2022 SWLA
HOMEGROWN
SBP in Lake Charles
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Continue Recovery Efforts on the Home Front
If every cloud, every storm, has a silver lining, then certainly the light shone brightest through the love and compassion of the Southwest Louisiana community in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura. Neighbors put their own needs aside and helped other neighbors, families took in friends who needed a place to stay; churches and other community organizations rallied to feed the hungry and house the homeless. Two years later, numerous non-profits are still working in the community, rebuilding homes, replacing the tattered blue tarps with sturdy roofs. The following are but a small sample of these hard-working, determined volunteers who are helping to rebuild our community, one home, one broken heart at time. 30
SBP, established in 2006 in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina, was originally called St. Bernard Project. Their motto/mission is “Shrinking the time between disaster and recovery and the Southwest Louisiana operating site has taken it to heart,” says John O’Donnell, SBP’s Executive Director in Lake Charles, by leveraging partnerships and resources in order to bring as many vulnerable community members home as possible. In June 2022, SBP completed its 100th disaster- affected home rebuild in SWLA since Hurricane Laura made landfall, marking the milestone with their traditional Welcome Home Party.” Using a combination of volunteer and subcontractor labor, charitable donations, grants, and subsidization by AmeriCorps, SBP’s OwnerOccupied Rebuild Program serves qualifying low-to-moderate-income households by Thrive
making the repairs necessary to bring their storm- damaged homes back to safe, secure, and sanitary conditions. O’Donnell adds, “SBP rebuilds disaster-impacted homes in an average of 61 days at 40% of the cost of market-rate contractors, and each household is assigned a client services coordinator to walk them through the process from intake all the way to ‘Welcome home!’
SWLA Responds is a faith-based
coalition consisting of approximately 50 partner churches. Spear-headed and coordinated by Mt. Olive Baptist Church senior pastor Braylon Harris, the coalition strives to help the SWLA community from Vinton to Jennings recover by efficiently using resources and local and out-of-state volunteer teams to help people rebuild their homes, their lives, and give them hope. 2022 - Annual Issue
