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SBP Training Baton Rouge Residents, Non-Profits On How To Recover From Disaster

The non-profit formerly known as the St. Bernard Project began after Hurricane Katrina, repairing damaged homes in flooded areas. It’s now called “S-B-P” and has helped non-profits across the country jump-start recoveries after disasters.

Now, its AmeriCorps volunteers are working in flooded areas in the Baton Rouge area.  WWNO’s Eileen Fleming spoke with SBP Co-founder Zack Rosenburg about what’s happening around the state.

  Rosenburg says that since he and Liz McCartney started the St. Bernard Project, the non-profit has learned how to quickly repair homes. He says that’s vital for not only the person in the home, but the community as a whole.

The AmericCorps volunteers that Rosenburg says are vital to recovery efforts are now in Baton Rouge, helping people affected by this month’s historic floods. He says they’re carefully clearing out the damage while preserving what can be saved. Next month, work will begin on a home for a senior veteran. Rosenburg says it’s the first of what he expects will be hundreds of homes.

SBP is also training non-profits about the recovery process that’s developed over the years since Katrina. It’s responded to disasters across the country – including the tornados that slammed Joplin, Missouri, and Hurricane Sandy that blasted the Northeast.

Rosenburg is cautioning people now affected by the floods to be prepared to negotiate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He suggests residents make sure their neighbors are OK during the recovery, and use the SBP plan on avoiding contractor fraud. He says that of the 3,000 families still not home in New Orleans, 80 percent suffered some kind of contractor fraud at last once.

Eileen is a news reporter and producer for WWNO. She researches, reports and produces the local daily news items. Eileen relocated to New Orleans in 2008 after working as a writer and producer with the Associated Press in Washington, D.C. for seven years.

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