Our Work

Our Method

Rebuilding Together East Bay-North saves lives. Every year, we assess the homes of local low-income seniors, veterans and people with disabilities, and uncover hidden dangers. We repair or replace dangerous natural gas appliances, provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, install seismic strengthening and repairs to foundations, replace broken windows and doors, make corrections to electrical wiring and fixtures, repair plumbing leaks, and improve the energy efficiency of their homes. We help them reduce clutter, and make their homes safer to live in. Where required, we pull permits for work and have the work properly inspected. There are no short-cuts taken.

Repairs are performed by a variety of volunteers including licensed plumbers, electricians and general contractors, but also regular citizens who have a desire to help maintain their neighborhoods and keep vulnerable people safe. RTEBN’s volunteer-based service model accomplishes in six hours what would take a standard work team many days to complete.

The good works done by everyone, including our donors, pays off. Since our inception in 1992 as “Christmas in April,” we have improved more than 650 homes and 140 Community Facilities, leveraging community support by 500%. For every $1,000 we receive in donations or grants, we are able to provide $5,000 in goods and services to our clients. We are the best investment our sponsors can make; our rate of return is better than any other investment out there today.

Our Programs

Safe at Home

This program provides safety assessments and hazard elimination for qualified applicants. By implementing various safety modifications, such as grab bars in the bathroom, handheld shower heads, elevated toilet seats, exterior handrails, or wheelchair ramps, the Safe at Home program helps prevent the kind of accident or exposure that would cause injury, illness, or even death. We take extra measures to improve quality of life for our clients by performing upgrades including: painting, lead abatement, repairing/installing heating systems, replacing electrical panels, smoke alarm installation, fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors to address environmental hazards in the home.

Community Facility Improvement

This program provides local nonprofits and community centers with much-needed repairs and upgrades. We are proud to contribute to these organizations’ ability to effectively serve the East Bay community! One of the community spaces we’ve helped to rebuild is the Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center. The WDDC is a nonprofit that empowers homeless women and children to get off the street and into homes. RTEBN has helped the WDDC with more than fifteen small and large renovation projects so that the center can more effectively help women and children in the community.

Additional Services

RTEBN provides emergency repairs year-round to qualified applicants to address critical problems in areas such as plumbing, heating, electrical, and roofing. Countless applicants report that they have been living without adequate heat, faulty pipes, or a leaking roof. By immediately addressing these critical issues we are able to reduce the number of residents in our community living in uninhabitable conditions. Some of the emergency repairs we are able to provide include:

Repairing or replacing inadequate furnace systems
Repairing or replacing faulty or inoperable water heaters
Critical plumbing repairs to address lack of cold/hot water
Electrical repairs to address lack of power or repair/removal of hazardous electrical equipment
Broken window repair or replacement

Our client’s homes tend to be old, in poor condition, and very inefficient when it comes to energy and water use. As a result, clients often use three times the average to heat their homes, do laundry, and power lighting and appliances. Rebuilding Together East Bay-North is helping to address this issue by including energy upgrades in our projects. We collaborate with volunteers, skilled trade organizations, community groups, churches, and local businesses to provide the following energy upgrades:

Insulating attics, crawl spaces, hot water pipes and heating ducts
Sealing, repairing or replacing windows and exterior doors
Repairing furnaces and water heaters and installing water heater blankets
Installing compact fluorescent light bulbs and programmable thermostats
Installing high efficiency furnaces, water heaters and other appliances
Testing and fixing toilet leaks and pipe leaks
Installing high efficiency shower heads and faucet aerators

News & Projects

Learn more about our work in the community on our blog! We update it regularly with our most recent organizational news and featured projects.

Apply for a Program

If you’re interested in applying for services for your home or community facility, please click to button below to visit our applicant registration page. We accept applications year-round, but please note that most of our full-scale projects are completed in the Spring.

Apply