more info...

Recent News & Events

Create Warm, Dry and Safe homes for the New Year! – A call to action in support of the Rebuilding Together Montgomery County vision of a safe and healthy home for everyone.

RTMC in the News – RTMC writes piece for the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP) and DARO Realty, Inc. newsletters. RTMC is working on a new initiative to engage retired, skilled trade seniors to volunteer for housing projects. For the December RSVP newsletter, RTMC wrote a short piece about our mission, vision and programs; in addition, making an appeal to interested seniors.

In 2006, Daro Realty, Inc got involved in Rebuilding Together in Montgomery County, resulting in a great relationship: Daro Realty has sponsored three homes during the Spring Rebuild Days from 2006 - 2008. In the piece written for the Daro newsletter, RTMC highlights the supportive relationship between Daro Realty and RTMC.

New Orleans Bound: Paul Sciannella, a long-time House Captain with Ashton United Methodist Church, is planning his annual trip down to New Orleans for some much needed volunteer home repair work. Interested participants would need to be in New Orleans by 6pm on Sunday February 8th and will be finished Friday afternoon February 13th.  Once in New Orleans, lodging, meals and local transportation are all provided free of charge. You must pay your own way to New Orleans, and currently flights are running around $200 and up round trip.  If you are interested in participating, please contact Paul directly at paul.sciannella@frb.gov.           

Fire Safety in the home –Safety in the home is one of the important goals of RTMC, so we would like to share a segment on Fire Safety brought to us by the TODAY show and Montgomery County Interim Fire Chief Richard Bowers.  The purpose of the segment was to show residents how to respond to house fires in order to ensure safety of families members.

The segment can be seen on the Montgomery County website blog at: http://mcfrs.blogspot.com/2008/12/surviving-house-fire.html

Fundraising Successes

Holiday Appeal Comes to Facebook –With the fast approaching holiday season, RTMC is launching a new online initiative. We created a cause on Facebook for those who would like to donate to help Montgomery County families in need. Especially with the weather becoming increasing colder, the need is greater than ever! Help your neighbor have a safe, warm and dry holiday season.  To donate, please email Ana Cimino at acimino@rebuildingtogethermc.org or visit her Facebook page.

Spring Rebuilding Day Sign-up Now Open – The April project day sponsorship packets have been mailed. If your company, organization or faith based community did not receive a sponsorship packet and would like to sponsor a home in April, please let RTMC know!

Contact Lee –Berkeley at 301-933-2700 or lshaw@rebuildingtogethermc.org

New Grants:  RTMC is pleased to report on new funding opportunities:

• RTMC received a $15,000 pledge from Potomac Valley Brick. Thank you so much!!
• RTMC received a $30,000 grant for a 2 year period from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation through their MD Small Grants Program.
• RTMC has received over $9,000 in donations in response to our fall appeal and we are still accepting donations!
• RTMC has submitted a full proposal to the Montgomery County Community Foundation after our initial Letter of Inquiry was recently accepted.
• RTMC has applied for the Housing Impact Funds provided by the Home Depot. Grants up to $3000 are available.
• In response to the RTMC Cause on Facebook, $210 has been donated and 32 people have joined the cause!

Get More From Your Travels:  You can support RTMC as you vacation with your family or travel on business. RTMC has a partnership with YTB Travel, a website comparable to expedia or orbitz, but where RTMC receives 40% of the commission on booked travel. By booking your vacations or business travel on our site, you are supporting RTMC at no additional cost to yourself! For more information, go to http://www.ytbtravel.com/rebuildingtogether.

We at RTMC know that these are difficult times. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated by RTMC, thank you!

RT National News

RT National Heroes at Home Initiative aided by Sears fundraising effort. Sears has been a supporter of the Heroes at Home Initiative since 2007. The focus of this initiative is to provide home repairs and accessibility modifications for our veterans. The Sears fundraiser runs until December 28th. Sears will donate a certain percentage of profit after a purchase with a Sears’s credit card purchased gift card. Customers can also make donations on the Sears website or at the store.

RT National Media – In the November 21st edition of the Philanthropy section of the New York Times there was an ad for RT National. http://www.rebuildingtogether.org/content/resource/detail/3550/

14th Annual  “Kickoff to Rebuild” comes to RT Tampa Bay- For the past 14 years the NFL has participated in the annual “Kick off to Rebuild” where and homes in the community hosting the super bowl are rehabbed. This year it will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida where 500 community volunteers, including NFL players, will join together to repair 15 homes.  The American Petroleum Institute is one of the title sponsors this year and will be provided energy efficient repairs.  API sponsored a house in Montgomery County this past summer.

The Need is Great:  The Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released The State of the Nation's Housing 2008 report.  The report discusses the current housing crisis and projections for the future.  http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/son/index.htm

Getting Involved

Volunteer Opportunities:  We are looking for a few good men (or women!).

• VOLUNTEER NEEDED ASAP: A carpenter to replace rotting supports and railings on a front entry porch in Silver Spring. Please contact Kathy Thrower @ kthrower@rebuildingtogethermc.org

• Flexible – Miscellaneous punch-list items from various recent projects. Need basic carpentry skills and tools. To volunteer, contact Scot Weeks at sweeks@rebuildingtogethermc.org
• Flexible  – 1-2 volunteers needed to provide gutter repairs for a ranch-style home in Silver Spring. Contact Scot Weeks at sweeks@rebuildingtogethermc.org
• Flexible – 1 volunteer needed to rebuild 4-5 window screen frames for a family on the Gaithersburg/Rockville border. Contact Scot Weeks at sweeks@rebuildingtogethermc.org
• Flexible - 2 volunteers with carpentry skills needed to install wooden porch columns and repair a fence gate for a home in Silver Spring. Contact Scot Weeks at sweeks@rebuildingtogethermc.org
• Flexible - 2-3 volunteers needed to lay topsoil and install a wood stair rail at a home in Silver Spring. Contact Scot Weeks at sweeks@rebuildingtogethermc.org
• Ongoing – Volunteers needed to work with homeowners who struggle with excessive clutter. Contact Kathy at KThrower@rebuildingtogethermc.org
• Ongoing – administrative work in the RTMC office including filing, database entry, etc. – contact Kathy Thrower at kthrower@rebuildingtogethermc.org
• Ongoing – every third Saturday of the month, RTMC partners with Hearts & Hands to participate in a small community project. If you’d like to be involved, please contact Chris Hoffman at: jhoffman@geico.com

• Ongoing -Volunteers willing to prime and paint kitchen cabinets at their homes. We can arrange to drop off cabinets and will provide supplies. Contact Kathy Thrower at kthrower@rebuildingtogethermc.org

• On-going -Volunteer willing to organize donated paint supplies in our Gaithersburg warehouse.  Please contact Kathy Thrower at kthrower@rebuildingtogethermc.org

Ways to Give:  RTMC thanks you for all the ways you participate in our program!

• Time: see opportunities above
• Cash: give securely online at www.rebuildingtogethermc.org or contact Lee Berkeley Shaw at lshaw@rebuildingtogethermc.org for more information
• Outreach: link RTMC to potential partners or sponsors – contact Lee Berkeley Shaw at lshaw@rebuildingtogethermc.org for more information
• VACATION OR BUSINESS: RTMC receives 40% of commissions if you book your summer travel through our website – prices and search engine are the same as expedia, orbitz, etc. To support RTMC even as you spend the holidays with your family, go to: http://www.ytbtravel.com/rebuildingtogether

Back to Top