Founder Liz McCartney | Founded 2006 | |
Similar AmeriCorps, Rebuilding Together, Operation Blessing International, AmeriCorps VISTA, Habitat for Humanity | ||
SBP (formerly The St. Bernard Project) is a non-profit organization established in March 2006 to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina within St. Bernard Parish, located in Southeast Louisiana. It was founded by Liz McCartney and Zack Rosenburg. As of December 2016, SBP has rebuilt over 1000 homes nationwide, including 600 in New Orleans. SBP currently works in Baton Rouge, Joplin, MO, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, Columbia, SC, and West Virginia.
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Founding Date: March 2006
Type: 501(c)3 non-profit rebuilding organization
Headquarters: New Orleans
Mission
SBP's mission is to shrink the time between disaster and full recovery by ensuring that disaster-impacted citizens and communities recover in a prompt, efficient and predictable manner.
Activities
The St. Bernard Project focuses on rebuilding the homes of disaster survivors in Baton Rouge, Joplin, MO, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, South Carolina, and West Virginia. To do this, the project uses an "Under One Roof" model, incorporating the many facets of a successful volunteer-based rebuilding program into one entity. The project recruits volunteers, trains them, provides skilled site managers, provides health services, and even coordinates fundraising to run it all. The project has three distinct programs, all of which target the specific needs of different groups in the community.
Rebuild
The Rebuilding Program is a volunteer-driven program that evaluates the need of homeowners and then either supplies skilled labor to help them rebuild their homes, or, if the homeowner cannot afford them on their own, provides building materials paid for by donations. The Rebuilding Program can rebuild a home in 12 weeks, for around $75,000.
Opportunity Housing Program
The Affordable Rental/First Time Homeowners Program aims to provide housing options to senior and disabled residents of St. Bernard Project who face 50% increases in rental rates since hurricane Katrina.
Veteran's Initiative
SBP’s veterans programs are focused on addressing three problems: high unemployment rate among men and women who have served our country; affordable housing crisis; and high instance of blighted and vacant properties in the New Orleans area. By hiring and training veterans in residential construction and paying them fair and livable wages and benefits, SBP can increase its workforce to rebuild homes and further transform blighted and vacant properties and neighborhoods.
The Good Work Good Pay Program utilizes a trained workforce to rebuild/build affordable homes and to stabilize blighted, vacant and disaster-impacted communities. These employees primarily complete electric, plumbing and carpentry work for our Rebuilding Program and Opportunity Housing Program thereby minimizing SBP’s need for subcontractors. By relying on a skilled in-house workforce instead of subcontractors SBP is able to complete projects faster and more affordably.