Atlanta ToolBank

http://atlanta.toolbank.org/Default.aspx

55 Ormond St SE
Atlanta GA 30315

ToolBank Mission

"By gathering and sharing resources, the Atlanta Community ToolBank supports community efforts in strengthening neighborhoods."


How do the ToolBank's three programs fit together to serve the unique ToolBank mission? Each program is built on the premise of inclusion, and encourages the individual to participate in the activities of community efforts in their local neighborhoods. Each program relies on the enthusiasm and creative input of community members just like you. Please join us for an exciting day of volunteering at the ToolBank. Many diverse volunteering opportunities are available, and events can be tailored to meet the special requests of you and your group.


What is ToolBank?

The ToolBank is home to two highly unique programs,
each with its own distinct mission, client pool, and geographic service area.

ToolBank:
Tools for increasing volunteer impact and value

The efficacy of community-based organizations relies on the availability of several types of resources. Typical resources include funding, volunteers, and competent leadership, among others. One often-overlooked resource is the availability of tools for use in service projects facilitated by the agency to advance the mission. The non-availability of tools is overcome through two typical approaches. First, the agency may ask volunteers to bring their personal tools, placing their volunteers at risk of tool breakage, loss, or even theft. Second, the agency may own an inventory of tools, resulting in maintenance and repair costs, the complexity of secure storage, and inevitable ‘shrinkage’.

The Atlanta Community ToolBank provides a unique and simple solution by making tool lending and all associated functions the sole mission of the agency. An independent steward for a community-wide commodity, the Atlanta Community ToolBank is a vast ‘tool library’ that lends tools and equipment to community-based organizations for use in mission-advancing service projects. Over 140 distinct tool types are available for borrowing, including power tools, ladders, safety and custodial gear, as well as tools for landscaping, carpentry, masonry, drywall, demolition, and plumbing projects. New types of tools are added periodically, as requested by borrowing agencies.

ToolBank resources provide three interdependent benefits to community-based agencies:
First, ToolBank tool borrowing eliminates a nonprofit organization’s capital expense of purchasing a piece of equipment they may seldom use.

Second, the ToolBank serves as a third-party repository, ensuring the tool’s timely return and ensuring future availability for borrowing.

Third, ToolBank staff facilitates routine maintenance and repairs on the entire tool inventory, ensuring the excellent condition of a tool whenever an agency asks to borrow it.

These three resources have dramatically changed the landscape of volunteerism in Atlanta. Indeed, it is our belief that ToolBank resources can positively transform any community where neighborhood associations, places of worship, public schools, and nonprofit organizations are hard at work.

The terms 'toolbank' and 'Atlanta Community ToolBank' are federally registered trademarks, and are the intellectual property of the Atlanta Community ToolBank, Inc.



HouseProud:
Strengthening neighborhoods via no-cost home repairs for seniors

Like the human body, care and maintenance for an aging home becomes increasingly expensive over time. Routine repairs and preventive maintenance can lengthen the lifespan and improve the efficiency of the home. Senior low-income homeowners are facing both escalating health and housing expenses simultaneously, and the decision to apply their fixed income dollars to medical help and medications is an easy one. As a result, their homes deteriorate at an accelerated rate due to the lack of preventive maintenance and light repair.

Through an emphasis on community partnership, HouseProud strengthens five downtown Atlanta neighborhoods by providing critical home repairs to low-income senior and/or disabled homeowners at no cost to the homeowner. Typical repairs include floor stabilization, roof repairs, plumbing repairs, weatherization and electrical repairs. HouseProud effectively recognizes two clients: homeowners and neighborhoods.

HouseProud services five neighborhoods that define Neighborhood Planning Unit-V (NPU-V): Adair Park, Mechanicsville, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh and Summerhill. A relatively small service area allows HouseProud staff to assertively cultivate collaborative relationships to local leaders. Unlike most home repair programs, senior homeowners are primarily referred to HouseProud by neighborhood leadership and elected local community representatives. This unusual referral practice consciously draws upon the community’s inherent strength, and ingratiates HouseProud as an engaged neighbor, rather than an external service provider. The result is a program with a tremendous amount of community ‘buy-in’ that encourages seniors to remain connected to fabric of their local community.

The typical HouseProud client makes it clear that they have no intention of relocating: their primary wish is to live out their final years in their proudest possession. HouseProud no-cost repairs extend the viability of the home - and the homeowner’s independence. The senior’s commitment to maintaining a residence in their community is also good for the local neighborhood: their daytime presence acts to deter crime, and allows them to provide informal services such as child care for working neighbors.

HouseProud further distinguishes itself from similar programs by offering a single staff person as the sole point of contact to the communities served. The same staffer takes the referral, confirms eligibility, facilitates repairs, and attends community meetings. Through their constant presence and the provision of top-quality repairs for more than fifteen years, HouseProud staff has developed a superior reputation for reliability, excellence, and accountability.

HouseProud provides repairs to approximately thirty homeowners per year. Volunteeer labor and donated contractor hours are orchestrated to provide top-quality repairs at the lowest possible cost. In 2007, the cost of paid contractors was equal to the cost of donated contractor hours, effectively doubling program efficiency. The assertive cultivation of contractors is likely to result in the amount of donated contractors hours to surpass paid contractors in the future. For-profit companies recognize HouseProud as a superior entry point into the community, and as a reliably professional service provider intent on minimizing risk and maximizing impact for its volunteers and supporters.