‘Rebuilding Day’: Hundreds of volunteers repair homes

Nearly 700 people come together to help low-income, disabled residents

SAN JOSE >> Marco Lopez was once a very active family man who worked long hours and kept up the home he purchased with his wife Lois in 1984, making small repairs and improvements himself. But after several foot surgeries and back pain left him with limited mobility, Lopez saw the house fall apart.

“I couldn’t sleep sometimes,” he said. “I wondered, ‘How am I going to do all this?’ “

But the Lopez home on King Road came to life again Saturday as volunteers parachuted onto the property to clear out junk and safety hazards, paint the outside and inside of the home, tidy up the patio and replace old and rotten wood siding.

They were among nearly 700 volunteers who transformed 21 homes and three nonprofits with Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley for the group’s annual Rebuilding Day. The organization provides repairs and accessibility modifications for low-income homeowners — largely seniors, people with disabilities and families with children.

Sponsors and community volunteers “adopted” individual homes to focus on, according to Executive Director Beverley Jackson. Many began working on the homes ahead of time and completed their projects Saturday.

“People who are somewhat isolated and who are no longer out in the community get to have that feeling that complete strangers are willing to help them,” she said. “This is really life-changing for these families. In many cases, families have been very anxious about how they were going to get the repairs done.”

Board member Tim Dunkin said low-income families are often forced