The Rebuilding Alliance

Mission

A nonprofit organization, rebuilds homes & communities in regions of war & occupation. We advocate for policies towards these regions based on human rights & international law. With mutual commitment to justice, we create alliances among our supporters, partners, & those who suffer injustice & violence, yet resist through rebuilding. Our projects are symbols of hope that offer people around the world immediate ways to make peace, starting with the tangible support of a family's right to a home.

Programs

On May 24, 2007, we completed the building of a new home for the Gaza family whom Rachel Corrie sought to protect. In Gaza, their family and friends pitched in to make the home beautiful. Our “Contact Congress Teleconferences” reached ten elected leaders to advocate to save specific homes and communities from demolition and to intervene to help Americans get visa permission to continue to live with their families in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Funded Projects on GlobalGiving

Abir's Garden: a Safe Place to Grow	Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign: Building Story	Job Training for the Disabled in SF Bay Area - I	The Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza
Better School for Bedouin Children,Poorest of Poor

Personnel Overview

Donna Baranski-Walker - Executive Director, The Rebuilding Alliance
Founder and Executive Director of the Rebuilding Alliance, Donna has raised funds and coordinated project development to help rebuild 9 homes for Palestinian families, a peace center, a kindergarten. If possible, the projects bring Israelis and Palestinians together to rebuild. She holds a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. from the University of Hawaii.

Zohar Shapira - Coordinator, Combatants for Peace
Among the founding members of Combatants for Peace, Zohar Shapira heads the Israeli side of the movement. Zohar, now a teacher in a Waldorf school in Israel, served for 15 years in the elite unit "Sayert Matkal", as a combatant and commander. After the bloody spring of 2002, when hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians were killed in mutual violence he refused to serve in the occupied territories.

Bassam Aramin - Co-founder Combatants for Peace
Abir’s father, Bassam Aramin, is co-founder of Combatants for Peace. He now works as a clerk at the Palestinian National Archives. At the age of 17 he was sentenced to 7 years in Israeli prison for belonging to the then-outlawed Fatah movement and for weapons possession. Beaten by soldiers in prison, he decided that he would not become a prisoner of hatred. He and his wife had six children.

Personnel Statistics

Donna Baranski-Walker,
Executive Director
Founded in 2003
Employees: 2
Volunteers: 120

Financial Statistics

Budget (2006): $ 73,145
Budget (2005): $ 120,000
Maximum Budget: $ 322,291
Overhead: 17 %
Other funding sources: speaking events, grants from foundations, religious groups, Rotary Clubs.
Religious Affiliation: none