TAMPA, Fla. — Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay is being featured in Time Magazine’s “Dreamer of the Year” issue, celebrating organizations and individuals who embody resilience, innovation and a drive to create change.

RTTB is currently assisting hundreds of families across Tampa, and thousands across the state, with home repairs after hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.

What You Need To Know

  • Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay is helping thousands across the region after the storms earlier this year

  • Sharon Oliver and her family, Husband Issac and their 10-month-old baby, are getting help with their damaged Tampa home 

  • The family evacuated before Hurricane Milton, but upon returning to their home, discovered a large tree had fallen on their roof, crushing a back room and causing a destructive water leak in their kitchen

  • For more information on how you can help, visit here https://www.rttb.org

One of those families is Sharon Oliver and her family, Husband Issac and their 10-month-old baby.

The family evacuated before Hurricane Milton, but upon returning to their home, discovered a large tree had fallen on their roof, crushing a back room and causing a destructive water leak in their kitchen.

Making their situation worse, looters broke in to the home and stole appliances and other furnishings.

Since October, the Olivers have been living in a local hotel.

The family says they are grateful for their temporary accommodations, but their lives have been challenging since the storm.

“It has been difficult. It has been a whirlwind of emotions,” said Sharon Oliver. “A whole wind of trying to adjust with the new baby, it has just been a lot on our plate.”

Although the Oliver’s won’t be moving back in for the holidays this year, they are hoping their home will be repaired by February 2025 with the help of RTTB.

RTTB is working with the Oliver’s to raise part of the home that was badly damage, and rebuild.

RTTB's Jose Garcia says the Oliver’s are one of hundreds in the Tampa area it is assisting, and the list is growing by about 2 families per day.

“If they apply for services with us, we will get there,” said Garcia. "We just don’t know how soon, it just all depends on how fast our sub-contractors can work with us and get things done.”

By spring of 2025, Garcia says RTTB will be assisting 250-300 families with major home repairs, donating between $30,000 and $40,000 per home.

With the help of community and business partners and individual donors, RTTB says it has raised around $4 million in cash since the hurricanes, and it is working to raise more.

It says hurricane recovery from 2024 will likely last 5-10 years.

For more information on how you can help, visit https://www.rttb.org