The Rotary Club of Lake Murray-Irmo partners with St. Bernard Project and their flood victim relief program

On February 27th, members of the The Rotary Club of Lake Murray-Irmo volunteered their day to assist the St. Bernard Project (SBP) with their flood victim relief efforts.

Pictured below are current club president Harold Crawford and last year’s club president Stan Bugner

SBP was founded in March 2006 by Zack Rosenburg and Liz McCartney after the couple, who originally lived in Washington, D.C. volunteered in St. Bernard Parish following Hurricane Katrina, in February 2006. Inspired by residents’ collective spirit and fierce desire to rebuild their homes and communities, Zack and Liz launched SBP to help the community achieve its recovery goals. With support of donors, volunteers and corporate partners, SBP has grown from a three-person volunteer team into a nationally recognized leader in disaster resilience and recovery. St. Bernard Project’s mission is to shorten the time between disaster and full recovery. SBP is working with governmental and non-governmental officials in South Carolina to help rebuild impacted communities.

SBP works through an all-under-one-roof and vertically integrated approach that provides clients with one point of contact, causes efficiencies and accountability between traditionally siloed components and eliminates the need for (and cost of) subcontractors through in-house skilled labor crews.
SBP’s model is deeply subsidized by AmeriCorps members from all over the country who serve as client case managers, volunteer coordinators, and construction site supervisors, overseeing the labor of more than 10,000 volunteers, per location, each year.

SBP saves time and money by exercising direct control over skilled labor and scheduling, which also allows us to create well paying jobs for veterans and other under- and unemployed residents. With its construction system enhanced and optimized through ongoing partnerships with Toyota and UPS, SBP rebuilds homes far below market rate, and carries out construction projects with much lower subsidies than traditional affordable housing models.

Since 2006, SBP has rebuilt homes for over 950 families with the help of more than 100,000 volunteers in New Orleans, LA; Joplin, MO; Staten Island, NY; Rockaway, NY; Monmouth/Ocean Counties, NJ; San Marcos, TX, and most recently Columbia, SC.

Members of The Rotary Club of Lake Murray -Irmo were assigned to help an elderly family pack and move the contents of their home and attic into a pod so that demolition on their roof and ceilings could begin this week. They also began floor prep and some painting outside to get things prepared. After a full days work, the house is ready to go.

If you would like to participate in any of our service projects or to just find out what our Rotary Club and St. Bernard Projects are all about please visit our websites at lakemurrayirmorotary.com and stbernardproject.org