Rebuilding Together and Wells Fargo Volunteers Fix Health and Safety Hazards in Low-Income Homes in Nine Communities

Washington, DC – October 2, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Today, the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), Rebuilding Together, and teams of Wells Fargo volunteers kick off the Healthy Housing Challenge. The project will make critical home repairs for low-income families, seniors, veterans, and persons with disabilities living in homes with health and safety threats, starts in nine cities.

The Healthy Housing Challenge is a joint project of NCHH, a national research and advocacy organization, and Rebuilding Together, the nation’s leader in volunteer home repairs. The Challenge provides training, funding, and technical support to help local Rebuilding Together affiliates make repairs in communities across the United States.

“Although older, low-income homes typically pose greater risks, our research shows that millions of American homes have hazards that can harm occupants’ health,” said Rebecca Morley, executive director of NCHH. “The good news is that relatively simple repairs can correct many problems.”

Yesterday NCHH released the newest results of The State of Healthy Housing, a comprehensive study of housing conditions in 46 metropolitan areas of the nation. The study reveals that 35 million U.S. homes—or 40 percent—have one or more health and safety hazards.

“The Healthy Housing Challenge enhances Rebuilding Together’s affiliates’ ability to look for health and safety hazards and to make the critical modifications necessary to repair these homes,” said Charley Shimanski, Rebuilding Together’s president and CEO. “Our vision is a safe and healthy home for every person.”

The Rebuilding Together affiliates that are leading the Healthy Housing Challenge will be completing the projects with teams of Wells Fargo volunteers in the following communities:

Arlington/Fairfax/Falls Church, VA – October 5
Pittsburgh, PA – October 10
Raleigh, NC – October 12
Philadelphia, PA – October 12
Baltimore, MD – October 17

Healthy Housing Challenge repairs have already commenced in several cities, including: Omaha, NE, Denver, CO, Redwood City and Sacramento, CA.

“Wells Fargo is excited to support this effort that provides important home repairs and education to people who need them,” said Mike Rizer, director of Community Relations & CRA Risk Management at Wells Fargo. “It’s important for homeowners to understand how homes affect our health, and the basic steps for preventing health and safety dangers. Wells Fargo volunteer teams are coming together to help Rebuilding Together complete repairs in all of these communities, and many more to come.”

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) helped launch the Challenge with an $850,000 commitment over three years from the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation. Freddie Mac recently joined in sponsoring the Challenge with $250,000 in matching funds. NCHH and Rebuilding Together are inviting other national corporations and foundations to sponsor the Challenge and provide leadership in making Americans’ homes healthier and safer. Later this year, 13 additional communities will be selected to participate in the Healthy Housing Challenge.

This short video highlights 10 repairs Rebuilding Together volunteers completed to make one older home safe and healthy: http://bit.ly/TUYJ7d.

NCHH provides homeowners with tips for preventing dangers in the home. For example:

Check your clothes dryer duct for lint clogs and make sure it vents outside
Ensure gutters and downspouts are working and direct water away from the home
Slope your yard away from the house so water does not puddle at the foundation
Set your water heater temperature to 120 F or less to avoid scalds and save energy
Repair cracks and holes in the foundation and walls to keep out pests

To view NCHH’s Seasonal Healthy Homes Maintenance Checklist, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/ybzhxtm. Join us for the Healthy Housing Challenge – visit: http://www.hhchallenge.org/

About the National Center for Healthy Housing

The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) is the leading national nonprofit dedicated to creating safe and healthy housing through practical and proven steps. NCHH has trained over 35,000 people in safe and healthy housing practices. Follow NCHH on Twitter @nchh or become a fan on Facebook at Facebook.com/HealthyHousing. To see a video about NCHH visit http://vimeo.com/59202134

About Rebuilding Together

Rebuilding Together is a Safe and Healthy Housing organization that believes community starts at home. Our focus provides critical repairs, accessibility modifications and energy efficient upgrades to low-income homes and community centers at no cost to service recipients. Our impact extends beyond the individuals served to revitalize and stabilize vulnerable neighborhoods and communities across the country. Our 187 local affiliates completed 10,400 rebuild projects in 2012 thanks to the efforts of 100,000 volunteers from corporate partners, skilled trades professionals and everyday good citizens. Join us – visit www.RebuildingTogether.org.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 270,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at blog.wellsfargo.com. Since 1993, the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation has invested more than $278 million in support of affordable housing and community revitalization programs, and delivered 4.7 million in volunteer hours to build or rehabilitate more than 5,000 homes.