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Dedicated Crew Completes Projects with Rebuilding Together Saratoga County

By Stephanie Hale-Lopez

Saratoga TODAY

SARATOGA COUNTY – There’s no doubt Rebuilding Together Saratoga County (RTSC) has made a tremendous difference in the community since its inception 12 years ago.

The organization partners with volunteers year round to ensure that homeowners in need can live independently in safe and healthy home. The volunteers strive to build healthy neighborhoods through RTSC’ s three programs: Home Repair – provides critical repairs for low-income homeowners such as weatherizing, plumbing and electrical repairs, patching and painting, cleaning, re-carpeting, siding and landscaping; Safe at Home – home safety assessments, safety and accessibility modifications for low-income homeowners who are older adults or are living with a disability; and Non-Profit Facility/Community Beautification – provides safe and welcoming spaces for communities to gather through renovation and beautification work for community centers, supportive housing facilities and outdoor community spaces. 

Michelle Larkin founded RTSC in November 2003 with an informational meeting. The organization has been growing ever since, boasting thousands of volunteers and completing thousands of projects. In 2014 alone, RTSC helped more homeowners in need than ever before, completing a total of 108 home repair projects – along with eight community space projects – a total of 116 projects. 

“The best part of it all for me is just knowing someone will be safer, warmer, dryer because of the work we do," said Larkin. "The hugs and thank you notes from the homeowners at the end of a workday make all of us grateful for the opportunity to help and make a difference in the lives of our neighbors."

While summer is the organization’s busiest time of year, RTSC does work on projects throughout the year – with the exception of winter, unless it’s an emergency – and Larkin says RTSC relies on a special group of volunteers to help year round. They’re known as Weekday Warriors. 

Weekday Warriors are a crew of volunteers who donate their time regularly – often on a weekly or bi-weekly basis – to help homeowners in need. I met with six of them: Betsy Miklas, George VanDeusen, John Grassman, Tom Disinger, Al Peters and John Maxam. 

“I like the idea of paying it forward. I’m retired, I have time, I like to help people and I’m a hands-on person,” said Miklas. “It keeps me busy. Right in our own backyard, there are so many people in need and so appreciative of what, to us, might seem like small things.” 

As the saying goes – in helping others, we help ourselves – that cannot be truer for the Weekday Warriors. While the focus of every project is to help homeowners in need, volunteers also benefit from the experience. 

“Other than being able to give back and the rewards that that provides, [RTSC] has also provided me with a group of people that I’ve gotten to know who are pretty fantastic. They’re wonderful friends,” adds Disinger. 

“It was about 15 years ago that I retired and my wife saw an article in the paper about [RTSC] and she mentioned that it could be something I’d be interested in,” added Peters. “So much of my life has been spent with paperwork and design and so on. [RTSC] has been an opportunity to work with my hands, be physical, give me purpose and give back to the community. It’s something that I enjoy doing.” 

Grassman has been volunteering with RTSC for nearly a decade. He first started with a couple of springtime projects and after that, he says he was hooked.

“I saw that it was a great way to help the community, we’re all part of the community here and it’s a way to help others right where we live,” said Grassman. “It’s a tremendous organization that has an impact. You look at a lot of other organizations and you invest your money and time into places and you’re not sure where it goes but here, you get the best bang for your buck. We go straight to the person’s home with the materials that we need to help them and it’s just amazing.” 

All six volunteers agreed that working with the homeowners and coming face-to-face with the problems/issues that need fixed is exhilarating…especially at the project’s completion, when you can see the final result and the impact it has on the homeowner. 

“There are certainly a lot of people in the area that need help fixing their places up,” said Maxam. “We see that on every job we go on. It’s astonishing how much people do need us.” 

“Its life changing for the people we help,” added Disinger. “Sometimes, I don’t think we realize the magnitude of what we’ve done.” 

VanDeusen adds that the work volunteers put in through RTSC is to improve what politicians consider to be affordable housing. 

“You hear a lot of talk on the political level about affordable housing, especially in Saratoga County. Saratoga Springs has a lot of big houses; it’s a very expensive place to live,” said VanDeusen. “But just outside of town are very poor communities. There are projects that we’ve gone on where grandma couldn’t stay there because there wasn’t a ramp or the floor was rotting out. When we repair that, we’re working on affordable housing.” 

Rebuilding Together Saratoga County is always looking for more volunteers and the Weekday Warriors say you don’t have to have any particular set of skills or experience. All you need to have is the willingness to donate your time; the rest can be learned. 

“You can always use that extra set of hands,” said Miklas. 

RTSC is hosting a group of Spring Rebuilding Days to complete various springtime projects and is looking for volunteers to help make a meaningful difference for neighbors in need. The Spring Rebuilding Days are Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26; Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3 as well as Saturday, May 9. 

For more information or to sign up to volunteer, contact Michelle Larkin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 587-3315 and be sure to visit rtsaratoga.org. 

CORRECTION: TO CONTACT REBUILDING TOGETHER SARATOGA COUNTY, CALL 518 -587 -3315.

Rebuilding Together Helping Elderly, Low-Income Families Repair Their Homes

By Colette Linton 

SARATOGA SPRINGS— Linda Kahn, whose welcoming personality is as warm and welcoming as her home in Saratoga Springs, turns 90 years young next month in a house that she’s lived in for 57 years.

She boasts its three rooms saying that they are “for when the kids come over to visit” which they will be soon to celebrate her birthday.

Also, after a volunteer crew with Rebuilding Together Saratoga installed a new bathroom, repaired the circuit breaker and electric wiring in her home, installed hand rails in the bathroom and going down the stairs leading into the basement, she is now prouder than ever of what the community is able to do.

“In the kitchen, I couldn’t use the microwave and the toaster oven at the same time. I’d blow a fuse,” Kahn said. “When we bought the house it was like a shell. It had wood floors that were rotted. It had nothing.”

Kahn sent an application to Rebuilding Together of Saratoga County after she heard from someone else of the quality of the home repairs and installations they complete.

Soon she saw the group’s workmanship for herself.

“I had a doctor’s appointment first thing in the morning, and I came home and there were dozens, at least 20 (volunteers),” she said. “It was fantastic. Off and on they would (be here) because these were volunteers, professional, unbelievable people. I didn’t even have to hang around for them. It was that kind of honest, nice caliber.”

Since then she’s helped to persuade others to consider applying.

The assistance Rebuilding Together provides helps to maintain a safe and comfortable atmosphere for its applicants. In this way, it may even help the elderly stay in their homes longer.

 “That’s a lot of the work that we are doing now is helping elderly folks with their home repairs to keep them safe in their homes,” said Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Saratoga Michelle Larkin. “I’d like to say to people as an elderly person that I’m sure that throughout your life you’ve helped plenty of people; so, now is an opportunity for the community to help you.”

Sometimes the elderly may be a little more hesitant to reach out to an organization such as Rebuilding Together, Larkin said. 

“Maybe they’re very independent. They’re used to taking care of themselves and the struggle is that they want to stay in their home but they just need an ADA toilet,” Larkin said. “That may be something where we could be really helpful so that they can stay in their home.”

Rebuilding Together is nearly limitless in the ways in which its hired contractors and volunteers can assist a home owner at no charge to them. When an application is submitted, Rebuilding Together previews the applicant’s house to observe and make suggestions about where repairs can be made.

“Maybe they need a voluntary OT (occupational therapist) to go out and look at their home and make some suggestions,” Larkin said. “Maybe we could move some furniture. Are there trip hazards? Do they need a ramp? Do they need a low-threshold shower unit?”

“There are all kinds of things that could be looked at in the environment,” she said.

Since the renovations were completed at her home, Kahn has found even more reasons to be proud of her home and community.

“Oh definitely,” she said about the improvements and her increased independence. “I needed the high-rise toilets and the grab bars. I feel very secure there.”

“It’s a warm community,” she said. “There are so many lovely people who are caring and giving of themselves.”

Last year, Rebuilding Together completed 90 sites, or 80 homes and 10 nonprofit facilities. They had a total of 1004 volunteers, who worked a total of 5,592 hours. Since its inception in 2003, they have completed 559 projects and served 1026 people.

This year’s spring workdays for volunteers are approaching quickly and are scheduled for April 26 and 27, May 3 and 4, and May 10. For individuals interested in contributing, but are unable to volunteer this season, there is option of being the ‘pizza patron’. The pizza patron becomes the darling of the day by providing lunch for a volunteer crew for $25.

Interested persons can email or call the office if interested in volunteering. For individuals interested in receiving assistance, or know someone who may want some help, email the office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or call Rebuilding Together Saratoga County at 518-581-3315 to begin the application process.

Rebuilding Together requires that applicants prove household income and that the applicant lives in Saratoga County. All applicants are previewed within a couple of months. Projects that are accepted are generally started within a year of the application.