Key points
- Rebuilding Together El Paso (RTEP) is strengthening its community outreach through its SHEBuilds training program that provides home repair skills.
- Program participants are being asked to reinforce their skills by devoting time to the nonprofit organization’s free repair projects for elderly, disabled and low-income homeowners.
- Marathon Petroleum’s El Paso, Texas, refinery is supporting this effort by extending its financial assistance of RTEP to include the training program.
For 30 years, elderly, disabled and low-income homeowners in El Paso, Texas, have benefited from free, safety and health-related home repairs and improvements that Rebuilding Together El Paso (RTEP) coordinates with contractors and volunteers. This year, the nonprofit organization has been working to further enhance its outreach to another segment of the community: women-led households.
“Our SHEBuilds training program helps those who may not have had experience with home repairs, such as single parents, widows and military spouses eager to learn hands-on skills,” said RTEP Executive Director Roger de Moor. “The aim is to equip them to maintain their homes and avoid costly repairs, and potentially prepare them for careers in the home repair and construction industries to enhance their economic stability.”
More than 250 trainees have completed the program since it began in 2021. Its eight training modules address electrical work, plumbing, drywall, saving energy, interior painting and installing ceramic tile and grab bars. For 2025, RTEP added a new expectation: Participants are asked to give back to the community by working on RTEP’s home repair projects with volunteers from RTEP supporters like Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) El Paso refinery.
“Recently, we had a group of program participants get trained on installing floor tile and then install tile at a home near the refinery where we were working,” said MPC Refining Maintenance Director Brandon Bielamowicz, who organizes the refinery’s employee volunteer teams for RTEP projects and serves as the nonprofit’s board president. “MPC is also covering the cost of training courses for those that cannot afford it otherwise.”
The El Paso refinery is completing its fourth year of providing financial and volunteer assistance to RTEP, which has made dozens of projects possible. This year’s grant was $75,000.
“MPC has been a vital supporter of our core home repair program and, by helping the training program, is extending work by skilled volunteers into the MPC home projects,” de Moor said. “This collaboration further underscores the program’s real-world impact and community alignment.”
Bielamowicz noted that it never takes long to line up MPC volunteers to help RTEP.
“I love the engagement and enthusiasm of the El Paso refinery employees, as I frequently get asked when the next project will be,” he said. “Anyone who knows me knows that I love working with my hands, so doing projects with Rebuilding Together has been a good mix for me.”
