Stronger Together

RTEBN Awarded at Rebuilding Together’s 2025 Annual Summit

It started as a whisper in the back of the room. Then our affiliate’s name was announced. And just like that, we were standing, dancing our way onstage, proudly accepting the 2025 Excellence in Collaboration Award at the Rebuilding Together Annual Summit.

The award honors affiliates that make partnership their heartbeat. Not just the kind that looks good on paper, but the kind that changes lives. The kind that happens when neighbors, volunteers, and city leaders sit around a table and ask, “What if we tried this together?”

If you’ve ever walked into the thrift store we run with Dorothy Day House, you’ve seen it in action. We installed the flooring ourselves and filled up the racks to the brim, like every good thrift store should. Local UC Berkeley students help run the store, learning the ropes of retail and customer service. It’s a partnership that feels alive, human, and hopeful. Every purchase strengthens the collaboration between two organizations and provides young people with a paycheck. It’s an accomplishment we’re extremely proud of and honored to have recognized.

Then there’s Big Skills, our year-long construction class with the local school district. Imagine a group of high schoolers framing walls and setting windows, building an accessory dwelling unit piece by piece. By the end of the year, that structure becomes more than a project. It becomes affordable housing. Income. And most importantly, a chance for a family to live a little easier. And those students? They walk away knowing how to build something real. Something that lasts.

This award isn’t just ours. It belongs to every person interwoven through our partnerships. The only way to describe it would be like if every one of us were connected by a spider’s web. Our partnerships formed on the basis that we can create change for our neighborhood. Winning the Excellence in Collaboration Award feels less like a finish line and more like a mile marker. It’s a reminder that when you bring people together, everyone walks away a little stronger. It’s fitting, considering the theme of this event was:

“We are stronger together”

We’re looking forward to the next Summit, the next award, and yes, the next collaboration waiting just around the corner.