Rebuilding Together Arlington/Fairfax/Falls Church (Rebuilding Together-AFF) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves low-income homeowners and nonprofits. Our volunteers repair and upgrade homes at no charge to the owner. We focus on health, safety and accessibility for every home.
Contact Us
10723 Main Street, #135
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: 703-528-1999
Fax: 703-528-1197
Volunteer Spotlight: Justin Tirelli Transforms a Bathroom—and a Family’s Daily Life
by Leon Rubis Caring for elderly parents is not easy, especially when lack of mobility turns everyday tasks into major challenges. After Ms. R’s mother suffered a second stroke, she could no longer walk. Unhappy with the care her mother was receiving in a nursing home, Ms. R and her husband—both retired Arlington County employees—moved […]
Team Leader Profile – Gordon Meuse
Builder of Skyscrapers now Rebuilds Homes Few people have helped shape the Washington, D.C.-area’s built environment as much as Gordon Meuse. From 1979 to 2015, Gordon served as construction manager, field engineer, project manager and other roles for the Charles E. Smith Cos. and affiliated contractors. Among the many projects he helped build are CityCenterDC, […]
Team Leader Profile – Mark Scherger
Childhood Curiosity Sparked a Career Mark Scherger showed an early aptitude for electrical engineering long before earning a bachelor’s degree in the field. His older brother—who became a chemical engineer—had chemistry sets Mark played with, “but I always migrated toward electrical things,” Mark recalls. At age 8, he tapped his home’s phone just to see […]
A Community Comes Together to Help a Neighbor Age Safely at Home
For more than 30 years, Mr. J’s Arlington house has been the center of family life. It is where he and his late wife raised five daughters, welcomed grandchildren, and built a lifetime of memories. As he got older, Parkinson’s disease made mobility more challenging and maintaining the home and safely navigating its stairs and […]
Team Leader Profile – Don Booth
From Rebuilding War‑Torn Countries to Repairing Local Homes Retired diplomat Don Booth learned as a child to appreciate the world’s nations and cultures. When he was 4, his mother and stepfather—both engineers for Aramco—moved the family from New Jersey to Saudi Arabia. During vacations the future Rebuilding Together-AFF team leader visited London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, […]
From a Cooling Crisis to a Safe and Healthy Home
Last August, a referral from Fairfax County’s Senior Cool Care program led us to Ms. S, an extremely low income condo owner facing the peak of summer without air conditioning. Although she had received a portable AC unit through Cool Care, she wasn’t able to install it on her own. That’s when our AC Rescue […]
Team Leader Profile – Lander Allin
Arlington, Va., is known for its leafy historic neighborhoods, lively commercial corridors and excellent public schools. Lander Allin’s impressive history of civic involvement has contributed to all of them. Lander, a Team Leader for Rebuilding Together-AFF, has served as president of his neighborhood Alcova Heights Civic Association, president of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (now […]
Safer Homes, Stronger Communities: Our 2025 Impact in Fairfax County
“When homes are safe and accessible, residents can remain independent, secure, and connected to the communities they call home.” At Rebuilding Together Arlington/Fairfax/Falls Church (RT-AFF), our mission is simple but powerful: help neighbors live in safe, healthy homes. Through our 2025 contract with Fairfax County’s Department of Housing and Community Development, we provided critical home […]
Volunteers Build a Lifeline: A Ramp That Makes Home Safe Again
The front steps of Ms. C’s mobile home in Alexandria were rotting beneath her feet. With limited mobility, she climbed them carefully, afraid of falling. Then her adult daughter moved back home after developing a serious medical condition that required frequent hospital visits and caused severe dizzy spells. Suddenly, both mother and daughter urgently needed […]
Team Leader Profile – David Throckmorton
Aerospace Engineer Brings Skills Down to Earth Repairing homes isn’t rocket science, but Rebuilding Together-AFF Team Leader David Throckmorton has made good use of his aerospace career. Inspired by the Apollo moon missions while growing up in Richmond and Charlottesville, Va., David majored in aerospace engineering at Virginia Tech and later earned a master’s in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins. As a civilian employee of the U.S. Naval […]
2025 Year in Review
As we begin 2026, we’re taking a moment to look back on the progress, partnerships, and people that shaped our work throughout 2025. Our 2025 Year in Review captures the milestones we reached together and the impact made possible through the collective efforts of our community. We’re proud to share this with you—stories and data […]
Team Leader Profile – Mark Heslep
Electrical Engineer Completes the Circuit Growing up in Richmond, Va., Mark Heslep learned building techniques working summers and weekends with his parents’ residential and commercial construction company. Initially mostly shoveling or hauling plywood sheets up to a rooftop, “the work was back-breaking. But by late high school and college, I was picking up skills from […]
Jon Armstrong Retires from RT-AFF
Jon Armstrong’s life of adventure, enterprise and resourcefulness has blended strenuous blue-collar labor with street-smart real estate investing and development. Jon’s unique combination of skills and experience has helped countless homeowners in Northern Virginia during his seven years as Rebuilding Together-AFF’s Director of Programs. He retired in December 2025. Born in Montreal, Jon’s family lived […]
Team Leader Profile – Ken Mittelholtz
Public Service Is Deeply Ingrained in Ken Mittelholtz Commitment to public service is deep-rooted in Ken Mittelholtz. The long-time Rebuilding Together team leader has put his altruism to work as a teacher, a two-time Peace Corps volunteer, and a federal employee for the U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency. Ken credits much of his […]
Doers Profiles – Meet Some of our Dedicated Volunteers
Our volunteer profiles are written by Leon Rubis (pictured at right), a retired journalist and editor who started volunteering with us in 2021. A long-time DIYer, Leon says, “I thought I knew a lot, but I’ve learned so much more from working alongside our experienced teams. Every project feels like an episode of This Old […]
Team Leader Profile – Bard Jackson
Working with Electricity from a Big-Picture Perspective Rebuilding Together Team Leader Bard Jackson doesn’t just know how to install an electrical fixture—he can electrify an entire region. For more than 30 years of his career before retiring in 2014, Bard worked for the U.S. Rural Electrification Administration and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. At the […]