There are over 630,000 people living in poverty in Colorado.  The Colorado Community Action Association (CCAA) serves low-income Coloradoans and is hosting the 2013 Colorado Conference on Poverty in Grand Junction on August 13- 16, 2013.

Rebuilding Together Metro Denver serves low-income homeowners, making homes safe and healthy for habitation.  While much of our work is centered in Denver’s urban neighborhoods, we are finding more and more need in the suburbs as well, underscoring the findings of the research mentioned in this article.  Learn more about aging and poverty, visit the Denver Regional Council on Aging and review their four-year area plan on aging services.

Assisting veterans and the loved ones of veterans is a key point of order at Rebuilding Together Metro Denver, as 20 percent of the homeowners we work with are either veterans or widows of veterans. Rebuilding Days serve as only one of the ways in which Rebuilding Together Metro Denver works to repair and revitalize homes for those who have had their lives changed while serving in the armed forces. With the help of business and community sponsors like Safeway, in addition to the dedication and efforts of thousands of volunteers, RTMD annually addresses the needs of hundreds of homeowners.

While one of RTMD’s key demographics is aging veterans, addressing the needs of those veterans who have fought in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is an additional point of emphasis in the work that we do. With an estimated 426,000 veterans residing in Colorado, there is certainly no shortage of local veterans who are likely to need the kind of assistance that we offer. One of these local veterans, Christopher D., received a series of home modifications this past Saturday, May 18, with the help of Safeway, a national sponsor of Rebuilding Together. RTMD and some three-dozen Safeway volunteers equipped with tools and ready to work, spent the day making Chris’ home more accessible for him as he lives with limited mobility as a result of his service. Chris, a 35-year-old combat veteran, served 14 years in the United States Army as an Infantry Squad leader before suffering injuries caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), ultimately leading to his medical retirement.

A married father of five, Chris suffered a traumatic brain injury, impacting his movement, vision and hearing. While he uses a cane most of the time to get around, he often suffers neck and back pain that require him to use a walker to move around the house. With the help of our sponsors at Safeway and their hard-working volunteers, RTMD added a modular ramp and modified his bathroom with a Best Bath walk-in shower system, improving safety and livability for Chris.  The team also replaced carpeting throughout the house with laminate wood flooring to enhance mobility.

In its fourth year of partnership with Rebuilding Together, Safeway locally has continued to contribute greatly to RTMD’s cause of assisting veterans in need of home modifications and maintenance. Sponsors like Safeway and the many volunteers who work so hard to rebuild homes for veterans like Chris make it possible for RTMD to progress towards its goal of assisting those who need it most and taking care of those who have worked so hard to take care of us.

Volunteering with RTMD is a great way to give back to give back to those who have put their lives on the line on order to serve and protect our country. The home modifications that RTMD offers, such as handrail and grab bar installation, wheelchair ramp installation, and simple home maintenance tasks, including installation of fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, ensure that our local veterans have safe and functional homes in which they can thrive and truly be safe and healthy.

While the types of disabilities that veterans face may differ between older generations and younger generations of returned soldiers, taking care of our veterans is something that is timeless in its significance.  Be it by spending a day with grandpa and helping him with any household chores that may need doing, or by visiting Fort Logan National Cemetery to honor loved ones lost, taking some time out of our long Memorial Day weekends to help and to celebrate our veterans is the very least we can do continue to take care of those who take care of us.

See more photos on Facebook and on our web site!  Read more in Your Hub.

Blog post by Jamie Magyar

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, taking place this year on Sunday, May 12, time to brainstorm and settle on the perfect Mother’s Day gift is rapidly running out. Although Safeway and Hallmark gift stores may have a plethora of perfectly arranged flowers and poetically written cards, we at RTMD have been brainstorming some gift ideas of our own that will continue to keep on giving past Mother’s Day.

While showing Mom and Grandma how much they are appreciated with a more traditional celebratory measure like brunch or dinner surely is not frowned upon, there are a number of spring cleaning and simple home maintenance tasks that, while maybe not traditional gift ideas, are likely to help them out more than you know.

Maintaining a home is no simple feat; this fact rings more true than ever when facing those tasks alone. Most of the homeowners we help are women, widowed, living alone or as heads of their households. In 2011, 81 percent of the homeowners that RTMD assisted were females.  So, in keeping with RTMD’s month of May pledge to care for those who care for us, we are proposing to swap lunch for Lowe’s this Mother’s Day by throwing on some work clothes and getting in to project mode to both celebrate and care for our mothers and grandmothers. Here’s a look at some equally easy and important ways that you can give this Mother’s Day:

Replacing or cleaning the furnace filter

When you think Mother’s Day, “furnace filter,” may not be the first words that come to mind, but replacing or changing the furnace filter will not only help save on energy costs, but will also keep the air circulating through their homes clean from bacteria and other harmful junk that is a byproduct of a dirty air filter. This simple task should take no more than 5-10 minutes, depending on whether or not you are replacing a disposable filter or cleaning a permanent filter. The folks at TLC have some useful hints about the benefits of permanent filters over disposable ones, as well as some helpful furnace filter cleaning techniques.

In a related arena, it also would not hurt to check the batteries on mom and grandma’s smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure they are still live and working.

Who doesn’t love a little Spring Cleaning? 

It may seem like just a seasonal cliché, but doing a thorough spring cleaning will allow you and your loved ones to spend time tackling a project together, all the while helping immensely. From merging and purging old or unwanted items to sweeping, mopping and dusting every inch of the house, there is no better way to welcome and truly enjoy the warming spring weather than in a nice, clean house. Check out these ten Spring Cleaning tricks from BrightNest to make mom and grandma a squeaky clean home using common, household items. While you’re at it, don’t forget to disinfect areas on common surfaces like door knobs, remote controls and household phones that, for how often they are used, much less often receive the scrubbing they need!

Staying Safe – An Accident Free Bathroom 

It is all too often that we encounter stories of aging loved ones slipping or falling in their homes, often leading to serious injuries that are difficult to recover from. Maintaining a safe home for our aging mothers and grandmothers is something that RTMD works everyday to make a reality. In 2011, 80 percent of homeowners that RTMD worked with were above the age of 65, with an average age of 70.

While accidents in the home are likely to happen in any given room, the moisture, slippery ceramic and tile in bathrooms can be a recipe for disaster. What better way to make sure mom and grandma are safe in their home by making sure that they do not fall victim to a bathroom-related injury. Check out this article on simple ways to accident-proof your loved ones bathrooms. Getting mom or grandma a new bathmat or bathroom nightlight will not only spruce up the bathroom, but will keep them safer from falling prey to injury.

You can also donate to our efforts to help mothers and grandmothers in our community live a bit more safely in their homes in the name of your own loved one.

There are countless ways that you can give to your mom and grandma this Mother’s Day that are constructive and helpful. Home maintenance may not scream Mother’s Day, but a day of sorting and scrubbing will give you and your loved ones some significant time spent together with some rewarding results. What more could mom ask for?

If you missed the event and would like to learn more about our mission, please visit our website.  If you like what you see and believe, as we do, that everyone deserves a safe and healthy home, please consider making a donation today.  We serve nearly 500 homeowners a year, most of whom are older adults, veterans, people with disabilities and at-risk families with children who because of their life circumstances are unable to maintain and fix their homes.  We focus on the fixes that immediately improve safety, including installation of grab bars, handrails, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide monitors and fire extinguishers.  We also send qualified technicians for electrical and plumbing repairs, and address many issues involving furnaces and water heaters.

Cherry Creek Properties serves Colorado connecting real estate sellers and buyers.  Please consider using one of the caring agents listed above for your real estate needs.

Many thanks again to all who made the day a big hit!  See more photos on our Facebook page!

Sometimes life does come together nicely! With Lowe’s product, the Ball Aerospace Veterans’ Resource Group, and Marie’s need, we had a match. Check out photos from this great special event!

Unfortunately for us, identity theft is more common than you think, and represents significant financial loss. According to the most recent Consumer Sentinel Network Reports, compiled by the Federal Trade Commission, there were over two million fraud and identity theft complaints filed during the 2012 calendar year, 18 percent of which were identity theft complaints. 

Older adults are often the target of identity thieves.  While exact figures are often difficult to determine, most likely because of underreporting by seniors, it is estimated that the financial loss resulting from identity theft and exploitation of older adults is in excess of $2.9B annually.  

In keeping with our focus this month on taking care of those who take care of us, we took some time to seek out a few simple and constructive tips and tools to pass along to our loved ones in working to prevent identity theft. Be sure you share this information with the most vulnerable folks in your life.  Experts say:

• Read your credit card and bank statements every month.  Compare against your receipts.
• Keep track of your payment due dates. Investigate if one of your bills does not arrive on time or at all.
• Check insurance claims summary forms.  Watch for any discrepancies.
• Review each of your three credit reports frequently. Ask for a free report.
• Shred important financial and personal that you no longer need or want, documents including bank statements and credit card invoices. 

No shredder? No problem. Join RTMD from 9 – 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 4, at 6900 S. University Blvd. in Centennial, across from the Streets of South Glenn, for a couple of hours of shredding galore. Shredding professional from CINTAS will be on site with their truck to shred any personal papers that you may have to dispose of.  Our great friends at Cherry Creek Properties are paying for all expenses.  Your $7 donation gets you up to ten boxes/bags of shredding AND the satisfaction of supporting our important mission to provide safe and healthy housing for those in need. 

Keeping yourself and loved ones safe from identity theft can be as easy as simply keeping close tabs on your financials and making it a routine of doing so. So, get out those checkbooks, old tax documents, and other files with personal information and visit RTMD this Saturday for Shred Day. 

For more specific information about how to protect yourself or an older adult in your life from identify theft and other types of fraud, visit the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

First things first, though.  Don’t miss the big upcoming SHREDDING fundraiser sponsored by Joyce Sedam and several of her colleagues at Cherry Creek Properties.  Join us for coffee and donuts on May 4 from 9 – 11 a.m. at 6900 S. University Blvd, Centennial, across from the Streets of South Glenn.  Bring your boxes and bags (limit of 10 total, please) for $7 a person.  RTMD is the beneficiary of that whole amount, so the more folks you bring along, the greater the funds we can apply to crucial home repairs. Check out more details.

We celebrated National Rebuilding Day on Saturday, April 27, 2013 along with many RT affiliates across the country.  Read more about our featured project with Booz Allen Hamilton.  With their help we made some big changes to Wendy’s home, making it safer and healthier not only for herself, but for her ten grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Wehave served dozens of homeowners so far this year, fixing leaking faucets, installing grab bars and ramps, and taking care of urgent repairs from clogged sewers lines to broken water heaters.  Our aim is to support homeowners in need throughout the year. There are just so many needs from our more vulnerable neighbors throughout our seven-county metro area.  We ended 2012 having served over 400 homeowners!  Let’s increase that number in 2013! Please support our efforts through your donation.

We now have even more ways to support our mission. Do you know someone who wants to get rid of an old car or house?    All they need is a title to donate it to us.  Used vehicles are worth a lot to us for auction!  And, we now have a fair amount of experience now rehabilitating foreclosed and damaged properties, reselling them to low- to moderate-income homeowners who qualify for homeownership.  Please refer us to your network of friends and family members.  These donations allow us to serve so many more folks in need.

Thank you, JP Morgan Chase for donating two foreclosed properties to us over the past eight months. Many thanks, too, to Joyce Sedam and Christopher Berisford from Cherry Creek Properties who are generously helping us sell these properties.  Stay tuned for more details and open house information!

Mother’s Day and Memorial Day celebrate the people in our lives who fight to keep us thriving. Nurturing us through childhood, into adolescence and on through the trials and tribulations of our adult lives, the selflessness, dedication and perseverance that it requires to be a mother are just a few of the several elements of motherhood that will be celebrated this Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12. No stranger to the difficulties that mothers can face, nearly 80 percent of our homeowners are women, many of whom are either widowed and living alone or hold the daunting task of being head of a multi-generational household.

May also brings Memorial Day, celebrating  those who take care of us in a very different way. While Memorial Day, taking place on Monday, May 27, primarily honors those who have lost their lives fighting to defend our country, the holiday also celebrates another key demographic that RTMD helps stay safely in their homes. Veterans, both young and seasoned  alike,  bring their immense dedication to this country and willingness to put their lives on the line to defend it, yet often face difficulties going forward in their everyday lives. Nearly 20 percent of the people we assist are either veterans or widows of  veterans.

With Mother’s Day and Memorial Day both approaching, we at RTMD feel compelled to dedicate the month of May to taking care of these generous people who take care of us. Though each of these  holidays appears to be different from the other, they share the intent of simply celebrating those who ensure that we survive and thrive through life’s many highs and lows. This month, we’ll be celebrating and taking care of those who have dedicated their lives to taking care of us. Hosting a shredding extravaganza to ensure our aging population is safe from identify theft, exploring some secret spring cleaning and gardening techniques to share with our mothers and grandmothers, and looking at issues facing veterans are only a few of the many things RTMD will be embarking on this month in the name of taking care of those who take care of us.

Stay tuned with the RTMD blog to stay up to date with upcoming events and to check out a few helpful and constructive ways that you can take care of the people who help you thrive.

On Saturday, April 27, a team of folks from Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) will show up in work clothes to help make Wendy’s old Victorian home safer and healthier as she ages.  There is a bonus, though, as Wendy cares for ten grandchildren and great-grandchildren in that home every day!  RTMD and the BAH folks will focus on the kitchen in particular, replacing a stove, adding a vent hood to reduce toxins in the home, replacing flooring to reduce risk of falls, and spruce the place up.  Other work includes installation of smoke detectors, carbon monoxide monitors, a fire extinguisher, and properly venting the dryer to the outside.  The team will help Wendy clean up and will add a coat of paint to brighten everyone’s spirits.

“Booz Allen employees share a common spirit of service, and we are proud to help homeowners in Denver, and more than 25 other communities around the country to repair and rebuild their homes,” said Laura Hayman, Booz Allen Hamilton Community Partnerships Manager.  BAH is a loyal partner of Rebuilding Together Metro Denver, bringing financial support and employee volunteers to our celebration of National Rebuilding Day every April.  Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of management and technology consulting services to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs approximately 25,000 people, and had revenue of $5.86 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2012. To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH)

Watch this space for photos of the project day and follow us on Facebook during National Rebuilding Day to see how Wendy’s kitchen and the rest of her home transforms over the course of the day.