Yachad’s Ramp it Up! was a great success. 19 local teens came together to build a large access ramp for an affordable cooperative in NE Washington, DC. Thanks to their hardwork, we were able to make four apartments accessible for low-income residents in wheelchairs. The hard working teens not only learned about how to use power tools, but they also learned about accessibility issues and the struggle of people with low-incomes. This project was funded by the National Fair Housing Alliance and was supported by Ilan Scharfstein, Alan Kanner and Added Dimensions, Louis Tenenbaum and Yachad.
On Sunday, June 6th, about 50 Yachad volunteers and homeowners came together to celebrate the wonderful success of the Sukkot in Spring season at Nationals Stadium. Yachad invited everyone to come together to bask in the sun and in the success of repairing nearly 20 homes in the Washington, DC area this spring. Although the Nats didn’t win, everyone had a spectacular time and were glad to come together to see the power a group of people can have when they want to make a difference.
Thanks to all the volunteers from Yachad and the Rising Sun Baptist Church who came out on such a hot day this Memorial Day to do such hard work. The volunteers worked through our We the People Federal Holiday volunteer program to prepare the church’s community house for a renovation. Working closely with Yachad through our Faith-to-Faith program, the church plans on repairing the home next to the church as a community space for bible studies, community meetings and hopefully a health and education center for the wider community.
On Sunday, May 2nd, students from several religious groups at the University of Maryland came together to give back to their community. Through a Yachad Mitzvah Party sponsored by a Pepsi Grant, the students worked side-by-side with residents and staff from the Latin American Youth Center(LAYC) to repair the resident buildings on 15th Street, NW. Painting inside and out, the volunteers refreshed the group houses shared by runaway youth and teens in the DC foster system. LAYC works to provide safe housing for these teens as well as education on independent living and life skills. This was the second project in which Yachad helped LAYC repair their buildings successfully. Thanks to all that participated!
You’ve been asking for it and here it is…more ways to volunteer with Yachad! In the next coming months we need an assortment of different people with particular skills. Please see below if you have what we need to help make a difference in the lives of our neighbors. A Few Good Shleppers Sunday, April 25th, 11am-1pm
Looking For: 5 strong men/women who enjoy manual team work and harkening back to the days of pyramid building. We are repairing the residences of the Latin American Youth Center and will be building a brick retaining wall on their back patio. We have bricks at one site but need help bringing them to the LAYC building. Email (Kendra@yachad-dc.org) to us to sign up. Spaces are limited.
Cloning Richard Feldman Sometime this Spring
Looking For: 5-10 experienced Yachad volunteers that feel comfortable leading a group of volunteers on our work days. If you have been to our worksites, have basic/intermediate painting and handyman skills, and good people skills, we would love your help. We will be holding a training session sometime this Spring taught by Richard Feldman, our Construction Manager, in hopes of bringing on a few more project leaders. To sign up or ask for more details, email us (Kendra@yachad-dc.org).
Jewish Churchgoers?
Memorial Day
Looking For: 20 Yachad volunteers for a We the People work day at our new Faith-to-Faith partner’s church, The Rising Sun Baptist Church in Northeast DC. We will be doing mostly demo work, getting the house ready to renovate, so it can be a community space. If you like hitting and ripping things, this is your project. To sign up, go to our We the People page and fill out an application. Spots are limited.
Donate Appliances?
Looking For:
Electric Dryer
Gas Range Have a Truck? If you have a truck or a large van and some muscle, we are looking for volunteers to help pick up these donations and bring them to our homeowner’s houses.
Email or call if interested. (202) 296-8563
It takes two seconds to vote and can help us get more funding. Please vote for us for Best Place to Volunteer and Best Festival before the polls close. Just click on the widgets below, fill in your email address and click submit. Do it for both widegets. Thank you!
Yachad reached out to the Latin American Youth Center for this President’s We the People project in an effort to continue our work with not only homeowners but other non-profit organizations and community centers. With the help of nearly 20 Yachad volunteers, we paintied rooms, benches and hallways through out the center’s main building. The LAYC Family of Organizations is a network of youth centers, charter schools, and social enterprises with a shared commitment to helping youth become successful and happy young adults, with the skills they need to succeed educationally, professionally, and personally. The building that was worked on was home to the organization’s offices, a charter school and a community center.
Yachad will be doing even more work with LAYC come May when University of Maryland’s Hillel will be sponsoring and repairing the transitional housing residences LAYC runs in Columbia Heights.
This past weekend the Granader family celebrated their son Josh’s Bar Mitzvah with friends and family. Following the traditional ceremony and reception a few months ago, the family decided to honor their son’s simcha (treasured event) with a mitzvah-a Yachad Mitzvah Party. The family and friends came together at a Northeast home to repair the house alongside the homeowner. They painted and hammered until the work was done. At the end of the day everyone was tired but really felt as though they had made a difference. Check out this short video from the day. If you are interested in hosting your own Mitzvah Party, read more here and contact us.
We could not do it without all of our supporters. Here is a list of our partners in repairing our city in 2009.
Synagogue and Organizational Partners
Adas Israel Congregation
Adat Shalom Congregation
Beth El Congregation of Montgomery County
Nancy Taylor Bubes Mitzvah Party
Georgetown University Hillel
Howard University/ Engineers Without Borders
Kehila Chadasha
Kol Shalom
Mitzvahstock
People’s Congregational United Church of Christ
The Real Estate Affinity Group of Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Shirat HaNefesh
Temple Micah
Temple Rodef Shalom
Temple Sinai
Tifereth Israel Congregation
Young Area Professional Network Y.A.P.N.
Businesses and Contractors
1659 Antiques
Added Dimensions
Ark Sign Service
Justin Barrows, Carpentry
Chico Contracting
Russell Clark, Carpenter
David Bell Antiques
Davis Construction
Delbe Home Services
Dunkin’ Donuts, Columbia Heights
EEK Architects
Feldwood Home Improvements
Forest City Washington
Furins
Good Wood
HITT Contracting
Michael Holt, Architect
Home Mods
J. Brooks Carpeting
JKJ Electric
Jose Lopez
Junk in the Trunk
Maggio Roofing
Maloof Contracting
Marywood Design and Build
Mr. Bugz
Pete’s A Pizza
Plotnick Design and Construction
Rand Construction
Shapiro and Duncan Plumbing
Tenleytown Trash
Timothy Paul Carpets
Thunderhill Electrical Company
T.W. Perry
Used Card Board Boxes Dot Com
Van Tipton
Wood and Whitacre Roofing
Major Donors and Grantors– 2009
General Fund
Amcha for Tzedakah
Deborah Linn
Sylvia Ritzenberg Charitable Trust
Lawrence Weissberg Foundation 2009 Community Builders Bash
Lois and Richard England
Ellen and Paul Lazar
Melanie and Lawrence Nussdorf
Roxanne Littner and Dr. Roy Rubinfeld
Tina and Albert H.Small, Jr. Give A Share Fund (Home Repair)
National Fair Housing Alliance
Marshall and Harlene Racoosin Philanthropic Fund
Irma and Lester Poretsky
Nancy Taylor Bubes and Alan Bubes All Sukkot in Spring Synagogue and Organizational Partners
Neighborhood Development Initiative (Georgia Avenue Storefront Project)
Emory Beacon of Light
Weissberg Foundation Our City Film Festival
Humanities Council of Greater Washington
Last Name Left Production Ramp It Up!
Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute
National Capital Affordable Housing Inc.
Welcome to Yachad’s blog. Here you will find stories and pictures from our programs as they happen. We also would like to use this page as a way for our volunteers and homeowners to post comments about their experiences with Yachad. Enjoy!
