Firm Completes Eleventh RTO Home Project

Partners Matthew Graham and Les Hausrath Serve on Board of Directors

OAKLAND, Calif., May 5, 2015 – Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP continues its long tradition of service with Rebuilding Together Oakland (RTO), recently completing a two-weekend improvement project for a low-income homeowner in the city. With a history of leadership in the organization, Partners Matt Graham and Les Hausrath currently serve on the Board of Directors. Phyllis Quintero, secretary at Wendel Rosen, serves as the firm’s volunteer coordinator for RTO projects.

For more than 20 years, RTO has brought volunteers and communities together to improve the homes and lives of the growing population of low-income homeowners in need, as well as community facilities in Oakland. Every year in April, RTO participates in National Rebuilding Day, seeing more than 2,000 volunteers complete more than 40 critical home repair and community improvement projects.

Wendel Rosen’s specific project brought together attorneys, staff and firm clients for two full Saturdays of improvement work on a 78-year-old woman’s home in Oakland. The Wendel Rosen team worked together with Bell Investment Advisors to make significant and necessary improvements to the interior of the home, including new paint and carpet, replacement of a leaking skylight, installation of a new sink and garbage disposal, and repairing various electrical issues. In regard to the exterior of the home, volunteers installed a hard roof on the back porch, repaired stairs and railings, and painted the house trim and more than 100 feet of iron fence.

“Service, particularly to the community in which we work and live, is simply ingrained in the culture here at Wendel Rosen,” said Graham, construction partner and team leader of the RTO building project. “It’s something we promote and participate in as an organization, and our employees engage in various community initiatives on a personal level as well. We all look forward to Rebuilding Together Oakland year after year – evidenced by our long sign-up sheet of volunteers! I think it’s safe to say these weekends give us a new perspective on the legal work we do for our construction clients, both owners and contractors.”

About Rebuilding Together Oakland

Rebuilding Together Oakland is a Safe and Healthy Housing organization that believes Community Starts at Home. The organization’s focus is to provide critical repairs, accessibility modifications and energy efficient upgrades to low-income homes and community centers at no cost to service recipients. RTO’s impact has been felt in Oakland for more than 20 years, and its corporate partners, skilled trades professionals and everyday good citizen-volunteers have repaired more than 1,100 homes and 115 community facilities and spaces. Visit: www.RTOakland.org.

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