C_0727 Porchlight - Rebuilding Together Long Beach

Spring/Summer 2005
We Can!
Our Mission
Rebuilding
Together Long
Beach works in
partnership with
the community to
provide home
repair services
without charge to
low-income
families, older
adults and people
with disabilities
so that they may
live in warmth,
safety and
independence.
By Peter J. Glaeser
T
here are a lot of things Rebuilding Together Long Beach cannot do. But
we like to focus on what we can do. For example, we may not be able
to impact the poverty rate in our community, but we can improve the
quality of life of low-income homeowners. We cannot provide new homes
but we can improve existing homes. We can help people to be warmer and
safer. We can reduce the likelihood of in-home accidents and injuries. We can
improve the health and well-being of young children and older adults alike living in unsafe,
unhealthy conditions. You can too!
A year ago, we set our sites on developing our pool of skilled trades volunteers and house
captains. We feel really good about the progress we’ve made but we still have a way to go.
Being a house captain doesn’t require construction experience—what it really requires is
organizational and management experience. If leading projects and people is one of your
strengths, you can be a house captain or a volunteer coordinator on one of our rebuilding days.
Skilled trades workers aren’t always able to volunteer their time or donate materials on the
day we need them in April or October—but that doesn’t mean we can’t use you! Our new
program, Safe-Stay (see article on page 2) needs skilled workers throughout the year to
make small, but vital home modifications such as installing grab bars, thresholds, proper
lighting, repairing steps and railings, and so on. If you are in one of the skilled trades, such
as plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. you can help with Safe Stay!
In spite of the materials and supplies contributed by our local vendors, it takes cash to run
this organization. We must purchase insurance, paper, postage, make phone calls and buy
whatever we are not able to get donated. We have several community partners who have
stood by us for many years and we are grateful for your support—but if we are going serve
more of our community, we have to bring in new sponsors. You can help repair a home!
You can help build a wheelchair ramp! You can help keep low-income homeowners safe in
their own homes by becoming one of our sponsors!
Please contact us at 562.490.3802 to learn more ways YOU CAN support Rebuilding Together
Long Beach!
The Honorable Mayor Beverly O'Neill supports
an emotional Darlene Anderson, homeownerrecipient, as she cheers on Boeing volunteers
working to make Mrs. Anderson's home safe
and warm.
A jubilant Darlene Anderson shares
her Rebuilding Day excitement with
volunteer Lisa Gruber of Keller
Williams Realty.
RTLB Rolls Out “Safe Stay”—A Home
Modifications Program
E
ach and every one of us would prefer to age in our
own homes—where we feel most safe, comfortable
and secure. However, for many older adults—the
home is not safe and not secure. Not only are falls are
the leading cause of injuries to older people in the
United States, but 60% of deaths for people over 65 are
the result of a fall at home. Incredibly, many of these
injuries and deaths could be prevented altogether. In
fact, studies estimate that 33%-50% of all accidents
occurring within the home could have been prevented
through home modifications.
According to a survey conducted by the AARP in 2000,
37% of older adult respondents fail to make such home
modifications because they are unable to do it
themselves and 29% indicated they fear they cannot
trust contractors. Affordability was an obstacle for 36%
of respondents and nearly one out of every four had no
one on whom they could call to do it for them.
Additionally, many older adults are reluctant to admit
their home doesn’t work for them for fear of stigmatizing
themselves as ‘frail’, ‘needy’, or ‘dependent’. Rather than
considering the need as a deficiency in the home, older
adults tend to consider these needs deficiencies in
themselves and adjust their lifestyles by using the stairs,
the kitchen and the shower less frequently, compromising
their health and risking injury in the process.
Rebuilding Together Long Beach has the experience,
the expertise and the integrity to ameliorate the
concerns of older adults who do not have skills, the
financial resources nor the family support to perform
the home modification and repair to make themselves
safe in their own homes. And thanks to support from
Archstone Foundation, we have the resources to
undertake this new initiative!
Safe-Stay will offer in-home risk assessment and provide
both simple and relatively complex home modifications to
mitigate those risks for older adult homeowners,
regardless of the homeowner’s income level. These
modifications may include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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lever-type door handles
smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
indoor and outdoor motion sensing lights
security screen-doors
grab bars for the shower/bath
single hand kitchen, bath and shower faucets
hand-held shower heads
repairs to steps and handrails
RTLB applauds Archstone Foundation for their visionary
leadership in service to older adults in our community
and for supporting this new program.
To be successful, the Safe-Stay program needs a pool of skilled trades
volunteers willing to donate one day per month (or less!) to make home
modifications for qualified applicants. With a list of willing workers to
draw from, the office can contact you by phone or email, describe the
need, identify and supply the materials you’ll require and set a day and
time for you to make the repairs/modifications. Please contact Sherry
Diamond at 562.490.3802 or sherrydiamond@earthlink.net if you are available
and interested in helping out with this new program!
e
Upcoming Events
Mark your Calendars!
Make a Difference Day...October 22nd
Summer Picnic...Date To Be Announced
Deadline to apply for Make a Difference Day...June 30th
Deadline to register as a Volunteer or Sponsor...September 30th
Call 562.490.3802 for Sponsorship Pledge or Volunteer Registration Forms
Y
C Porch Talk
by Sherry Diamond
Last April, it all came together—like placing the last
piece of a 1000 piece puzzle. Grace Brethren provided
90 volunteers, divided over two separate properties.
The congregation and church members even prepared
all the breakfast and lunch foods for their assigned
sites! I visited each project and was so impressed with
their workmanship, their spirit and their enthusiasm.
But I wasn’t surprised—after all, I had met Eric and I
recognized the essence of his vision and his leadership
in those I spoke with that day.
A
bout a year and a half
ago, after being on the
job just a few months, I
met with a fellow named Eric
Marsh, Pastor of Grace Brethren
Church in Bixby Knolls. We sat
outdoors at a local coffee house,
and talked about our respective
missions over a couple of lattes.
Eric leads a large congregation
many of whom are in skilled trades and they make a
regular practice of assisting their membership in need
of home repairs but who are alone or not able to make
the repairs themselves. He shared his vision of growing
his church in service to their community and drew a
schematic on a piece of paper showing how he saw his
plan unfolding over the next year or so. I took out a
piece of paper and drew a diagram showing where
Rebuilding Together Long Beach was in its
development and where I saw us heading. When we
placed the two paradigms side by side—they fit
together like a jigsaw puzzle! It was magical. We
promised to stay in touch and plan for how we might
work together on Rebuilding Day.
Thanks to the efforts of these wonderful people, we
were able to provide so much more than we
anticipated in the way of home repairs to our lowincome neighbors. And even when our job was done,
Grace Brethren still wasn’t finished. They took up a
collection to provide a new bed for one of the
homeowners.
Rebuilding Together is not a faith-based organization,
but in Grace Brethren, we found a mission so aligned
with our own, it was an easy partnership to forge.
THANK YOU GRACE BRETHREN!!! We look forward to
lasting partnership in service to our shared community.
Board of Directors
Peter J. Glaeser, President
Diane Anglin, Director
Christina McKay, Director
Khryste Langlais, Secretary
Katy Black, Director
Beverly Workmon, Director
Kris Glaeser, Treasurer
Michele Chapel, Director
Kirsten Larsen, Advisory Council
N
eighborhood
blight is an
insidious thing.
Our experience has
shown us time and
again that deferred
maintenance does more
than perpetuate
neighborhood blight; it
creates a ripple effect
with a 3-layered negative impact:
Neighborhood
Matters
• it threatens residents' physical health and safety;
• it tends to instill a lingering sense of powerlessness
and despair as homes all around deteriorate; and
• it tends to provoke animosity and disharmony
among neighbors.
Thanks to a generous grant from California Community
Foundation, RTLB designated four of its six Rebuilding
Day projects in one
neighborhood—the 6th
district—in an effort to
ameliorate both visible and
invisible blight.
By concentrating our home
rehabilitation effort in
Central Long Beach, we
hoped to make a more
substantial impact, not only reducing visible blight but
by rallying the spirit and enthusiasm of the
neighborhood itself. Our goal was to inspire a stronger
sense of community and neighborhood pride,
encourage neighborhood leadership and build positive,
lasting relationships among neighbors that will carry on
long after the work is done.
Our deepest appreciation to California Community
Foundation for sponsoring this initiative.
I
n a single day, more than 300 Rebuilding
Together Long Beach volunteers joined
hands with tens of thousands of likeminded citizens across the nation for National
Rebuilding Day, the annual event held by
Rebuilding Together, Inc.
Rebuilding Together Long Beach selected five
homes and one non-profit to receive critically
needed repairs in its effort to improve the living
conditions that compromise health and well-being
of Long Beach's low-income residents.
Recipients this year ranged in age from 39-94 and included a local
volunteer honored as a Community Super Hero in 2000 by
Councilwoman Laura Richardson; a disabled single mother of two
boys, one of whom is autistic; a retired crossing guard whose
bathroom plumbing was severely deteriorated; an older adult who
lives on a second story but could not safely come and go because
of damage to the stairs and a non-profit providing shelter and
transitional living skills to 15 women for the last 30 years.
Before
Deep and heartfelt thanks to our sponsors this year: Archstone
Foundation, California Community Foundation, Union Bank of
California, Swinerton Construction, Clark Construction Group,
The Boeing Company, Denso Sales of California, Seal Beach Lions
Club, Home Depot, Sherwin Williams and the City of Long Beach.
After
Special thanks also to A la Carte Catering, Posh
Parties & Special Events and to Grace Brethren
Church for providing food and beverages to our
hungry workers!
Plans are underway for Make a Difference Day,
October 22nd—our next community rebuilding
day. If you would like to sponsor this event,
please contact Sherry Diamond at 562.490.3802.
“It was awesome to see so many beautiful people
working so diligently to beautify with paint
and scrubbing—everything so clean and new.”
“Thank you for
making it so much
easier for me to
get around my
home with the
handrails and
everything else.”
RTLB’s Pete Glaeser Makes the Finals!!!
F
or his contribution and dedication to Rebuilding
Together Long Beach over the past several years,
long standing volunteer and Board of Directors
President Peter J. Glaeser was selected as one of six
finalists in IRWIN Tools’ Second Annual Tradesman of
the Year contest. IRWIN Industrial Tool Company
manufactures and distributes professional grade hand
tools and power tool accessories worldwide and is a
national partner to Rebuilding Together, Inc.
For the second year in a row, IRWIN Tools honored the
contributions of men and women in skilled trades who
volunteer their time and talent to support Rebuilding
Together. The trades are key to the success of
Rebuilding Together efforts, as they guide and direct
the work of unskilled volunteers and perform critically
needed repairs ensuring low-income homeowner safety.
As a finalist, Pete and his wife Kris were be flown to
North Carolina last January for a personal interview and
tour of the IRWIN facilities. Pete also received IRWIN hand
tools, power tool accessories and tool boxes along with
training in the use of IRWIN Tools. Pete plans to offer
these as opportunity drawing prizes as a fund raiser for
RTLB later this year—so stay tuned for your chance to
win! “It was an honor to be nominated and to make the
finals was very humbling. I had great time meeting other
the finalists—they were great people. Not only did we
have our work in common, but our commitment to
Rebuilding Together too. We learned a lot and had a lot
of fun too. It was a great experience“, says Pete. The
Pete Glaeser and wife Kris (RTLB Treasurer), traveled to North
Carolina to receive Finalist Special Honors
Grand Prize winner received a five days and four nights,
all-expenses paid trip for two to Super Bowl XXXVIIII in
Jacksonville, Florida, including special recognition at the
NFL/Rebuilding Together News Conference.
Pete joined Rebuilding Together Long Beach in the mid1990’s and has since played a tremendous role in the
growth and development of the affiliate including
increasing the involvement of skilled trades and suppliers
at the local level, recruiting project leaders and soliciting
donations of critically needed materials and supplies.
Pete is currently serving his second term as Board
president. We want Pete to know, that no matter the
outcome of the contest, he is our Tradesman of the Year!
Great Neighbors—The Boeing Company
hat makes a neighborhood great are the
neighbors themselves. Rebuilding Together
Long Beach is proud to call The Boeing
Company a great neighbor. The
Boeing Company is Long Beach’s
largest employer. But more
importantly, Boeing believes in
supporting its community in every
way. The Boeing Company has long
been a champion of Rebuilding
Together Long Beach. For several years running, Boeing
has supported us with a Community Builder
Sponsorship to make significant repairs on a home. But
they do so much more! Boeing provides about 75
employee volunteers to perform the tasks, provides its
own House Captains and Volunteer Coordinators, and
gets the job done with virtually no assistance from the
RTLB office. They are a finely-tuned machine! Running
that machine are three amazing neighbors: Noy Louer,
Nathan Beck and Joe Black.
employee for 24 years, acts as House Captain each year.
Nathan assists in identifying the scope of work,
developing a budget for the project, shopping for the
materials and supplies and then works
from dawn to dusk to get it done.
Also serving as House Captain each
year is Joe Black. Joe holds a
special place in Rebuilding
Together’s heart. Not only does he
contribute to our organization
through his relationship with Boeing, but he assists
throughout the year in site selection, special projects
(like the inventory of our storage unit this spring!) and
takes leadership roles in our Make a Difference Day
home repair projects. A Boeing employee for 23 years,
Joe is married to RTLB Board member Katy Black, also a
Boeing employee. (Both Katy and Joe were RTLBBoeing volunteers on the same project before they
met!) For his dedication to volunteerism, we nominated
Joe for The Boeing Company’s ‘William Allen Award.’
Good luck Joe!!!
Noy, who has worked for Boeing for 4 1/2 years,
coordinates the project through our office and
organizes all the volunteers for Boeing’s Rebuilding Day
assignment—a monumental task. Nathan, a Boeing
We could not do what we do without great neighbors
like these. Thank you Noy, Nathan and Joe and thank
you Boeing!
W
Thank You!
THANK YOU to the businesses, groups and individuals who together, with approximately 500 volunteers, helped
rehabilitate 10 homes in Long Beach during the 2004 – 2005 Rebuilding Year. Since our inception, our generous
volunteers and financial sponsors have renovated 197 homes and nonprofit facilities in the community, creating over
$2 million in market value.
Since 1992, Rebuilding Together Long Beach has worked in partnership with the community to provide home repair
services without charge to low-income families, older adults and disabled homeowners so that they may live in
warmth, safety and independence.
COMMUNITY BUILDERS
($10,000 or more)
Archstone Foundation
California Community
Foundation
City of Long Beach
TOWN BUILDERS
($5,000 or more)
Swinerton Construction
Union Bank of California
NEIGHBORHOOD
BUILDERS
($3,000 or more)
The Boeing Company
Clark Construction Group
The Home Depot
Wal-Mart Foundation
HOME BUILDERS
($1,000 or more)
DENSO Sales of California
Phenomenex, Inc.
Roy E. Crummer
Foundation
Amy & Joe Witten
ASSOCIATE BUILDERS
($500 or more)
Katy & Joe Black
Pete & Kris Glaeser
Honeywell Employees
Contribution
Kirsten Larsen
Seal Beach Lions Club
Seal Beach Leo Club
NEIGHBORS
($250 or more)
Michele Chapel
Clark Employee
Designated Charities
Did you know...?
Countrywide Home Loans
Gail Kasovac
(in memory of Ron Lupo)
May Foundation
FRIENDS
(Up to $249)
Lynette & George Foe-Aman
Diane & Kirk Anglin
Anonymous
Jeanne-Marie Bowland
Tyler & Kathryn Jeanne
Bowland
CSULB: Associated
Students
Katherine M. Davis
Laine and Debra DeJong
Silvia Estabrook
(in honor of
Tom & Maria Gaab)
Alan & Lesley Keating
Chris & Khryste Langlais
Steve & Angela Leighton
Christina & Doug McKay
Elayne Mendlovitz
Diane C. Moos
Nancy Prentice
Norma Reed
Dennis & Julia Schmidt
Beverly Workmon
In-kind Donors
A la Carte Catering
ALL Roofing
AO Reed
BARR Lumber
Berg Electric
BJs Restaurant &
Brewhouse
Buono’s Pizza
California State University,
Long Beach
California Waste Services
Patti Cronan
Mona Eikner & Lee Cuy
Ferguson
Food Finders
Forty-Niner Shops
Glaeser Management
Company
Grace Brethren Church
RM Hasson
Randall McAnany
Midwest Roof Repair
National Construction
Rentals
Pan Pacific Plumbing
Posh Parties & Special
Events
Premiere
Premiere Products
RBE Painting
Rebuilding Together
Southern California
Sherwin Williams
Southland Industries
Southlenz Photography
& Design
SmoothJazz News
Summit Events
TGIS Catering
Paul Torres
Vanderpass Electric
Van’s Gourmet Gifts
Ben Wang
Project Leaders
Diane Anglin
Nathan Beck
Rick Beeney
Joe Black
Katy Black
Ken Brown
John DeBartolo
Dan Dobler
Alan Ferguson
Wendy Ferguson
Aaronya Foster
Kris Glaeser
Pete Glaeser
Nancy Himmel
Rachel Hively
Molly Huddleston
Forty percent of the homes in Long Beach are
over 50 years old—and nearly 18% of those homes were built in before 1930!
Cory Ingram
Gary Ingram
Karl Krug
Khryste Langlais
Noy Louer
Eric Marsh
Christina McKay
Doug McKay
Terri Nicoletich
Dave Parson
Brett Waterfield
Meredith Wilson
Tom Wilson
Nancy Woods
Volunteer Groups
Auslich Ski Club
The Boeing Company
California State University,
Long Beach
Clark Construction Group
Glaeser Management
Company
Grace Brethren Church
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Long Beach City College
Criminal Justice
Paramount High School
Phenomenex, Inc.
Poly High School
Rancho Los Amigos
Hospital Occupational
Therapists
Seal Beach Leos
Seal Beach Lions
Toyota Logistics
Swinerton Construction
Union Bank of California
Wal-Mart Stores
Wells Fargo
Rebuilding Together Long Beach
thanks our recent contributors
Archstone Foundation
California Community Foundation
Swinerton Construction
Union Bank of California
Clark Construction Group
The Boeing Company
The Home Depot
DENSO Sales of California
Seal Beach Lions Club
Seal Beach Leos Club
Glaeser Management Company
Sherwin Williams
Vans Gourmet Gifts
BJs Restaurant & Brewhouse
Buono's Pizza
Posh Parties & Special Events
A laCarte Catering
Southlenz Photography & Design
Randall McAnany
Pan Pacific Plumbing
California Waste Services
P.O. Box 3823
Long Beach, California 90803
Visit us at:
www.rebuildingtogetherlongbeach.org
or email us at:
info@rebuildingtogetherlongbeach.org
Hosted by BJ’s Restaraunt &
Brewhouse, RTLB thanks
House Captains and
Volunteer Coordinators for
their leadership
Executive Director Sherry
Diamond and Board
Members Diane Anglin and
Christina McKay celebrate a
successful Rebuilding Day.