Rebuilding Together-Lincoln County (RTLC) held its final board meeting of the 2024 calendar year on Dec. 10. After a year that saw the organization involved in nearly 50 projects, the board decided the word that best sums up a very successful 2024 is “collaboration.”

“Collaboration” is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “to work jointly with others.” Providing critical home repairs for local low-income homeowners and a free mobility ramp loan program, RTLC works with a broad swath of the community and has many collaborators who help provide these important services.

The first group of collaborators is the board itself and its individual members who make RTLC click.  Committees include Outreach, Operations, Fundraising, Grants, Marketing, Ramps and IT, all managed by a board that includes Jim Stevens, Chris Higgins, Liz Bagonzi, Allan Miller, Ralph Eames, Sally Barter, Sarah Giles, David Butterworth, Laura Blake, Tom Churchill, Tony Curulla, Vic Taylor, Kevin Guay, Stephanie Hawke, Gabby Iacono, Jessica Nadeau and Jack Herger.

Operations volunteers make up RTLC's second collaborators cadre. They help implement home repairs, install and retrieve ramps, and include several of our board members as well as Pat Oberuch, Rick Taylor, Greg Laderer, Jim Newton, Pete Klein, Andy Benedict, Matt Schmid, Sam Burnham and Kip Farrin, among others.

RTLC has an ongoing collaborative agreement with Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine (H7R) from Bath and Community Housing Improvement Project (CHIP) from Damaricotta to help each other with the cost of roof repairs and replacements. All three organizations offer similar services in Lincoln County and, since the pandemic, have all experienced dramatic increases in roof materials and installation costs. As part of our collaboration, when one of the three organizations takes on a roof project, the other two, when appropriate, help defray some of the cost. RTLC collaborates directly with Adam Lacher at H7R and Brittany Gill at CHIP.

RTLC also collaborates with H7R on home repairs projects on the Boothbay peninsula specifically.  This collaboration is made possible by a grant H7R receives from The Mildred H. McEvoy Foundation.  We’re happy to report this collaboration will continue in 2025.

Projects on Southport Island are often handled collaboratively with Southport Island Association (Carole Zalucky), The Town of Southport (Gerry Gamage) and the congregation of All Saints Church. In 2024, all three groups contributed in a big way toward covering the costs of a major RTLC roof replacement project for a Southport resident.

Another frequent collaborator is the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor. In addition to being a reliable source for operations volunteers, they also contribute funds from time to time. In 2024 for example, they paid for the parts RTLC volunteers used to install an aluminum ramp at the Community Fridge behind the Boothbay Town Hall.

Roof repairs and replacements are a major portion of RTLC’s workload and are handled exclusively by Midcoast Carpentry & Roofing owned by Bryan Peters. Their responsiveness, flexibility and quality workmanship make them a vital collaborator.

And last but definitely not least, are RTLC’s donors, a list of whom is too long to include here. From local and national corporations and trusts to individuals from the area and away, these collaborators provide the financial resources required to run an all-volunteer, donations-driven organizaton like RTLC.

As RTLC ends a year where “collaboration” became our watchword, we’d like to thank all of our collaborators large and small. We simply couldn’t do our vital work without your generous contributions of time and funds.

Rebuilding Together-Lincoln County is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.  To request our assistance with home repairs or ramp loans, to donate, or learn more about RTLC, please visit www.rebuildingtogether-lc.org.