Rebuilding Together Near Heartwell Park

Suppose the home you’ve owned for several decades is getting a bit tired. Walls are dirty or at least in need of paint, some plumbing fixtures are unreliable, rugs are a major question mark. And you’re a person on limited income, well past qualifying for Social Security with few options to spruce things up.

In a nutshell, that’s what Rebuilding Together is all about. And combined with Spectrum Housing Assist, well there’s a way to not only help a homeowner, but to add a bit of value to the neighborhood.

According to Long Beach Rebuilding Together president, Terri Griffith, a retired UCI linguistics professor, the organization began as Christmas in April in 1992. By the time Griffith got involved in 2010, it had become Rebuilding Together, part of a national organization with 140 independent local affiliates. “We do 30 to 40 projects a year, two to three a month,” said Griffith. “We take off the holidays.”

On April 7, Griffith brought her Rebuilding Together crew to a Heartwell Park area house in need of some TLC. According to a Spectrum press release, the house belongs to an “elderly, low income disabled woman, who has lived in her home for 38 years.”

Griffiths described the typical recipient of their services. “A woman, who never worked much in her life, average age of 70, because of their age, husband has predeceased. She has an annual income of about $15,000. Two thirds are physically or financially disabled. They have to submit an application. We verify income and home ownership. We do not do this for renters. If we did, the landlord would double the rent. We want to create a safe environment for people who want to age in place.”

Rebuilding Together differs from Habitat For Humanity in several key ways, said Griffith. “Habitat For Humanity builds houses from the ground up.” Then the house carries a mortgage, owned by Habitat. Rebuilding Together has no such repayment requirement. “Our services are free. And we don’t have a national president” as a role model.

“Volunteers choose us,” said Griffith about those skilled in various trades, from carpentry to plumbing and those who don’t mind expending a little elbow grease, painting moving furniture and shaking out rugs.

In the case of the Heartwell Park rebuild, the crew removed furniture, painted the living room and dining room, vacuumed the rugs, primarily because the heavy furniture had not been moved in the time, washed down all the walls, applied two coats of paint on the hall, bathroom and a bedroom. Earlier, a plumber replaced an ordinary toilet with an ADA model, also replaced the tub with a walk in shower, which required plaster and dry wall. Reinforced the kitchen sink.”

Because of expected rain, some outside work such as “scraping the wood around the windows and the wood trim, installing a wheelchair ramp, reinforcing the gate in the back and turning an old dog run into a veggie garden” had to be deferred, local politicos were scheduled to show up as the work began.

Long Beach Police East Division Commander Erik Herzog was there to greet the volunteers and assist in handing out 168 Safe and Healthy Home Kits, complete with a first aid kit, smoke detector, night light and an AM/FM radio among other items, amounting to Spectrum’s unique approach to involve the neighborhood. According to Griffith, these kits are unique to Spectrum, which they always supply, along with volunteers.

The application process is straightforward. When an application is vetted, the project is scheduled on a waiting list, often not as soon as all parties would prefer. If the applicant “has a code enforcement problem, we tell them it won’t get it done by your due date.” In most cases, enforcement is willing to delay the process.

It’s illegal for code enforcement to refer houses to Rebuilding Together, but city employees are often involved as volunteers, having engaged in 223 projects. Volunteers from Long Beach police were also present.

“We have a large grant from the city to work only on mobile homes. Many of them are in much worse condition.” In the city’s 18 to 22 parks, “we have done four or five mobile homes.”

“If your relative, neighbor or someone you know needs our assistance, download the application,” said Griffith, who also suggested to “click on the donate button.”

As to this project’s sponsor, Spectrum, Griffith said, “We do a couple of projects with Spectrum a year. This is our fourth project with Spectrum. We have eight or ten similar sponsors, which bring either money or volunteers or both.”

In the case of this house, repairing the roof was not required. Spectrum volunteers were hard at work, despite the presence of a DirectTV dish on the roof of the house.

steve@beachcomber.news