Often at little cost, Rebuilding Together Fox Valley is making big differences in people’s lives

Don is a Korean War vet suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. He lives alone following the deaths of his wife and daughter and his house was no longer safe, be it a roof damaged by an infestation of rodents, plumbing and electrical issues or clutter that created trip hazards.

Delores is a 93-year old who lives alone in her house of 63 years and hopes to continue doing so for as long as she can. But her front steps and porch were so dilapidated they’d become too dangerous to use.

Ray is a widower and a vet whose stair lift system was in disrepair and who could no longer safely get into his bathtub.

And Chris and Amanda are a young couple who bought their first home through a veterans loan. But their dream house turned out to be filled with mold and their attic was infested with rodents. Lacking the money to make the repairs, unable to get a loan or to sell the house and buy a new one, they tried to do the work themselves, finally giving up when the task became too overwhelming.

What seemed to Don, Delores, Ray, and Chris and Amanda as hopeless situations destined to disrupt their lives turned out to have a solution: Rebuilding Together Fox Valley, an area non-profit dedicated to helping seniors, families with disabilities and folks who have simply fallen through the cracks economically to safely stay in their houses.

For those five area people facing seemingly impossible choices, RTFV – now in its 25th year – stepped up and organized volunteers and contractors who came in and did the necessary work to make their homes habitable and safe once again. Among the modifications and repairs RTFV offers are handrails, bathtub tread, smoke alarms, plumbing, night lights and locks. 

Its work is not limited to individual residents but includes helping provide necessary repairs and modifications for other area non-profits such as food pantries, shelters and organizations serving the elderly or people in need.

A fitting resume

Vaya Jones, who this month took over for long-time Rebuilding Together Fox Valley executive director Chip Wood, has traveled the country with AmeriCorps and the world when she studied abroad in London and Spain. But she figured she’d always return home.

“Anywhere I’ve been in any kind of capacity, I knew that the Fox Cities were unique,” Jones says. “It’s a gem. What really fascinates me is the way people rally around, like the building of the Performing Arts Center. Everyone just came together and made sure it happened. And I think not only does this community rally, but (project leaders) understand the expectation and the power given to them. Like, they’re going to make sure they are good stewards of their resources.”

Given that community spirit, it doesn’t surprise Jones that the Fox Cities is now one of only two Rebuilding Together satellites in the state (the other is in Sheboygan County). 

Jones’s new job would seem to be the culmination of a life lived in service and volunteerism. The list of organizations she has served on is vast and includes the Fox Cities Housing Alliance. When she first ran for Appleton Common Council – she is currently serving her second term –  she declared her focus to be affordable housing. Her professional  career even began with a housing non-profit. 

It doesn’t hurt that she is outgoing and gregarious or that she has established so many important connections that are bound to serve her well in her new capacity.

“I have a I-know-a-guy personality,” Jones says with a laugh. “I think it truly started in high school. I was in theater. I was a cheerleader. I was in academic games. I was in the art club. And I learned that the more and different kinds of people you meet, your life is richer and you learn new things. So I think my network coming here has been amazing, because it’s like, ‘Well, here’s a gap. How do we fix this? I was just talking to this person, and they said this so let’s look at it.’

“And I think that you always want to be humble and not brag about anything, but I really think that I have a gift for that, and I think it is going to help the organization. I am here to build on the great foundation that Chip has created and the team has created.”

Jones says her life-long engagement with the housing issue makes her new job a perfect fit, but she’s quick to point out how interwoven so many social issues are: housing with food, transportation with health, etc. In her recent years running ThedaCare’s Social Determinants of Health Initiative she saw those interconnections and worked often with RTFV. 

“We asked (patients), ‘Do you have transportation, access to food, housing?’” she says. “And if they didn’t, my team would be able to connect them to resources. So we were connecting people to Rebuilding Together all the time. Knowing that we were helping people age in place was super special. I mean, I am a young child of old parents.”

Changing lives with simple fixes

Rebuilding Together began in Midland, Texas in the early seventies when community members took note of more and more distressed houses whose owners simply didn’t have the means for repairs. At first the volunteer work was limited to once a year, what they called Christmas in April.

Over time the mission spread to include not just fledgling, individual volunteerism but what RT refers to as Community Revitalization Partnerships that led to better coordinated projects. Rebuilding Together went national in 1988. 

Rebuilding Together Fox Valley relies on Community Development Block Grants, corporate sponsors, individual donations and an annual fundraiser, as well as people’s time and talent. It takes a while to scroll the entire list of RTFV’s nearly two dozen community and corporate partners.

Fall prevention – something as simple as installing a grab bar or a railing or clearing out clutter – is one of the simplest ways RTFV can make a huge difference in the life of a senior citizen or someone with disabilities.

“It’s more than grab bars,” Jones says. “But once you start tripping and falling, the kids are like, no, we’ve got to move you into a facility to keep you safe. But that’s taking away your freedom, your independence and who you’ve been. And I see that happening and know that we can go in, put up a grab bar, do some things to keep people safe in their homes and happy and healthy – that’s what I’m focusing on.”

Then, too, are the economically disadvantaged. Rising prices and rising health care costs hit doubly hard on those already struggling financially. Jones says she wonders if people are fully aware of the economic precarity of the lives of people in their own neighborhood. Jones herself lives in an area with older homes that invariably need significant work, including, in the case of one neighbor, foundation repair.

“I don’t care who you are or how much you make, in a neighborhood like ours, a foundation is not cheap, a roof is not cheap,” she says. “And so I just think of kids in the house having a warm, working furnace during these times. Those kids don’t have to think about what they’re going to eat or how they’re going to stay warm.”

ROI: Economic savings for society

Because of the interconnectedness of so many social ills, the return on investment into Rebuilding Together, like with so many other systemic problems that society attempts to address at their roots, is significant. The Rebuilding Together national website says that for every dollar spent on a project, there is a return of nearly three dollars in savings in social value, such as improved health, independent living, safety and long-term costs to taxpayers. The median investment in an RT home project is around $8,000. But the projected return on that investment is more than $22,000.

“We need to tackle the basic needs,” Jones says. “Take reducing the amount of falls. Now the fire departments don’t have to do these fall calls. They can focus on fires and what they’re meant to do. If we can work with health care and support people, whether it’s furnaces or roofs or fall prevention, that’s saving emergency room dollars, saving the healthcare system dollars. If you’re not in it, it’s hard to see it, but it’s all connected.”

Jones says organizations dedicated to helping the community are not in competition with one another but rather try to work symbiotically. But she says one of the things that sets Rebuilding Together Fox Valley apart is how efficiently they can improve people’s lives at, in many cases, so little expense. Jones has a connective tissue disorder which allows her to see first-hand how small things can make a huge difference in a person’s life.

“If I needed stuff and I didn’t have access to it, how much harder would that be?” she says. “And how it’s just a compounding thing and that’s why I’m like, guys, it’s $650 for the fall-prevention package to go in and do this (including labor). One-hundred-and-fifty dollars changes someone’s everyday life to make it better. That’s nothing. We can make a big difference with very little money.”

Federal cuts making sponsorship harder to come by

A lot of what Jones says she’ll focus on in her new role is efficiency – including finding and eliminating duplication of services – making people more aware of what RTFV does and expanding with satellites across the state. And because cuts to federal programs such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development impact programs like Rebuilding Together by creating greater competition among volunteer organizations for corporate sponsorship as well as driving greater need for those services, expanding and holding onto corporate donors will be more important than ever. 

“We could have a corporate donor who’s given to us for 15 years, and they say, we’d love to give the money to a new organization,” Jones says. “And you can’t be mad at that, but now it’s how am I gonna fill this $15,000 hole? But I can’t just go knocking on doors and be like, ‘what are you going to give me?’ It’s about relationship building and getting to know their community engagement people, getting to know what their priorities are.”

Jones says it will be important to keep stressing the holistic nature of RTFV’s work so that a corporation that tends to focus on supporting mental health can be made to understand that Rebuilding Together ultimately impacts that area, too. She says it goes back to the interconnectedness of virtually all the vital needs within a community.

“(When we do these home repairs), we’re taking that stress and that drama off their plate and connecting them to other resources,” she explains. “I don’t want them not selecting us just because it says we’re a home-support organization. We are but we are a part of health care and mental health.” 

National Rebuilding Day

Clients for RTFV’s services often come in as referrals from other agencies and organizations around the area. But individuals may also apply for help. Rebuilding Together Fox Valley serves six surrounding counties and applicants must meet various criteria, including making no more than 80% of their county’s median income.

In addition to individual projects, Rebuilding Together hosts an annual National Rebuilding Day, when each RT outlet selects an organization for remodeling and updating. It involves a mass outpouring of volunteers and contractors. On May 2, RTFV will help resolve various needs at one of the men’s shelters run by COTS (Community Outreach Temporary Services). On May 16, RTFV will head to Green Bay to help with a YMCA Y-Camp site.

Jones says she’s looking forward to the organization’s annual fundraiser on March 20 at Timber Rattler Stadium. She says “Island Escape Razzle” will not be your typical fundraiser but instead will be low-key, casual and fun. Local TV personality Bill Jartz will host. There will be signature drinks, hors d’oeuvres, carnival games and prizes. Most importantly, she says, no tuxedos or ball gowns are required.

“If you want to wear jeans, if you want to wear floaties and a snorkel to the theme, feel free,” she says. “We want you there. We want you there to celebrate with us. There’s no high pressure asks. We don’t have a lot of speakers.

“And,” she adds with a laugh, “it ends at 8:30 so you can be home and in bed by nine.”