4/02/2018

Contact:
Kim Walker, 704-940-3149
Kathy Rowan, 704-591-8945

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – More than 700 Realtors® – armed with hammers and rakes, a can-do attitude and a commitment to safe housing – will get to work across Mecklenburg and Iredell counties on Friday, April 20 to help homeowners with critical exterior repairs and adaptive and safety modifications. The work day, which has been happening every April for a decade, begins at 8 a.m. and is expected to conclude by 5 p.m.  Realtors® Care Day (RCD) is an initiative of the Charlotte Regional Realtor®Association’s Housing Opportunity Foundation.

Realtors® are being deployed to 23 sites in the two counties, including 11 homes in the historic Camp Greene neighborhood just west of uptown Charlotte, as well as to the Mooresville Soup Kitchen. The Camp Greene area work marks the third year Realtor® volunteers have joined with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership in a neighborhood revitalization effort.

“Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis impacts homeowners just as much as renters,” said Julie Porter, president of The Housing Partnership and Housing Opportunity Foundation board member. “Many residents on fixed-incomes simply can’t afford to maintain or renovate their older homes, which is why our Realtors® Care Day partnership is so invaluable. It’s an honor to work alongside the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association to ensure homes are safe and habitable for many years to come in neighborhoods like Historic Camp Greene.”

Other sites from Mint Hill to Mooresville will also get needed repairs. RCD volunteer teams repair gutters, build and repair decks, paint, build wheelchair ramps and more.

Special projects always accompany the home repair work on RCD. This year, a team of Realtors® will help the Mooresville Soup Kitchen by building an awning to connect the pantry storage and food service sections of the building. Visitors who come to drop off food for the kitchen on rainy days or exceedingly hot days will now have protection from the elements. The kitchen serves 150 people per day, and the adjacent pantry serves 400 families per week.

In Charlotte, a group of Realtor® volunteers will be painting and landscaping at two transitional living houses at the Harvest Center of Charlotte. The Harvest Center’s Transformation Program, which began in 2013, provides transitional housing, counseling and job skills training to lead people living in poverty toward productive and self-sufficient lives.

For the second consecutive year, Realtors® are including a canned food drive with the safe shelter component of RCD. The public responded generously last year and is invited to participate again. The Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association office at 1201 Greenwood Cliff is the primary drop-off site for nonperishable items like beans, rice, pasta, peanut butter; and household supplies such as dish and laundry detergent, trash bags, paper towels and napkins. For a complete list of acceptable food donations and drop-off points, visit www.carolinahome.com/food-drive.

“Everyone believes that safe, secure housing is an imperative,” said RCD Chair Tiffany Johannes. “But Realtors® see up-close how great the need is and what unsafe or inadequate housing looks like. Food insecurity is as big an issue in our community as a lack of safe, affordable housing. On April 20, we’re addressing both.”

• The Mecklenburg County food pantry benefitting from the food drive is The Harvest Center of Charlotte.
• In northern Mecklenburg County, food donations will benefit The Mooresville Soup Kitchen.

The cumulative RCD volunteer efforts represent:

• Total financial impact exceeding $1 million
• $304,192 in volunteer time
• 231 homeowners
• Nine nonprofits

“When hundreds of us pull together, we’re a mighty force for good,” added Johannes. “Most of the residents we assist are elderly or disabled and unable to make these critical repairs themselves. It’s an honor to do our part.”

“For 10 years, hundreds of Realtors® set business aside to serve our community,” she continued. “Our members’ commitment to this effort grows stronger each year. And we couldn’t do it without professional assistance from our partners – builders, developers, painters and home inspectors. It is a joy to be part of this team effort.”

Realtors® Care Day

RCD advances the sustainable and affordable housing mission of the foundation by providing area homeowners with critical, but often unaffordable, exterior home repairs and/or adaptive safety modifications. Many of the homeowners are elderly or challenged by serious physical limitations and require assistance to maintain safe and sustainable housing.

Over the past 9 years, more than 6,000 Realtor^® volunteers have participated in RCD. The 2018 event promises to build upon this success, with the continued support of nearly 100 local businesses and organizations pitching in with financial sponsorships and in-kind donations.

For the 10th consecutive year, Lowe’s has supported Realtors^® Care Day by developing a process for the organization, as well as management and delivery of materials to all home sites within the two-county area. Lowe’s staff will assist throughout the day in meeting the project needs until all sites have been completed.

The Housing Opportunity Foundation also welcomes back the commitment of several regional partners that have helped identify homeowners eligible for assistance with critical home-repair needs: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, City of Charlotte Housing and Neighborhood Services; Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte and Greater Matthews Habitat for Humanity.

MEDIA COVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES

Friday, April 20 (9:30 a.m.-noon) 

Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association and Housing Opportunity Foundation leaders, nonprofit partners and Realtor® volunteers will be available for media interviews during the designated time period at two media sites.

• Shiloh Institutional Baptist Church 2400 Greenland Ave, Charlotte, NC 28208

  Realtor^® volunteers will perform critical repairs on 11 houses in the Camp Greene neighborhood. Four of these homes are located on Greenland Ave. and two are within walking distance on Morton St. (Shiloh Institutional Baptist Church, celebrating its 75th Anniversary, has donated the use of its parking lot as a media site for RCD.)

• Mooresville Soup Kitchen  275 S. Broad Street, Mooresville, N.C. 28115

  Realtor® volunteers will build an awning to connect the pantry storage and food service sections of the building. The Soup Kitchen is also one of the drop-off locations for the food drive.

About the Housing Opportunity Foundation

The Housing Opportunity Foundation is the charitable arm of the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association.  The foundation is dedicated to funding, education, advocacy and leadership programs that are focused on fair and affordable housing and workforce-housing initiatives.  The foundation serves to position and educate Realtors® as leaders, promote homeownership and provide funding to create housing opportunities.

For more information on Realtors® Care Day 2018, visit www.RealtorsCareDay.com.

About the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association

The Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association is a trade association that provides its more than 10,200 Realtor® members with the resources and services they need to conduct ethical, professional, successful and profitable businesses. The association is dedicated to being the region's primary resource for residential real estate information. The association operates the Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Inc. (CarolinaMLS), which has more than 15,000 Subscribers and is the private cooperative Realtors® use for access to tens of thousands of residential listings in a multicounty service area, including Charlotte, the Piedmont and Mountains areas of North Carolina and South Carolina, and beyond.

Original Publish Date: 4/2/2018