Measurable Outcomes

Unit of Service for the Project

The unit of service for RTFC is a project represented by a house. Ultimately, the homeowner is our client; however, since each project or house may have one or more homeowners, we define the project as a house, a more stable factor. Each project requires materials and supplies and equipment to complete the work on the project or house. Each project also has logistical needs such as a sign, volunteer t-shirts, and possibly a portable toilet and dumpster. RTFC assumes a project or house has a scope of work that varies from light to extremely heavy. A light project may involve yardwork or light painting; an extremely heavy project may involve a wheelchair lift of $4000 or replacing a roof of $5000. Each project has a House Captain who oversees planning and executing the work done by the volunteers on the house. We report our performance to Rebuilding Together National and publicly by the number of houses we have repaired during the past year.

Number and Ages of Participants Served

The homeowners served by RTFC in FY15 ranged in age from 50 to 92. We served a total of 16 homes on the April 2015 Project Day. We have no age restrictions; however, our selection process assigns higher values for age to applicants over 65 and the highest values for age for applicants over 75.

Eligibility and Selection Process

The eligibility and selection process with RTFC involves the following steps: Application, House Assessment, Final Determination, and Notification. During the application step, a homeowner contacts RTFC or one of our partners for assistance. When our partners refer the homeowner to RTFC, they may assist the homeowner in completing an application. Otherwise, the homeowner contacts us and receives an application, which they complete and return to us. Our referrals originate in numerous sources including churches, from public announcements in the media, or other community organizations.

Once an application has been received, RTFC contacts the homeowner to schedule a visit to explain our program, its scope, and our selection process. While meeting with the homeowner, we complete a House Preview worksheet to list needed work and generally estimate effort. The Project Selection committee meets to review House Preview worksheets and to complete a Project Selection worksheet with the weighting for each selection criterion for each project or house. The Project Selection committee then makes a final determination on each application or house based on its score using the criteria and a cost estimate based on the scope of work. After the Project Selection committee is finished, RTFC notifies homeowners of the outcome and, if the house is not selected, recommends either alternative sources of assistance or invites the homeowner to apply again the following year.

Outcome Measurement

RTFC tracks the outcomes for this project by the following dimensions:

• Cost
• Completion
• Satisfaction

We measure satisfaction by having the homeowner sign off that they were satisfied with the work completed. As a part of our process, we meet with homeowners prior to Project Day to discuss and agree on the scope of work. After Project Day, we have the House Captains detail any outstanding work on a project. We then talk with the homeowner and agree on either a change to the scope of work or a plan to complete the outstanding work.

We measure cost by capturing actual costs per project and comparing the actual with the planned costs. This tracking occurs both in the selection process and as a part of payments on expenses. During the selection process, we estimate the cost of a house based on an established average cost. The House Captains refine that estimate further with a more detailed cost estimate. After Project Day and all expense have been paid, we compare the actual and planned costs to evaluate the accuracy of estimates.

We measure completion by having the House Captain, who leads a project, to indicate which items in the scope of work were completed.

Financial Information

Program Budget

The unit of service for RTFC is a project represented by a house. Ultimately, the homeowner is our client; however, since each project or house may have one or more homeowners, we define the project as a house, a more stable factor. Each project requires materials and supplies and equipment to complete the work on the project or house. For FY16, RTFC assumes a cost of $2000 per project or house to determine program expenditures. This value is an average cost based on the fact that the scope of work on projects varies from light to extremely heavy. A light project may involve yard work or light painting; an extremely heavy project may involve a wheelchair lift of $4000 or replacing a roof of $5000. To budget for project expenditures, RTFC assumes a project with a light scope of work costs $50, a medium $2000, and a heavy $4000; the average of those costs is $2000.