Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Home Improvement: Brother-and-sister team Loretta and Paul O'Brien, along with other members of their family and many other volunteers, worked as part of a collective effort called Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley to fix and upgrade the West Virginia Avenue home of Christine La Duca, center.
Donated house repairs help woman remain in her home
Rebuilding Together's renovation effort is one of many across the nation during April
By Kate Carter
Christine La Duca has seen a lot of changes since she and her husband, Joe, bought their house on W. Virginia Street, off Bird Avenue, in 1942. "The neighborhood is a lot better than it used to be," La Duca says.
During that time, La Duca, now 82, raised three sons and, in 1988, buried Joe--all while living in the same three bedroom, one bathroom, 1,100-square-foot house.
Now, she says, she likes to sit under her backyard arbor, watching airplanes fly into San Jose International Airport. The past two Saturdays, however, she was, instead, watching changes being made to her own home. About 20 volunteers upgraded La Duca's house to keep her warm, safe and independent--a donated renovation through Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley, formerly called Christmas in April South Bay.
"I just can't believe all this is happening to me," La Duca says. "I've never had anything given to me before."
La Duca's home was just one of 34 local projects, and one of almost 8,000 across the country, that Rebuilding Together worked on last month. The nationwide nonprofit organization targets homes of low-income senior citizens, who are not financially, or physically, able to make necessary improvements. It also makes repairs to nonprofit facilities.
The agency depends on corporate and other organizational donors to sponsor and volunteer on the projects. The $10,000 of improvements made to La Duca's home--including new interior paint, new windows, a new kitchen sink and cabinets, a new front railing and a ramp from the back door--were all paid for by Synopsys Inc., a Mountain View high-tech firm.
Several of the volunteers at the Willow Glen home the past two weekends were Synopsys employees, as well.
"It's an opportunity to give money and truly partner with the organization," community relations manager Erin Brenock says, pointing out a few of the about 20 people who will be involved over the two weekends. "The house isn't so large that we need a big crew."
Preparations for the project began months ago. Rebuilding Together first found out about La Duca and her house when neighbors in her Gardner community contacted the organization last fall.
La Duca filled out an application, had an interview, satisfied the requirements of owning her own home but earning less than a yearly $30,000, and, earlier this year, was chosen out of a pool of about 100 to receive the repairs.
The challenge with many of their projects, board member and Willow Glen resident Sheryl Lee says, is finding skilled people to oversee the construction work on the homes and facilities. Lee, though, had connections.
Nearly everyone in her brother's wife's family, the O'Briens, are in construction. Lee encouraged Loretta and Paul O'Brien, her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law's brother, to serve as the La Duca house captains.
"We grew up in a construction household," Loretta O'Brien says. "Our cousins are coming next week."
James O'Brien is the owner of O'Brien Contractors in Pleasanton and worked on the first Saturday, April 21, of the project. Loretta's cousins own O'Brien Brothers Construction in San Jose and worked on April 28. This is the first time the family has been involved with Rebuilding Together, Loretta says, and she is interested in getting involved again, "now that we know how to do it."
O'Brien began visiting the La Duca home in March, to see what tools and materials they would need and to determine how they would get everything done on two Saturdays. Having plenty of hands to help was important. Good weather, especially after the amount of rain the day before on April 20, also helped things run smoothly, she says.
Some volunteers come from Rebuilding Together. Lee is one of them. She became a board member last year, after calling the organization to donate a door she couldn't use.
Rebuilding Together, then called Christmas in April, was started in Texas in 1973, and has since grown to include more than 240 programs in more than 700 cities nationwide.
Lee says the organization changed its name from Christmas in April earlier this year to better reflect what it really does, to be more inclusive of those who don't celebrate Christmas, and to open the possibility for expanding their efforts to other times of the year. She says the Silicon Valley organization has no specific plans to broaden their scope just yet.
La Duca's son Richard, who lives nearby and says he has plans to move back into his childhood home to care for his mother who has asthma and uses a walker, says he's grateful for the organization's help. He was only 2 1/2 years old when his parents moved them and his older brother, David, into the 5-year-old house. It is full of his memories, including the arrival of his younger brother, Gary.
Christine La Duca has many memories, too, of her family and the neighborhood growing up together. That's why she doesn't want to leave, and she says she's glad she'll be able to stay.
"I've lived here so many years, I wouldn't feel at home any other place," La Duca says.
For more information about Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley, call 408.578.9519, or visit www.rebuildingtogether-sv.org.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
