| We spoke to Kelly Guajardo at Rebuilding Together Philadelphia. Tell us about how you got your start at Rebuilding Together Philadelphia: My family and I relocated to Philadelphia in 2020 and I started with RTP in September of 2022. It was the organization’s mission that drew me in and the fabulous coworkers and homeowners that made me want to stay! What do you love most about the work you and your colleagues do? The basic premise of our work is that all people deserve to live in safe and healthy conditions and every day we work to make that happen for low-income homeowners in Philadelphia. I love that we provide concrete, tangible improvements to people’s quality of life through repairing the sacred space that is their home. Interviewing homeowners is hands down my favorite part of the job. What would you like young people and others in the community to know about this program? I think there’s a lot of skepticism, particularly in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, about programs like ours and rightfully so. Between speculative investors, unscrupulous contractors and scams targeting seniors, people are wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. So, I want people to know that Rebuilding Together Philadelphia is the real deal. We provide free home repairs to an average of 125 income-eligible homeowners every year in Philadelphia. Our work is concentrated in select neighborhoods including Strawberry Mansion and Germantown, and has included West Philadelphia in the past, but we gladly provide referrals to other agencies for people who live outside of our service area. What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter into the type of work and programming you do? One great way to start is by volunteering with an organization you’re inspired by or that you’d like to learn more about. Several of our staff members started as volunteers and many former staff members continue to volunteer with us. What’s on the horizon for Rebuilding Together Philadelphia? What are you excited about in the future? Our next Block Build will be in West Philadelphia on April 12-13. Typically, our Block Builds bring together 100-200 volunteers to make repairs on up to a dozen homes on a given block. It’s an intensive two days of hard work and community in action. |
