Enlarge Over the last two years, Realtors Care Day has helped 64 families with critical home improvements.

Posted: March 4th, 2011 Lee Howard

With the help of a Foundation For The Carolinas grant, more than 650 local Realtors are expected to participate in the third annual Realtors Care Day project on April 8, making home repairs for about 30 area families.

FFTC recently awarded a $10,000 grant to the Housing Opportunity Foundation, the charitable arm of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association, to help pay for the project. Part of the housing foundation’s creed is to ensure the Charlotte community offers affordable and safe workforce housing.

“We who are involved in real estate need to give back to the community,” said Realtor Association President Laurie Knudsen, the sales manager at Helen Adams Realty. “And it’s fun.”

Realtors Care Day is an all-day effort to assist homeowners with critical exterior home repairs and the elderly and disabled with adaptive and safety modifications to their homes. Over the last two years, the project has provided an estimated $300,000 worth of assistance to 64 Charlotte-area families.

Volunteers don't need to have been born handy, Knudsen says. Local building professionals also are volunteering their time to help provide instructions for the tricky stuff.

“If you can rake a yard or wield a paint brush, we can use you,” she adds.

Project sites will extend throughout Mecklenburg and Iredell counties. Families were selected by the association’s community partners, including the City of Charlotte’s Neighborhood and Business Services Department; the Habitat for Humanity chapters in Charlotte, Matthews and Iredell County; Our Towns Habitat for Humanity; Love Inc.; and the Davidson Housing Coalition’s HAMMERS program.

“We are so grateful for this significant grant that allows us to address local housing concerns,” says Terri Marshall, the housing foundation's executive director. “This funding demonstrates the community collaboration behind this project, which strengthens our ability to serve our neighbors in a greater capacity.”

The Realtor Association is a trade group that offers leadership and support to its more than 6,500 area members.

“We are delighted to support the Housing Opportunity Foundation in this general community initiative,” says Michael Marsicano, Foundation For The Carolinas' president and CEO. “(This) will improve the lives of many in our community.”

Tweet

Previous Page