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Non-profit organization rebuilds and modifies 16 Harrisburg homes

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A non-profit organization in Harrisburg repaired and modified 16 houses Saturday. It’s part of Rebuilding Together Greater Harrisb...
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A non-profit organization in Harrisburg repaired and modified 16 houses Saturday. It's part of Rebuilding Together Greater Harrisburg's celebration of serving the community for 25 years.

Screw by screw, clip by clip, and board by board; Charlotte Johnson's home on White Hall street in Harrisburg came together, again.

"I was really excited about it and very pleased," Johnson said. "And I thought, 'wow this is great, this is the first time anything like this has ever happened'."

Her home was selected to be one of the 16 that are being fixed up Saturday.

"And this is the first time I've ever had a volunteer group like this come into my home and do all of this wonderful work so I'm really really delighted and very appreciative," Johnson said.

She's owned the home for 15 years, and has done plenty of work on it in the past but hasn't always been able to live in it due to its conditions.

"It's repairs that I've wanted to do but the exterior - we never were able to get to that," Johnson said. "But this is an old property, so it's over 100 years old, so these kinds of houses there's always a lot of work to do. There's always something to do."

The organization helps veterans, the elderly, and low income families.

"The idea is really to make sure that homeowners can stay in their homes," Chris Thropp, a board member and house captain, said. "So we're doing repairs that maybe they can't afford to do but that help them stay in their home because that's really the whole point to Rebuilding Together is to try and keep people safe, warm and dry."

With the help of hundreds of volunteers and Hillwood Properties who helped make a lot of this happen.

"Part of our core values is giving back to the community so we're pleased to be able to dedicate our time and resources to such a worthy cause," Chris Fencel, a volunteer and Vice President of Development for Hillwood Properties, said.

As for charlotte, she was just grateful to be considered.

"I knew it wasn't definite," Johnson said. "Because a lot of people need help. A lot of people need assistance, and they have limited funds. So I said, 'wow this is great'."

Charlotte said there's still more work to be done. She's hoping to finish what's left before next winter.

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