Las Vegas man staying in his home thanks to nonprofit’s modifications

Michael Chapman, 76, uses a walker to help him balance. After suffering several falls in his Centennial Hills home, he began researching his options.

“You shouldn’t let your pride get in the way of something that’s really needed,” Chapman said.

His search led him to Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada, a nonprofit offering free accessibility modifications, critical home repairs, low-income rental units and more. Everything the organization does is meant to preserve housing affordability, according to CEO Bob Cleveland.

Rebuilding Together, and its Southern Nevada branch, provide no-cost accessibility modifications and major repairs to qualifying seniors, veterans and people with disabilities. Through its various programs — Safe at Home; Critical Home Repair; Fall Prevention; and Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Rental — the nonprofit keeps low-income homeowners in their homes and eases the burden on the health care system, Cleveland said.

‘Literally their last hope’

“I could not have asked God for a better job, and I mean that,” Cleveland said. “I know a lot of people say that, but I’m so blessed to be able to get back to our community to make a difference in so many people’s lives.”

Since he began at RTSNV 12 years ago, Cleveland said, the organization’s budget has increased tenfold to around $14 million and went from serving around 125 homeowners annually to about 2,000.

When Cleveland started as a project manager after searching for a new construction job, RTSNV’s mission didn’t mean much to him. That quickly changed as he met the group’s clients.

“When they called us, we were literally their last hope,” he said.

At Chapman’s home, Rebuilding Together installed grab bars, a seat in his shower, easier-to-use faucets, comfort-height toilets, several ramps for his walker and more. The first grab bars came in 2017 or 2018, with additional modifications in 2023.

“It was a big help, especially with the ramps, which made it a lot easier to come and go,” Chapman said.

Moving elsewhere was never an option, Chapman said, which made Rebuilding Together’s services indispensable to maintain his quality of life.

Funding and adding new programs

As the nonprofit has scaled up its capacity, it has also added new programs.

For many years, RTSNV had provided limited accessibility modifications through the Safe at Home program, which focuses on basic modifications like fire extinguishers and smoke detectors. About three years ago, RTSNV spun off the dedicated Fall Prevention program — which Chapman benefited from — spurred on by $3 million in state funding.

Clients quickly felt the impact of that program, according to Cleveland. The organization has completed fall prevention modifications on about 60 homes. Thus far, there have been no repeat falls, Cleveland said.

“The impact is huge at a personal level, to stay in your home where you are comfortable and do the things that are important to you and be as independent as possible,” said occupational therapist John Rider, who evaluates homes and recommends fall prevention modifications for RTSNV.

Stressing the personal impact doesn’t always help the organization get the funding it needs, however. Instead, that comes from the impact RTSNV’s fall prevention and other home modifications have on Medicare and Medicaid, Cleveland said.

“It’s impactful to the taxpayer that you spend this money up front and keep these people in their homes safe and sound. On so many different levels, it impacts the taxpayers,” Cleveland said. “Thankfully, the state of Nevada and all the municipalities have seen the need for this.”

Unincorporated Clark County and the state of Nevada have each contributed millions of dollars in grants, especially after RTSNV launched its Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Rental program — which focuses on providing affordable housing — about five years ago.

In hopes of attracting additional funding, the organization is currently drafting a paper detailing the taxpayer benefits of funding RTSNV’s fall prevention program, Cleveland said.

For Cleveland, however, it’s about helping as many people as he can.

“It’s important for the people that need modifications made to their house, but they can’t afford it, and I would just hope that they can ask for the help if they need it,” Chapman said.

Contact Isaiah Steinberg at isteinberg@reviewjournal.com. Follow @IsaiahStei27 on X.