AHAH Monthly Program Update - Louisiana (May 2021)

LOUISIANA HURRICANE RELIEF UPDATE MAY 2021

TOTAL PROGRAM IMPACT

9,005 74

LIVES IMPACTED*

VOLUNTEERS

1,841

VOLUNTEER DAYS

174

JOBS COMPLETED

*includes 8,675 people who we indirectly impacted while working at a distribution center

Current Activities A big thank you to our first cohort of DM12 volunteers who completed their service commitment and departed on May 8. Our second cohort arrives on May 16 and the staff team is preparing to welcome them.

Since starting the Resilient Roof Repair Program in December, the team has completed a total of 15 roofs, with an additional 12 in the work queue for the coming months. They’ve simultaneously been continuing response activities, including mucking and gutting, and mold sanitation, and have also been assessing homes for high-quality interior repair work, which they aim to start with this upcoming cohort of DM12 volunteers.

The team also completed two ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant ramps for homeowners with disabilities and is pleased they can add this to their scope of work moving forward.

Community Voices Debra lives with her husband, Danny, and their many animals, including cats, dogs, geese, turkeys, rabbits, ducklings and guinea fowl! Caring for all these animals requires Debra to move around a lot, both inside and outside of the house. Being in a wheelchair, this has sometimes been difficult without having the correct, purpose-built infrastructure, and after their home sustained damage during the storms, they identified the need for a ramp to allow access from the porch to the garden. The team was delighted to support Debra by building an ADA compliant ramp.

Photos: (top) the completed ADA compliant ramp at Debra and Danny’s home, (left) volunteers building the ADA compliant ramp at Debra and Danny’s.

Learn about us at:

allhandsandhearts.org

Disaster Profile Louisiana was hit by five storms in 2020, the two largest of which caused significant damage. On August 27, 2020, Hurricane Laura pounded the Louisiana and Texas coasts, making landfall near Cameron, Louisiana as a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds. Six weeks later, on October 9, 2020, Hurricane Delta made landfall as a Category 2 storm near Creole, Louisiana. It followed a similar path as Hurricane Laura and compounded the damages already left by previous storms, as well as causing significantly more rainfall accumulation, with several places reporting up to 18” within a few hours.

Our Work Our team has been assisting impacted families since early September 2020. With the support of AmeriCorps NCCC members, we initially focused solely on response activities such as debris and tree removal, roof tarping, muck & gut, and mold sanitation. In December 2020, we began a Resilient Roof Repair Program to help address long-term recovery needs. We committed to stay in Southwest Louisiana through the summer, and we will continue with both response and recovery activities, including home repair and rebuild.

About All Hands and Hearts We effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure.

We have earned a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator for the seventh year in a row. This year only seven percent of rated non-profits received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency.

Photos: (top) a volunteer doing a mold sanitation job, (bottom) Nate, our Logistics Coordinator, cooking a post-work, Caribbean-inspired BBQ for the team.

Our Partners

Supported by a grant from The Volunteer Louisiana Commission in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser

info@allhandsandhearts.org (508) 758-8211