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Click here to visit the full Rebuilding Together New Orleans website
Mission
A continuing volunteer effort to improve the quality of life of low income homeowners, particularly those who are elderly, disabled, or single heads of household with minor children, through home repair and revitalization of New Orleans' neighborhoods.
History
Rebuilding Together New Orleans is a program of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans that focuses on the residents in Orleans Parish using a combination of volunteer and professional labor.
Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO) started in 1988 when the Preservation Resource Center instituted a one-day neighborhood revitalization pilot program in the Lower Garden District. Named Christmas in October, the pilot program was modeled after the national Christmas in April program. It was implemented to address the needs of existing homeowners, namely the elderly and disabled who had become ill equipped to manage home repair.
After Hurricane Katrina, RTNO modified its mission to aid those displaced by the storm. Instead of only smaller projects, RTNO began to focus on the total renovation and rebuilding of storm-damaged homes. By reinvesting in and restoring the existing housing stock of the city, RTNO was able to bring homeowners back to their homes, as well as provide a model for restoring and preserving New Orleans' historic neighborhoods. RTNO's home rehabilitation program targets the urban poor, who are the population in New Orleans most affected by Hurricane Katrina. Families that return to their homes in New Orleans - rather than live in exile or in a trailer - sustain a constant, stable, healthy living environment while building their equity and regaining financial independence.
Current Program
Four years after the storm, RTNO has quickly grown into the largest home rehabilitation non-profit organization in New Orleans. By focusing our program in seven target neighborhoods , RTNO meets the needs of the homeowners we serve quickly and efficiently by leveraging corporate, private and public dollars, volunteer labor and help from the AmeriCorps program.
Rebuilding Together New Orleans www.rtno.org
Volunteer with Rebuilding Together, click here
Donate to Rebuilding Together, click here
How can RTNO help you, click here
Deconstruction program, click here
Salvage Store information, click here