We were excited to see our work featured in the April 11, 2023 issue of the City of Olympia's email newsletter! Here's the article.
Rebuilding Together Thurston County Turns CDBG Funds into Home Repairs
With help from the City of Olympia’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Rebuilding Together Thurston County provides vital home-repair services.
Founded in 2003 as an affiliate of the national Rebuilding Together organization, Rebuilding Together Thurston County, offers free home repairs and accessibility modifications to low-income homeowners and nonprofit facilities. Specifically, the organization serves low-income homeowners who are elderly or disabled or families with children or veterans in need.
In a recent project, Rebuilding Together Thurston County employed City CDBG funds to bring a host of repairs to a home owned by an Olympian named Sondra. During the project, partner contractors and volunteers installed new railings along the front steps, cleaned gutters, straightened the front door, added weather stripping, installed a smoke detector and a carbon-monoxide detector, provided a fire extinguisher, installed a new furnace and a bathroom grab bar, and purchased and installed a new washer/dryer unit.
The washer/dryer unit was placed on the first floor of the home to ensure Sondra does not have to navigate steep basement stairs. Rebuilding Together Thurston County covered the additional cost of having new electrical work done for the washer/dryer.
Volunteer work for the project totaled 15 hours and included the installation of the smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors, the bathroom grab bar, the railing on the front stairs, and the weather stripping; the cleaning of the gutters; and the acquisition of the fire extinguisher.
In the last two years, the City distributed $125,000 in CDBG funding to Rebuilding Together Thurston County. By supporting organizations like this with CDBG money, the City helps maintain the community’s existing housing while enhancing the health, safety and well-being of residents.
Olympia receives federal CDBG funds from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a grantee. Funds are received annually through a formula allocation. In accordance with HUD, the funds are distributed to “develop viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment and opportunities to expand economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.”
For more information about the City’s CDBG Program, click here.
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