The mission of Rebuilding Together Oakland (formerly Christmas in April) is to rehabilitate homes for low-income elderly and disabled individuals as well as community facilities in the City of Oakland.

Description:
We have 2 annual programs: Rebuilding Weekend, that takes place in April and culminates in the last weekend of April and repairs homes throughout the city. This year's April program will be on April 26; The October Block-Building Program concentrates our resources and volunteers on a specific block in Oakland. The 2008 Block Building program will take place on October 11 and 18. Anyone 14 years of age or older can be a Rebuilding Together volunteer. Volunteers do not need to be skilled at home repairs. We also welcome volunteers to work in the office or on our Project Committee.

History:
Rebuilding Together Oakland began in 1992. Our parent organization was begun in 1973 in Midland, Texas, when a group of friends saw a problem that needed fixing: a growing number of their low-income and disabled neighbors, in particularly the elderly, needed help maintaining their homes. This group of community-minded individuals began recruiting skilled and unskilled volunteers to bring about the idea of a "Barn Raising" adapted and applied to modern cities. Their project acquired a name when one beneficiary exclaimed: "Why, this is like Christmas--in April!" In 1988, Christmas in April USA was launched as a clearinghouse and support organization to assist the start-up of local programs and to provide them with national fundraising and publicity. In 2001 we changed our name from Christmas in April to Rebuilding Together. There are currently 245 Rebuilding Together affiliates in 50 states.

Contact person: Rachel Matthews, Program Manager, (510) 625-0316 ext. 100, (email)
Office fax number: (510) 625-0436

Address:

1111 Pine Street, Suite A Oakland, CA 94607 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.rtoakland.org