Providence, RI--Providence College was presented the Rebuilding Together Founders Award during the 10th anniversary celebration for Rebuilding Together with Christmas in April - Providence held recently.  The award was presented in acknowledgement of the role Providence College and its President's Council played in establishing what was then known as Christmas in April - Providence in 1994.

The mission of the initiative was to renovate and revitalize homes of elderly, handicapped, and disadvantaged people as well as non-profit community agencies. Since the first year when 300 College volunteers renovated three properties in one neighborhood, Rebuilding Together with Christmas in April - Providence has evolved into a massive humanitarian effort on the last Saturday of April each year-and the planning goes on year round. At Providence College, the volunteer effort traditionally includes a cross-section of constituencies, including a large contingent of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the College.

Rebuilding Together - Providence has developed into the single- largest program to rehabilitate housing in Rhode Island.  In the first 10 years, nearly 13,000 volunteers and sponsors have donated nearly 116,000 hours and more than $4 million to complete major repairs at 311 private homes and non-profit sites in virtually every neighborhood in Providence. Volunteers have installed stairs, repaired roofs, upgraded electrical systems, installed heating and plumbing systems, constructed handicap ramps, replaced windows, and painted, among other duties. More than 500 homeowners and more than 280,000 people who depend on the communities agency sites that have been renovated have been impacted by the program.

In accepting the award, College President Rev. Philip A. Smith, O.P. said that while the statistical outcomes are impressive, more significant is the human impact that Rebuilding Together - Providence has had.

"We should keep in mind that the real measure of success of this program is not so much transforming properties, but transforming lives by giving deserving elderly, handicapped, and the poor a real chance at a better life," he said.

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