Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 | 2 a.m.
For 69-year-old Jose Sanchez, doing something as simple as taking a shower is a series of guesswork.
Turn the knob a little too far one way, and the water becomes so scalding that it is unusable for the Las Vegas resident. Shift the knob to the opposite side, and it becomes icy cold.
Sometimes, he would only get about two minutes of lukewarm water before the cold water crept in. It was hard to remember the last time he felt comfortable showering, he said.
But thanks to Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada and Silver State HVAC, Refrigeration and Plumbing, he received a new water heater.
“Right now, knowing for a fact that I’m not going to need to worry about for a very long time whether or not I’m going to have hot water in my home, it makes me feel extremely happy,” Sanchez said. “To have the access of not being scared to get in my tub thinking that I know my legs aren’t working properly, it would give me such a relief.”
Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada will be installing donated water heaters from Silver State Plumbing free of costs to residents like Sanchez this winter.
Bob Cleveland, the CEO of Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada, said he has seen the nonprofit tackle all sorts of issues in 10 years, from fixing leaky roofs to making a bathtub more accessible for a homeowner with disabilities.
Sanchez, who lives alone with his husky, with the help of friends made many of the little repairs needed across the property over the years.
But health problems left him on crutches with limited mobility in his legs, which has made making repairs so much harder. Some of those needed repairs have become more expensive, he said, like when his air conditioner went out this past summer and cost $4,200 to fix.
During a trip to the nearby Walmart, where Sanchez says he knows many of the frequent shoppers, Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada came up in conversation. It was then Sanchez decided he needed to get some help.
For almost 30 years, Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada has been helping low-income homeowners make repairs to their houses and secure access to necessities like hot water at no cost to the client.
They typically prioritize low-income seniors, veterans and clients with disabilities, but take anyone who qualifies as a low-income homeowner according to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
About 13% of Clark County’s population is in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Families with fewer financial resources are more likely to experience unsafe and unhealthy housing conditions, said the National Center for Healthy Housing. They also are least likely to have the ability to remedy them, which can affect areas like their health and security.
“They’re literally choosing between health and safety, and food and medicine; we want to be able to help them get that health and safety portion without losing their food and medicine, and at the same time keep them in their home,” Cleveland said. “It’s a huge three, four-prong approach of keeping somebody in their home, keeping them safe, keeping them healthy. And if one of those pillars falls out, the whole thing comes tumbling down.”
It becomes especially urgent when the weather changes, he added. Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada often sees an increase of calls during the beginning of summer when air conditioning units break; monsoon season when people realize their roof is leaking; and when the cold rolls in and water heaters begin to give out.
Across the United States, about 35 million homes have some sort of problem such as broken heaters, mold or missing smoke detectors, according to data from the National Center for Healthy Housing.
From 2015 to 2019, about 20% of households in Clark County had issues ranging from high costs of housing to lack of kitchen or plumbing facilities, the 2023 County Health Rankings reported.
And the need for Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada’s services has only grown since the pandemic.
Where Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada was once serving around 200 clients annually about eight years ago, this year Cleveland expects will end with it having helped about 1,200.
This work can’t be done without all the “amazing” donors and volunteers that work with Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada each year, Cleveland said. The organization also gets financial support from the state of Nevada, Clark County, city of Las Vegas, city of North Las Vegas and the city of Henderson, to name a few.
Cleveland said materials — like the oil needed for roof shingles — have also become more expensive since 2020, raising the price of repairs for people across economic sectors. A water heater replacement alone “is going to run anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000” and “to replace an air conditioner is going to be $10,000 to $15,000,” Cleveland said.
Sanchez’s water heater was installed last week just in time for Christmas, but there’s more work being done in the months to come.
Through Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada, Sanchez’s bathroom will also be remodeled to include a roll-in shower with grab bars, a seat and wand shower head, said Rick Curtis, the program director for Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada.
These modifications and new facilities have been “a blessing” for Sanchez, who said he dreams about the day he gets to take a comfortable shower.
“It’s going to be amazing not to be restricted, (like) I’ve been in there two minutes, it’s time to get out,” Sanchez said. “They’re a great company here that is helping people for the right reasons, you know, and it’s wonderful to know that.”
