Some six million low-income families nationwide live in substandard housing, with broken heating and plumbing, holes in walls and windows, roach and rodent infestation, falling plaster, crumbling foundations, insufficient fire prevention, and leaking roofs.

Today, thanks to the nonprofit Rebuilding Together Seattle, that statistic has one fewer person.

Rebuilding Together recently worked on the home of Cuba Johnson, a Central District resident and 74-year-old widow of a veteran living alone. Her home is frequented by her children and grandchildren.

But Johnson has trouble moving around because of an arthritic knee, and her home was in need of several repairs. Last Saturday, November 23, volunteers from Madrona Ridge Residential and Security Properties spent a day at her home and rebuilt her back steps, removed clutter and broken appliances, replaced roofing and siding, and repaired gutters.

The project was part of Rebuilding Together’s inaugural Safe at Home Impact Day, which included 10 projects around Seattle with 100 volunteers from 65 local businesses providing free home restoration to low-income families. Johnson’s home was also the 1,000th house restoration project since Rebuilding Together Seattle’s founding in 1989.

Rebuilding Together is a national nonprofit that performs home rehabilitations for low-income residents at no cost to the homeowners.