Volunteers renovate East Bay
homes for Katrina families

By Chauncey Bailey, Globe Staff Writer

BERKELEY- When families first started arriving in the Bay Area from New Orleans, local affiliates of Rebuilding Together, the nation’s largest volunteer-based organization involved in rehabilitating housing, collaborated with local organizations to find, repair and renovate homes for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
    The first project, led by Rebuilding Together Albany-Berkeley- Emeryville (ABE), will prepare apartments for eight displaced families, three of whom have already moved into their new homes. Most of the eight families are expected to qualify for Section 8, a government rent subsidy.
    When the crisis first hit, “we knew we had to do something,” said Amy Dawson, executive director of Rebuilding Together. Now, “we are working with social workers and the Red Cross to help us find families with children.”
    Michael McDowell, Rebuilding Together ABE’s president has been working all week with volunteers. “I’m so impressed by how quickly everything came together. This type of collaboration normally takes months to plan. People are so eager to donate and volunteer.”
    Rebuilding Together, in conjunction with the Affordable Housing Association and Prospect Sierra School, will continue to locate, renovate, clean and furnish housing for hurricane victims.
    A second project is planned for a housing unit at Oakland’s Evergreen Baptist Church, led by Reverend Frank Pinkard Jr., who will furnish the home and provide it for a family free of charge for a year. The home will be renovated during the month of October, and plans call for a family to move in on Oct. 22, which is also “Make a Difference Day,” when thousands of volunteers work on projects around the nation.
    Rebuilding Together is currently looking for: more homes to work on; sponsors and individual donors to help underwrite the repairs; and skilled and unskilled volunteers to help repair the homes.
    For more information, contact Rebuilding Together ABE at (510) 644-8979 or visit www.rebuildingtogetherabe.org. For information about Rebuilding Together Oakland visit www.rebuildingtogetheroakland.org.