. https://www.rtoakland.org/donate1.html

And now for the fourth installment of our Behind every front door campaign. Let’s help Grandma raise her grandchildren in a warm safe home! Mrs. MG is the guardian of her three grandchildren, ages 5 through 12. On a limited income, it is all she can do to care for her family, make ends meet and address her and her husband’s health needs. Mrs. MG suffers from extreme arthritis in her hip and both knees, and is recovering from a hip replacement. Although she is healing, she ...remains severely disabled due to her knees. Her husband is also disabled. Hired help for household repairs is simply not in the budget. We visited Mrs. MG and found that we could help. We tested the peeling exterior paint on her home and learned that it contained lead. Lead contaminants were on the ground where her grandchildren play and portions of her home’s exterior walls were separating. We also found a large amount debris in the garage and on the property, which limited the grandchildren's access to the yard. Individual volunteers, like you, signed up -- and showed up -- to help us with lead abatement of Mrs. MG’s home. Together, we scraped paint, removed lead chips from the property and repaired portions of the exterior walls. Our sponsor partner Wells Fargo primed the walls, repainted and filled up a 40-cubic yard debris box with items from the property. Help change the lives and the stories of our neighbors in need this holiday season! Start a monthly gift to Rebuilding Together Oakland East Bay. All of our work relies on your donations and volunteer time. https://www.rtoakland.org/volunteer.html Please help rebuild our communities together. Donate today! https://www.rtoakland.org/donate1.html And please consider sponsoring a project work team or making a donation at https://www.rtoakland.org/business-commitment-and-sponsorsh to support this important work to help your neighbors.

It’s time for the third installment of our Behind every front door campaign. Meet Mr. G who wants desperately to bring his wife home. Four weeks ago, Mr. G’s wife moved to a senior home because she could no longer navigate their home safely. He reached out to ask us for help. Our team made safety modifications and helped him to plan what needs to happen next. RTO helped to get Mr. G on the road to bringing his wife home. Help change the lives and the stories of our neighbor...s in need this holiday season! Start a monthly gift to Rebuilding Together Oakland East Bay. All of our work relies on your donations and volunteer time. https://www.rtoakland.org/volunteer.html Please help rebuild our communities together. Donate today! https://www.rtoakland.org/donate1.html And please consider sponsoring a project work team or making a donation at https://www.rtoakland.org/business-commitment-and-sponsorsh to support this important work to help your neighbors.

Here it is! The second installment of our Behind every front door campaign. Meet Miss Grevenberg. At 92, she still lives in the childhood home where she grew up with her father and uncles. She told RTO, "I don't know how caring for my home got away from me. My uncles would be so ashamed." It was this feeling of shame that stopped Miss G. from reaching out for help. Often, the first step in working with our neighbors is helping them see that these challenges happen to many p...eople and they can happen to anyone. Working with Miss G., her niece and four wonderful volunteer teams, we removed the peeling lead paint from her home, repaired the rear porch so that she could safely access her yard, and cleared the mountains of brush that made navigating the yard impossible. RTO is ecstatic that Miss G. can now feel proud of her home again. In the past three weeks, we received 369 requests for help. All of our work relies on your donations and volunteer time. Please help rebuild our communities together by donating today https://www.rtoakland.org/donate1.html and/or signing up to volunteer https://www.rtoakland.org/volunteer.html. Please consider sponsoring a project work team or making a donation at https://www.rtoakland.org/business-commitment-and-sponsorsh to support this important work to help your neighbors. We will share more stories of our neighbors in Oakland and throughout Alameda County in the weeks to come!

"Behind every front door" is a neighbor with a story, and we invite you to meet Mrs. Spence. While picking up her son, she was hit by another driver and nearly lost her life. Originally warned "she might not make it," she has survived five operations and now wears a full body brace. While her brace is a lifesaver, it is also an ongoing mobility challenge. RTO was able to help. We installed grab bars and safety items to help Mrs. Spence navigate and removed accumulated debris ...to improve access all allowing her to remain in the home in which she was raised. Mrs. Spence remembers simpler, happier times when she was a young girl and lived with her mother. The RTO team scraped and then painted her home the color of her childhood. She said, "It gives me a feeling of joy." This is the first of our "Behind every front door" campaign, aimed at showcasing the stories of our neighbors in Oakland and throughout Alameda County. All of RTO’s work relies on donations and volunteers. Please help rebuild our communities together and donate today. https://www.rtoakland.org/donate1.html

RTO makes a difference in people's lives. Our sincere thanks to Magdalena Spence for sharing her personal story. There was not a dry eye in the boat house at our annual Gather Together event earlier this month. Magdalena inspired us all!

We were honored to have Christian "Chris" Stuetz’ family with us at our annual Gather Together event on Oct. 3. Chris left an indelible mark on everyone he encountered with his generosity, selflessness and love. Chris' daughter Sarah and wife Kathy accepted our Outstanding Volunteer Award (in memorium) for Chris.

In case you weren’t able to join us at our annual Gather Together event earlier this month, we’d like to tip our hats to Wendel Rosen LLP, recipient of our Champion Award! Wendel Rosen has been a volunteer partner to RTO for 15 years! We are grateful for the firm’s support, as they help us make a difference in Oakland.