Close to 1,000 volunteers from around the area helped renovate five-dozen Alexandria homes Saturday as part of Rebuilding Together Alexandria’s efforts on National Rebuilding Day.
The volunteers carried out countless different tasks at residences around the city belonging to low-income residents, including the elderly, disabled and military veterans and their families. More than 90 homeowners are receiving some sort of home-improvement aid from RTA this month, according to Executive Director Katharine Medina.
Tasks ranged from all manner of construction duties to painting and simple yard work. In some cases, funds were available to replace appliances that no longer worked, like refrigerators.
Yet other tasks were as simple as changing light bulbs to more energy efficient compact fluorescent lighting or adding weatherizing strips to ill-fitting door frames.
House captains, the site leaders charged with overseeing the renovations at the locales around town, noted that the improvements generally served to increase the value of each home, benefiting from the community-wide service effort.
In 23 years to date, in-kind donations of labor and materials for RTA have resulted in $4.39 million worth of value added to homes of the residents of the city, according to the organization.