Carlo Ruggieri

Carlo Ruggieri joined SWAP in 1986 as a Housing Coordinator- a job where he worked with families to purchase, fix and live in once abandoned houses. "I joined SWAP because I saw the chance to create affordable living spaces for families like mine: immigrant, poor and willing to work,” said Ruggieri.  “I’d been working in the housing field since1979. Starting in Italy when I decided to buy and rehab a World War 2 bombed up structure in Itri. Over the years I learned different skills, such as carpentry, plumbing, mechanical and electrical. That allowed me to help design and build, or just rehab, an affordable house TO BE SOLD to low-income families.” By 1987, Ruggieri was an instrumental part of the team that helped SWAP move in a new direction- that of a development agency- that built affordable homes.

He identifies issues contributing to the housing crisis today as: the cost of real estate, the lack of skilled workers interested in the nonprofit fields and the lack of affordable homes. In the future he envisions newly built affordable homes will be much smaller with structures built out of masonry materials.

Although he is retired now, Ruggieri still helps homeowners with their rehab projects. But he makes time for different activities too like “…swimming, hiking, sailing, cooking and DANCING!”