Rebuilding Together helps to repair and rehab the homes of low-income elderly and disabled homeowners. It utilizes volunteers as well as contractors to help eligible recipients improve the quality of their homes' safety, energy efficiency and structural integrity.

Last year, Akron invested $200,000 in the program. Rebuilding Together worked on 80 Akron homes using the funding that comes from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

Plusquellic proposes increasing the amount to a quarter of a million dollars for Rebuilding Together this year.

"The need is great for our disabled and elderly residents," said the mayor. "And even though the federal government has made CDBG funds nearly extinct, we have to increase our investment for these citizens."

The types of repairs done for those eligible are: plumbing, roofing, heating, electrical, carpentry work and disability access. The increase in funding would increase the number of homes that could be improved and made safer, according to Akron's Director of Planning and Urban Development Warren Woolford.

"This increase to $250,000 would allow Rebuilding Together to improve more than 100 homes," said Woolford.

All homeowners must be low-income and over the age of 60, or disabled to become eligible. Funds are used to pay contractors or purchase supplies and materials for volunteers. The staff of Rebuilding Together oversees and monitors the work through completion.