Taking their cue from the old idea of "barn-raising" they recruited volunteers to rehabilitate deteriorating homes in their community. The name "Christmas in April" was conferred when one of the early recipients likened the help to "Christmas in April."

In 1988, with 13 loosely organized programs in operation, the organization “Christmas in April” was started. Neighbors helping neighbors, like the barn-raising of old, is the American spirit in action. Twenty years later there are nearly 225 affiliates serving more than 1800 communities nationwide.

The San Jose affiliate of “Christmas In April” was launched in 1991, bringing together 150 volunteers to complete repair and rehabilitate work at six homes on National Rebuilding Day, April 25, 1992. Since this time, we have grown in size and scope, but our mission remains the same: to improve the warmth, safety, and independence of our community's low-income homeowners.

In 2001, Bay Area Christmas in April affiliates, along with hundreds of affiliates nationwide, adopted the name Rebuilding Together Recognizing the growing needs of low-income homeowners, the organization, throughout the country, expanded its scope to provide more year-round services and a greater diversity of programs, all focused around the core goal of rehabilitation and revitalization. With these expanded goals came a new name, Rebuilding Together, a name that reflects the work and the partnership approach used by our organization.

Christmas in April, South Bay is now Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley. This new name better reflects what we do and invites all people to participate. Though our name has changed, our mission remains the same: to improve the warmth, safety, and independence of our community's low-income homeowners.