Rebuilding Together Seattle

Speaker 1: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another edition of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is Christian Awesome of the Awesome and Awesome Group at Wilson Realty. And today we got a special episode for you. I actually am here with Caleb Marshall, who's the executive director of Rebuilding Together Seattle. Caleb, thank you so much for taking the time to join me. And did I explain your role correctly?

Speaker 2: [0:22] Hey, Christian. Yes, thank you so much for having me. This is a real treat. I'm a real fan of, of podcasts and this, uh, format, and, uh, the knowledge you drop on your episodes e- each month are, are great. So thanks for having me today.

Speaker 1: [0:35] Yeah. You're very welcome. Thanks for joining. So I wanted to bring you on so that we could share the mission of Rebuilding Together Seattle with our listeners. And I have a soft spot in my heart for it because years ago I had volunteered with, uh, a branch that isn't really a thing anymore with Rebuilding Together, but that was the Young Professional Society of Rebuilding Together Seattle. And I was actually the president for a year, um, for one of the few years that I volunteered, and it was super fun. I got to meet and understand the mission and understand what is important and necessary for Rebuilding Together and how big of an impact it can really have on the community. So before we get too big into the- or too, too far into this, let's l- let's go over and really explain what is Rebuilding Together?

Speaker 2: [1:20] Yeah, definitely. Uh, well, first, thank you for your past, uh, work with the organization and getting back in touch with us. I mean, I think one of the coolest things about our work is that we are primarily volunteer based, so we've been around locally for, oh gosh, just over 30 years. We celebrated our 30th anniversary last, last year. Awesome. We reached, uh, 110 households last year. Normally doing about 200, 250 homes a year. We're doing repairs and accessibility modifications and other types of health and safety improvements in people's homes to allow them to live there long-term, to age in place, age in their communities, help preserve these, these treasured memories and valuable assets that people have built over, over their life. And, you know, really, you know, lot, lots of folks think of us as a housing organization, but we've started to talk about ourselves as really a, a health organization first because- Hmm … it's not necessarily the, the home that we're interested in the most, it's, it's really the, the people and their health outcomes. And so-

Speaker 1: [2:25] Mm-hmm … Speaker 2: we know that a lot of folks are living in really substandard housing conditions, even in, in our affluent greater Seattle area. And those, those health implications impact people in, in so many ways. If you think about air quality in homes and- Oh, yeah … Speaker 2: how that might lead to, to asthma in children is, is one that's documented pretty well. And, you know, it spills into other- Other parts of our society, and if you think about like educational impacts, if kids are missing days of school or if parents can't go to work because they're dealing with some, some health implication of their home. Seniors too, if you think about folks who, you know, may have, uh, frequent falls in their home. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and how those healthcare costs, you know, really, really raise the price of, of healthcare for all of us and, and clog up the system when really, you know, a f- a few dollars on the, on the front end of prevention would've, would've kept people out of the hospital, so. Yeah, I know we, uh, back in my day, we helped build a few ramps and things like that to help

Speaker 2: [3:26] people- Yep, yep

Speaker 1: [3:26] have more accessibility into their home, and I'm sure that's still a very common request and need.

Speaker 2: [3:31] Absolutely. Yeah, so, so i- you know, and a- again, going back to the volunteer model, we're really able to leverage our resources by using volunteers to do these, these types of repairs. And some of them are easy, you know, routine maintenance. Um, you know, things that you may pick up being a homeowner, you know, having, uh, having grown up in, in, in a house. But others of them could be, you know, critical one-off repairs, things like, uh, like ramps- Mm-hmm … uh, some hot water heaters. The full gamut. There's really… It's easier to say what we don't do than what, what we do. Yeah. Uh, we normally don't do like roof replacements, major sewer or plumbing work. Same with electrical, if you needed a new electrical panel or had knob-and-tube wiring that the whole house needed rewired. And then foundation stabilization. So those are kind of the four that we stay away from. Uh, you know, obviously not very volunteer-friendly, but also just the, just the cost is, uh, prohibitive for us, so.

Speaker 1: [4:27] Yeah. Yeah, you do one or two of those a year versus helping 200 other people.

Speaker 2: [4:32] That's right. Like, that's,

Speaker 1: [4:33] yeah. So Rebuilding Together is a nationwide organization, correct?

Speaker 2: [4:38] Yes. There are about 100 and, oh, 130, 135 Rebuilding Together affiliates around the country. Here in, uh, Washington, we have our, our closest neighbor is, uh, Rebuilding Together South Sound. They cover, uh, Pierce County. We cover from Everett to Renton. We do do some work on the, on the east side and some partnerships with King County's, uh, fall prevention program, EMS- Hmm … uh, fall prevention program. Um, but otherwise, mostly our larger projects are west side of the of the lake. Um, and most of our work is, is in, you know, South Seattle, Southeast Seattle, Duwamish corridor. Mm-hmm. You know, again, really focusing on, on low income households, trying to preserve, uh, homeownership for people of color in communities that are, uh, experiencing displacement or, um, other housing disparities. You know, we have a, a pretty tragic history of redlining in Seattle, and-

Speaker 1: [5:33] Yep … Speaker 2: um, that legacy is- We, we have a whole episode on

Speaker 2: [5:37] that- Oh, great. Yeah … specifically. Yeah. It

Speaker 1: [5:38] is, uh-

Speaker 2: [5:39] Well, you gotta send people back to that. Link that episode because, uh- I know … uh, it's, um, important knowledge to know and really, uh, gives a good understanding of how Seattle is shaped today.

Speaker 1: [5:49] So you guys are a non-profit, correct?

Speaker 2: [5:53] Correct. Yep. Yep. Perfect. We're our own independent 501[c][3], so even though there's national office and this affiliate network, each of us are operating independently. We, you know, have, have similar programs and similar program criteria. Um, again, focusing on low income homeowners. Mm-hmm. And I think there's really… You know, in S- in Seattle we, we pay a lot of attention to affordable housing and, and homelessness, and for good reason, right? But kinda this forgotten segment of our, uh, and issues within our housing challenges are low income homeowners. And, you know, what do we do to, once somebody has a home, to make sure that they're able to keep that home long term, you know, and, and aren't at risk of injury or illness while they're living there or being displaced. And so that's where, that's where our, our focus is. And people also assume that if you own a home that you're doing relatively well or- Mm-hmm uh, because you might have, you know, because you might have lived in your home for 30, 40, 50 years, you have a lot of equity. And so, you know, are then able to, uh, to kinda support staying there. Obviously you don't have that equity until you, uh, either tap into it and, and are then sacrificing building generational wealth and being able to really lift your family out of poverty, or you're selling and ending up in a l, in a lot of cases in, in, uh, senior living or, you know, assisted living facilities. Um, and the, the average household income that we're serving, I think it ticked up a little bit last year, but it's still less than 24,000 a year. So that's- Oh, wow. And that's at th- So we're serving 50% area median income. So not to get too technical here. Yeah. But H- HUD, you know, puts out, uh, numbers based on, you know, national average. And then, you know, obviously our income in Seattle bump- bumps it up a little bit. But- But really at that, at that level, that's, you know, approaching less than 30% area median income, which is considered extremely low income and approaching the federal poverty line. So if you think about all the expenses you have in terms of, you know, if you're not a senior and are still paying taxes on the property, just taking care of, you know, food, medicine, healthcare costs, there's not a lot left over to cover, uh, if you're still paying your mortgage, but certainly not making any investments in repairs or improvements. So you see a lot of deferred maintenance- Yep … uh, things that were small at one point that are now these, these huge problems to address.

Speaker 1: [8:20] Yeah. I mean, as a real estate agent myself and a homeowner, I mean, the cost of maintaining a house is not small necessarily. Right. Right. And if you're already struggling to pay your mortgage and your utilities, like it's… that's, that's what you're probably gonna put on the back burner is all the home ma- maintenance repairs and, um, just the general upkeep because you're just trying to make ends meet, let alone, you know, fix a little leak or your hot water heater or whatever it may be. Uh, what would you say the, the top maybe four or five requests that, for help that you get from, from homeowners?

Speaker 2: [8:59] Yeah, we do. We've been doing a lot of, uh, flooring. Uh, so you know, replacing, you know, 30, 30, 40 plus year old carpeting that's just- Oh, wow … you know, allergen filled, tattered- Yes … uh, trip hazards, et cetera. We, uh, do a lot of that. Windows, uh, bigger request obviously, you know, any- anything around, um, water issues in our climate and region, you know, rot on, on siding and, and roofs. Mm-hmm. Even though we're not often able to do a, a lot of roofs, there is a, a huge, huge need for that. R- really varies, you know, each, each house is… Sometimes you don't even know what you're getting into until you start working on something and realize that, "Well, this, this now needs, needs fixed." And so things can really spiral in th- that regard. We do a lot of, you know, r- appliance replacements. I mean, it's amazing how, you know, you can kinda become complacent in, in- Mm-hmm … uh, in what you, with the conditions that you're able to live in, so. Yeah. You know, I've been in homes where people really barely have functioning water. You know, all kinds of really incredible conditions that you wouldn't think exist. And, and some of our homes, qui- quite frankly, you can drive, drive down a street and the home may look fine from the outside, but in- Mm-hmm … inside is a, is a different story. So really, really, you know, tragic in some cases. In, in others, it's, it's, it's just simple, simple things that we can take care of, you know, uh- Yes cleaning out gutters, uh, and, you know, replacing a couple of treads on, on your front porch stairs or, uh-

Speaker 1: [10:30] Yep … Speaker 2: uh, back deck or something like that, that can really, really, you know, again, prevent- Yes … somebody from having a much more serious injury. So let's, let's go into how someone could apply to potentially get some help. I mean, if you're out there and you're listening to this, and you have, you know, some of these potential issues at your home, how does someone apply for assistance?

Speaker 2: [10:54] Yeah, great question. And, and most of the folks who apply are, are referred to us. So-

Speaker 1: [11:00] Mm-hmm … Speaker 2: you know, if you're listening to and you, you, you know a neighbor down the street that could use some help or- Yeah

Speaker 2: [11:06] you know, are connected to anybody who's in the, you know, service provider sector or coming in contact with, uh, low income households that may need our services, please refer them to us. But y- you can find a lot of information on our website. We do have our application available to, to download. Mm-hmm. Um, but you know, most folks that we're serving don't have internet access, so they're-

Speaker 1: [11:28] Yeah

Speaker 2: [11:29] you know, they're just calling us, and we'll send out a, an application. We'll, uh, you know, walk them through kind of our basic criteria to make sure we're not wasting their time in having them apply. Yeah. And we're a, we're a small organization, you know. We're a staff of three. Amazingly, even though we're serving in a, in a non-pandemic year 200, 250, 50, or households, only operate with a staff of three and a couple AmeriCorps members. So if we're- That's, that's insane … not able to… Yeah. Not able to serve, serve you, we really view ourselves as, as connectors and navigators to other resources as well. Mm-hmm. There are a few. There are programs out there. The city runs a home loan program. There's a couple other non-profits that do minor home repairs. But really we're the only non-profit in our area that's doing kinda comprehensive home repair and rehab at no cost to the homeowner. We've just found that that's, that's how we're able to reach those folks who are kinda on those, you know, lowest rungs of homeownership at risk of s- of slipping off. So take a look at our website. Our f- you know, phone number is on there. People can call us. We'll send an application. We come out to the home to do a visit with them and take a look at, at all the repairs. And you asked about requests and, you know, one of the, one of the s- funny things about what people request is it's often very different than, you know, what we may notice-

Speaker 1: [12:48] Mm-hmm

Speaker 2: [12:49] on the visit. So-

Speaker 1: [12:50] Yeah … Speaker 2: you know, something that can be a real irritant or, you know, is something that we can, we can easily address, but then we look at these other things that they're, that- Mm-hmm … they've, uh, been tolerating that, that, you know, are real risks, whether it's, uh, an electrical hazard or a trip hazard. Um, so we kinda do a comprehensive, uh, assessment. Think we're gonna be able to, you know, mobilize some volunteers or some resources to, uh, take on, you know, some part of the potential work scope, we'll go ahead and approve them for our program wait list. And, and then it's a matching game. We, uh, you know, are working with individual volunteers and, uh, companies that, you know, sponsor projects, bring the… help us do the fundraising, bring some, some resources to the table, and then we invite them to come out and also participate in the project. So if your, uh, company, uh, does any kind of, uh, volunteering or- you know, annual projects, that's a option too to get involved in, in our work. And then once we, you know, match, match folks up or depending on the, the program and kind of the, the volunteer or the group, um, are involved in different ways in helping with planning the project or kind of turning it over for, uh, the individual volunteer to Uh, develop the work scope and complete the, some of the repairs or all of the repairs, um, on the- Yeah. So how… Let's say I'm listening and I'm like, "Man, this, you're pulling at my heartstrings here. I wanna keep people in their homes that are having a hard time doing that, and their house needs some help. How can I volunteer? What can I do? What are some ways I can help? Can I donate? Can I volunteer my time?"

Speaker 2: [14:25] Yeah, absolutely. All of the above. So, uh, we have folks who volunteer on their own, either through, we have a program called Safe at Home, which is- Okay … really designed to engage individual volunteers to go out and do work on homes. It can range from critical one-off repairs to routine maintenance. Those projects- What if I'm

Speaker 1: [14:46] not, like, what if I'm not handy at all? Is this something that I should consider, uh, you know, volunteering for?

Speaker 2: [14:52] Yeah. So you could, you could still get involved volunteering. We also do monthly open volunteer days that our, uh, staff organize and put together, usually assisted with one of our Safe at Home project leaders.

Speaker 1: [15:04] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: [15:05] They fill up really quick, so the be- the best way to get notification of those is on our website. You can sign up for our newsletter. Do a quarterly newsletter, and then, you know, any time we would have a, an open volunteer day we'd, we'd blast that out, and it's kind of a first, first come, first sign up. And so you gotta be, be quick. Sometimes they fill up in, you know, less than a day and we gotta close it off. But, but that's a way to get involved. If you say, "Hey, you know, we love your work, but but we're not, we're not the handy type. We don't wanna be out on the projects." Mm-hmm. There's, uh, definitely still ways to get involved. We do a couple of big fundraisers each year. We got a, we do a, usually a beer and wine tasting in the fall. Yep. Uh, we're going virtual again this year, so it's ca- called Night to Rebuild. It'll be on October 22nd. Free tickets and paid tickets, so, uh, you know, again, if you sign up for our newsletter, you'll get information about that. But it's really, really fun night. We do an auction. You know, you'll get to see, see some of our work. Short and sweet, try to keep it to, you know, the virtual format, an hour. Mm-hmm. And then we do a breakfast in the spring that raises money for that Safe at Home program engaging individual volunteers. So great, great way to help really fund actually the majority of our program work, 'cause, 'cause the Safe at Home program is responsible for about, you know, 60 to 70% of the projects that we're doing, uh, each year. Um, and then a th- a third way to get involved, uh, besides, uh, I mentioned, you know, get- getting your company involved or groups- Mm-hmm … we also have, you know, uh, churches or civic groups that, uh, that get involved in helping raise some funds and taking on projects, would be to, uh, to think about in-kind donations. So- Uh, whether that's your, your, you know, some specific skill that you have outside of construction that, uh, that may be h- able to help us with, you know, backend operations or, you know, marketing, creating collateral for us, uh, helping with designs for, you know, our events, things like that. Soliciting for, you know, auction items or, you know, uh, giving material if you have, you know, if you're replacing an a- appliance that's still in good condition doing a remodel at your home, um, we can, we can get that out to somebody who, you know, has is in a situation where they don't have a stove at all or a fridge- Yeah that's working or something like that. Yeah. So those types of material donations, we, we have a small warehouse, so we can't take everything, and, and some stuff just isn't, isn't feasible for us to get out quickly. But, uh, but we do accept- But you might as well- … in-kind donations … check and- Yeah, just check

Speaker 1: [17:36] and see if it could, if you guys could use it. Yeah,

Speaker 2: [17:38] that's great. Yeah, and if we can't, we, we know other places that, that can take that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1: [17:42] Perfect. So if someone is in the construction trade and they wanna volunteer, is that, like, a huge help for you? I would assume so.

Speaker 2: [17:51] Oh, gosh, man. Yeah, that's the, uh… that's the gold star, you know? It's, you know, uh, quite honestly, uh, Christian, it's hard, hard to get folks in the construction trade sometimes just 'cause-

Speaker 1: [18:02] They're so

Speaker 2: [18:03] busy … it's so busy.

Speaker 1: [18:04] Yeah.

Speaker 2: [18:04] And when you're doing that all day long, uh- Yes … sometimes the last thing you wanna do is, is go do that on a, on a weekend or in an evening. Mm-hmm. But yes, um, we do have, you know, quite a few construction partners. If you work in the construction industry, even commercial construction, you would think we, you know, actually have more commercial construction partners than, than residential, but that's another way- That's- … to get in and get involved. A lot of smaller residential home builders that don't necessarily have the budget to put together- Mm-hmm … materials, but they can bring, you know, in-kind resources in terms of labor and skill and helping us- Yeah … plan or, or even lead a project for another group. We also, uh, obviously apply for, for grants, and so sometimes have opportunities for people to, to kinda lead a project for us with some of our grant funding. I should mention too, one of the really, I think, cool things about our organization is we are more than 98% privately funded, so we're not taking public resources. We're not applying for, you know, city funds or county funds or state funds, et cetera. Wow. It's all local businesses, individual donations. Again, raising most of our money through, through, uh, through our fundraising events and, and through groups that are helping. So that's really co-

Speaker 1: [19:16] Yeah. If I was gonna volunteer, would that be just, like, once every quarter?

Speaker 2: [19:20] Would that be once a year? How often would it happen? That's an- you know, the other great thing about volunteering with us is it's really flexible based on your… You could take on a project once a quarter. You can also just take on one once, once a year or kinda when you're ready. We have a active wait list, so there's al- always, uh- Always something to do … work to get you matched up with. Yeah. Yeah. We will have more pro- projects going on through the fall and, uh, again, those help and volunteer days that I mentioned.

Speaker 1: [19:48] Okay. So really what I'm hearing is that if you want to volunteer, you're not committing to doing a certain number of days or hours or anything like that. You can do it at your leisure, and if you have any skills at all in terms of home maintenance, that would be greatly appreciated. If you don't, that's okay too. There's always things you can do, probably like painting or doing any random things that you don't need a lot of skilled labor for. And they also… I know from experience, I didn't really know a lot of this stuff, like how to repair houses, but there's always a team lead on site that does know, and they will teach you and give you a little hands-on. And it doesn't need to be, like, a perfect job. Like, you're … Anything you're doing for these families that need your help is going to be so appreciated. I know from my experience, just volunteering for Rebuilding Together Seattle was amazing. I always had a lot of fun when I was out there doing the work. Meeting like-minded people. This is also just a really nice way to meet some cool people. If you're newer to Seattle and you're in a stage of life where you want to meet some more friends, this could be a great way to do that. And then at the end of the day, seeing the homeowner and seeing the gigantic smile on their face and the thankfulness that they are sharing with you, I mean, it just, it fills you with joy. Like, as a volunteer, it's So amazing to, to see that and feel that while you're out there helping. So, um, if you do wanna volunteer, the easiest way to do it is go to the Rebuilding Together's website, which is rtseattle.org. That's RT, as in Rebuilding Together, Seattle.org. Uh, you can sign up for their newsletter. Um, you can join the Night to Rebuild. That's what, October 22nd? Is that what you said?

Speaker 2: [21:35] Yeah, that'll be Friday, October 22nd. So we'll have, uh- That's gonna be virtual … registration open soon. Virtual, yeah.

Speaker 1: [21:41] Yep,

Speaker 2: [21:42] yep, yep. Tune in for an hour. Enjoy the, you know, getting to know a little bit more about our work, and seeing, seeing some of it in pictures and video. And, uh, you know, maybe pick up a cool, cool auction item.

Speaker 1: [21:52] There you go. It's a, it's a fantastic cause. They do a lot of great work in our community, and it really is, you know, something that, as someone in real estate, I just love, because I understand how big of a need it is out there in the greater Seattle area. So Caleb, thank you so much for your time today. Is there anything else you wanna share that you think would be helpful for anyone listening today?

Speaker 2: [22:14] No. Christian, thank you again for, for having me, and thank you to all the, you know, 35,000-plus volunteers like yourself that have, uh, worked with our organization over the years. It- It's been amazing … cliche to say, but truly couldn't do it without the community support, so thank you.

Speaker 1: [22:29] Yeah. Yeah. So again, if you or someone you know may be a good candidate for any help from Rebuilding Together, all you need to do is go to their website or give them a call. What's your phone number, Caleb?

Speaker 2: [22:40] It's 206-682-1231. You can

Speaker 1: [22:44] give them a call. They can walk you through. They can mail you an application, or you can print it off on their website. Again, rtseattle.org. Um, you can v- review all the criteria and income guidelines and things like that that we kinda touched on earlier. That's, that's really about it. Thank you so much again for joining, Caleb, and, and everyone listening to the Awesome in Seattle podcast. And as always, I mean, us here at the Awesome, Nossum Group, we are here to assist you when it comes to home buying or selling real estate. If you're even just starting to think about making some real estate moves, don't hesitate to reach out. We're not scary. We won't bite. We just love to show you how we can make home buying and selling process, you know, really as stress-free, no pressure as possible. Uh, and you can schedule just a super, super quick, free, no cost, no commitment strategy session with us right on our website, awesomenossum.com/schedule. Thanks again, Caleb. I really appreciate it. Anyone out there, please consider volunteering or donating to Rebuilding Together Seattle. They are a fantastic cause, and I can say that from experience, because I've helped with them in the past. So thanks again, and we'll see you next time.