• Posted: May 17, 2022
• National Rebuilding Day, Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago

 

Powering Chicago’s culture of volunteerism was on full display during the recent National Rebuilding Day. Powering Chicago member contractors and union electricians came together to renovate over 30 homes in the Englewood and Chicago Heights neighborhoods. This year marks the 22nd year that Powering Chicago teamed up with Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago to repair homes on National Rebuilding Day.

“We’re here today to help residents of Englewood and Chicago Heights to have safer and more comfortable environments, especially when it comes to electrical work,”  said Powering Chicago Executive Director, Elbert Walters III.

Powering Chicago’s more than 170 volunteers were focused on making sure that all electrical components were safe and functioning, including GFCIs (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter), sump pumps, and ejector pumps. While the volume of improvements completed on this day is impressive, the day of service is focused on improving the lives of the people served — a mission fully supported by IBEW Local 134 electrician Sean Lee.

“Jimmy Carter’s program in Mississippi came in the 90s and looked at my grandmother’s house through a similar program,” said Lee. “They decided that her home was too terrible to fix so they knocked it down and built her a new home. If I volunteer for this the rest of my life, I still will owe.”

Though volunteers give their time freely and without expectation, the appreciation overflowing from the homeowners was gratifying.

“It means a lot because we don’t have to do it ourselves,” said homeowner Jevelyn Heyes. “I need to work and have been applying to this for three, four or five years, then all of a sudden I was chosen. It’s wonderful.”

As an extra perk for volunteering, through Powering Chicago’s partnership with the Chicago Bears, members were able to meet a few Bears players who helped to rally the volunteers, take photos and sign autographs.

This year’s event continues to embody the commitment the unionized electrical industry has with one another and the communities it represents. Volunteer members, ECA Chicago & 134 signatory electrical contractors, all worked together to make the Englewood and Chicago Heights communities safer. When it was finished, over 15 contracting partners volunteered over 25 service vans to assist our most vulnerable communities.