Boston, MA – October 10, 2007 – Rebuilding Together (RT), a national non-profit organization, is continuing its Rebuild 1000 initiative aimed at rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. To aid in the effort, Shawmut Design and Construction has committed to support this on-going initiative by sending employee volunteers to Waveland, Mississippi beginning later this month.
Since 1973, RT has made its mission to improve the homes and lives of low-income homeowners. Today, the organization works with 235 affiliates nationwide, 1,800 communities and more than 272,000 volunteers to restore and rebuild 10,000 homes annually. It is with the help of volunteers and financial donors that RT is able to attain its goals.
Over two years ago, Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast region, displacing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. While significant rebuilding has been completed to date, much more can be done. Known as the “land of waves,” almost every structure in Waveland, Mississippi was literally obliterated by Hurricane Katrina. Nearly every home, business and public building was either ripped of its foundation or dramatically flooded. All of the town’s structures needed to be completely renovated or rebuilt from the ground up.
Martine Taylor, Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Boston and Jane Upper, Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Providence are working to coordinate participation from the New England region. Volunteer efforts will focus on rebuilding residential structures without cost to the home owners. Shawmut Design and Construction will be participating in this effort by sponsoring seven of its talented construction management employees to travel to Waveland and assist in the home-rebuilding efforts.
“We are pleased that organizations such as Shawmut Design and Construction are able to lend support to this effort,” said Martine Taylor, Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Boston. “Over the past nine years, Shawmut has proven their commitment to the organization and to its underlying mission by consistently lending their renovation expertise.”
The group from Shawmut will travel to Waveland on October 21 and spend a week volunteering. To show its dedication, Shawmut will provide its employees with paid time-off so they can participate in this worthy cause.
Frank Hayes, Vice President of Shawmut, said there was a tremendous response from the staff to management’s request for volunteers to participate this year. “Community service is one of our company values, and our participation with Rebuilding Together goes back nearly a decade. Because there is still so much work to be done in the Hurricane ravaged region, we have made a multi-year commitment to support Rebuilding Together and it’s Rebuild 1000 initiative. We already plan on sending additional staff members to help next year.”
To date, Rebuilding Together’s Rebuild 1000 initiative has completed 266 projects across the Gulf Coast, from Southeast Texas to Biloxi Mississippi. Nearly 6,000 volunteers, many of them from the ranks of RT affiliates nationwide, have donated their time and effort to rebuild places like Gulfport, Mississippi, Lafayette, Louisiana, and of course New Orleans. Home and non-profit facility repairs done by Rebuilding Together total $7,358,333.63 in market value
About Rebuilding Together
Rebuilding Together (RT) is the nation’s leading organization bringing volunteers and communities together to improve homes and lives of low-income homeowners by providing free repair services for those with the greatest need. Through its national network of affiliates, hundreds of thousands of volunteers, corporate sponsors, numerous partnerships among business, industry, trade associations, governmental and city agencies, Rebuilding Together is committed to tackling the needs of low-income homeowners – one house - one community – at a time. To find out more about the Rebuilding Together and the Rebuild 1000 initiative go to www.RebuildingTogether.org or call 1-800-473-4229.
