Hello Friends,

2023 is off to a fabulous start at RTMC! This fiscal year our goal is to serve 180 vulnerable families in need. I’m delighted to report that halfway through the fiscal year, we have already provided critical home repairs and accessibility modifications to 90 families, benefitting more than 200 family members. Kudos to our wonderful RTMC staff team for their relentless hard work:  Christina Devlin, Mat Saunders, Gabby Garcia, Beki Mitiku, Vivian Bacarreza Navarro, Shelby Badger, and Karen Kozopas.

In addition to serving another 90 families by June 30, 2023, the RTMC team has a full plate of activities planned to galvanize our community of ReBuilders. Please mark your calendars and join us:

1)    Our annual flagship event, National Rebuilding Day, will offer three volunteer days to choose from: April 28, April 29 or April 30, 2023. We are actively recruiting corporate and faith-based volunteer groups to join us to help 25 vulnerable families in need of critical home repairs. Deadline to sign up is February 15;

2) She Builds, a volunteer day organized by women, with women, for women will take place on May 19 in partnership with members of ABC Metro Washington (Associated Builders and Contractors) Women Building Washington Committee. ABC member companies can sponsor their women employees to participate;

3)    RTMC’s annual Cheers to Volunteers event will take place on June 1 at Smokey Glen Farms in Gaithersburg and will recognize and celebrate our volunteers and community partners;

4)    The Annual RTMC Golf Tournament will take place on October 2 at Bretton Woods Golf Course in Germantown and will raise vital funds needed for our Safe & Healthy Homes Program.

As always, your partnership is much appreciated. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting our mission of Repairing Homes, Revitalizing Communities, Rebuilding Lives, and for making the work of Rebuilding Together Montgomery County possible.

With gratitude,

Maury Peterson

Executive Director

The deadline to sign up for 2023 National Rebuilding Day (NRD) is fast approaching! This year volunteer groups will have three days to choose from: Friday, April 28; Saturday, April 29, or Sunday, April 30th. Our goal is to help 25 families in need, and we are seeking groups of volunteers from area companies, faith-based or civic groups to join us in our neighbor-helping-neighbor approach. Sign up deadline is February 15, 2023. We hope you will join us! Please click on the NRD Info Here to learn more.

We were excited to welcome our RTMC Board Members to our new offices and host our January Board meeting. It is only the second time the Board and staff team have met in person since the start of the pandemic. It was wonderful to all be together to celebrate our successes and discuss ways we can help more neighbors in need. Special thanks to our RTMC Board members for the many ways they support our mission all year long:

Nancy Floreen, Board President; Lance Wolin, Vice President; Dave Modi, Treasurer; Caitlin Grant, Secretary; and Board Members: Pazit Aviv; Omar Elrahimy; Brent Kynoch; Lee Garner; Andra Henning; Carmen Ortiz Larsen; Ed Mullaney; Guy Silas; Jean Sperling; and Francene Walker. Gratitude also to our Finance and Golf Committee Members: Jeff Drichta, Michael Moran, Brian Pettit, and Bob King. 

Small Repairs Make a Big Difference

As a way to continually improve services to our neighbors in need, we are delighted to announce the relaunch of RTMC's Handyman Program! Longtime RTMC superhero volunteers John Vilgos, Andy Wilson and Marty Severe came by the office recently to discuss the February relaunch of the program. These phenomenal wisdom keepers have decades of home repair experience, and we are so fortunate to have them on our team of volunteers. If you'd like to join our merry bunch of handypeople, please contact Beki Mitiku at bmitiku@rebuildingtogethermc.org

To ensure we are providing the best quality services to our homeowners, we ask each homeowner to complete a feedback survey immediately upon completion of the critical home repairs and then again six months later. We received this wonderful six-month survey feedback from Mrs. L, a 74-year-old homeowner from Sandy Spring. While Mrs. L. is grateful to have RTMC by her side, we feel honored to serve her and happy to know we supported her goal to safely remain in her own home for years to come.

Check Out RTMC's Expanded Offices!

As RTMC’s Safe & Healthy Homes Program grows to serve more neighbors in need, we recently expanded our Gaithersburg office space. The new space has greatly improved our organizational effectiveness and efficiency. In addition to lovely new offices, the space now houses all of our critical home repair materials, supplies, equipment, and tools, making it much easier to inventory and access project supplies. Special thanks to Brian Pettit of Pettit Companies for his support to make this important expansion possible.

 

Feel free to stop by and see us: 18225A/18223A Flower Hill Way, Gaithersburg

Homeowner Stories: Our Neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. G.

RTMC Homeowner clients Mr. and Mrs. G. have lived in their Silver Spring home for over 40 years. Mr. G. applied for services after receiving housing code violations requiring repair of fascia boards on the exterior of the home. Thanks to our partners at VAQ Renovations, all fascia boards were replaced, and the code violations were resolved. In addition, to provide improved accessibility in the bathroom, RTMC also installed a new comfort height toilet and two grab bars for the family. We also repaired a damaged ceiling.

Mr. G. is a Vietnam War Army veteran. He served as a machine gunner, cook, and in mess hall supply. When asked about his experience he said that the experience was traumatic, but he wouldn’t trade the experience. He went on to say that he still has good memories of his service and has now forgotten the "not good" memories. Every year, he and his wife go to Mount Vernon to see immigrants naturalized.

RTMC is always proud to serve our veterans. These repairs were made possible through a generous grant from the Disabled Veterans National Foundation @DVNF. This organization exists to provide critically needed support to disabled and at-risk veterans who leave the military wounded—physically or psychologically—after defending our safety and our freedom.

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