Our Mission
Repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives.
Our Vision
Safe homes and communities for everyone.
Our History
Rebuilding Together started over 30 years ago, as Christmas in April, with an act of grassroots activism and community engagement in Midland, Texas.
A small group of good people realized a growing need in their community. Their neighbors’ homes had fallen into disrepair and the homeowners could not afford to fix them. The founding affiliates volunteered their time and skill to rehabilitate the homes of their neighbors.
This simple act of neighbors helping neighbors inspired others, spreading slowly at first, then across the country. Our mission spread beyond the idea of providing service once a year in April to bringing together partners from all walks of life to our help our neighbors year-round. We became Rebuilding Together and opened the National Headquarters in 1988.
Today, the Rebuilding Together Affiliate Network consists of 200 chapters, located throughout the United States. Collectively, Rebuilding Together has completed work on more than 100,000 homes across the nation. With the help of 3.4 million volunteers, Rebuilding Together has delivered over $1.3 billion in market value since its founding.
Here Locally
Rebuilding Together Howard County, formerly known as Christmas in April, is the local affiliate and was formed in 1992 when a group of committed Howard County Residents and businesses joined together to mobilize volunteers to provide free home repairs to low-income families in Howard County. For many of these home owners, these repairs were truly a gift.
Even though our name has changed, our mission remains the same! We are still committed to improving the lives of the elderly, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and families with children; all homeowners in Howard County who have worked hard, but can no longer afford to keep up with repairs. Today, the need is even greater in the midst of the difficult economic climate.
Rebuilding Together Howard County has repaired and renovated over 800 homes in Howard County- at no cost to the homeowner. We are able to do this through a unique combination of corporate sponsorship, volunteer labor, discounted services, donations of building materials and bulk ordering discounts.
Board of Directors (July 2016 – June 2017)
President
Helen Little, Director of Marketing & Operations, NextLOGiK
Treasurer
Jim Beck, Controller, Harkins Builders
Secretary
Todd Mueller, Branch Manager, The Columbia Bank
Executive Director
Ann Heavner
Members
John Anania, DPR Construction
Jim Bielefeld, Engineer, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
Mary Becker, MS, OTR/L, Howard County Office on Aging
Scott Cameron, President, Cameron Building Envelope Specialists
Jackie Howard, SVP, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Sandy Spring Bank
Doug Hillmuth, President, Hillmuth Certified Automotive Inc.
Godfrey Logan, Engineering Specialist, Howard County Government
Daniel Medinger, President, Advertising Media Plus
Grace Morris, Director, Heritage Housing Partners Corp.
Ken Sines, Estimator/Project Manager, PDI-Sheetz Construction Corp.
John Startt, Homebuilder and President, JST Builders
Jim Thompson, VP and Corporate Counsel, Harkins Builders
Sharon Walsh, AIA, Senior Associate, Architect, Gaudreau, Inc.
BJ Walworth, Retired
All board members have terms of three years renewable once.
Advisory Board Members (Joined in 2014)
Mary Becker, Occupational Therapist/Aging in Place Program Manager/Home Repair, Howard County Office on Aging
David A. Borkowski, Vice President, Harkins Builders
Bita Dayhoff, President, Community Action Council of Howard County
Doug Eder, President, Oak Contracting LLC
Hugh O’Donnell, President, John S. Wilson Lumber Company
Christopher L. Rachuba, Vice President Operations, Rachuba Home Builders
Lee Seifert, Sr. Loss Control Consultant, The Hanover Insurance Group
J. Edward Hamel, Chairman, Hamel Builders
Bruce Harvey, President, Williamsburg Homes
Brian D. Goldstein, LEED AP, VP of Development, The Michael Companies
John Startt, Homebuilder and President, JST Builders
