SBP Has Rebuilt More Homes Post-Katrina Than
Any Other Nonprofit, Yet More Than 5,000 New Orleans Families
Remain Displaced Nearly 10 Years after the Hurricane
Toyota Will Train 140 AmeriCorps Members
Annually in Toyota Production System to Support SBP’s Rebuilding
Efforts across the Country
As we approach the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on
August 29, more than 5,000 families in New Orleans are still
waiting to return to home1. Meanwhile, according to the National
Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the number of
billion-dollar natural disasters in the U.S. continues to rise. St.
Bernard Project (SBP), the national disaster recovery and
resiliency organization, whose proven-effective model relies on the
support of AmeriCorps members, has seen requests for help from
homeowners in New Orleans increase 25 percent from 2014.
This Smart News Release features multimedia.
View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150806005272/en/
St. Bernard Project - with Toyota's help
- Has Rebuilt More Homes Post-Katrina Than Any Other Nonprofit, Yet
More Than 5,000 New Orleans Families Remain Displaced Nearly 10
Years after the Hurricane (Photo: St. Bernard Project)
To address this, SBP is expanding its longstanding partnership
with Toyota to strengthen U.S. disaster resilience and expedite
disaster recovery across the country. SBP was founded in New
Orleans in 2006 – by a teacher and lawyer from
Washington, DC – in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and has
since rebuilt more homes there than any other nonprofit. Vital to
this effort have been the 140 AmeriCorps members annually who serve
in positions at SBP such as Site Supervisors and client and
volunteer managers. These AmeriCorps members have helped organize
and lead more than 100,000 citizen volunteers over the past ten
years in communities beyond New Orleans. To date, SBP has rebuilt
homes for families impacted by natural disasters in Rockaway, NY;
Staten Island, NY; Monmouth County, NJ; Joplin, MO; and most
recently, San Marcos, TX. SBP serves low- to moderate-income
homeowners who cannot afford to rebuild, with a focus on families
with small children, the elderly, disabled persons, returned war
veterans and under- and uninsured persons.
SBP’s success can be attributed, in large part, to its
partnership with Toyota and AmeriCorps. After the automaker shared
the Toyota Production System (TPS), SBP cut the time it took
to rebuild a house to 62 days, half of what it had been
and at half the cost private contractors would charge. TPS is
based on Toyota’s years of manufacturing experience and helps
organizations become more effective, maximize resources and improve
quality and safety.
As part of the expanded partnership, Toyota will fund the
non-federal portion of SBP’s national AmeriCorps program for three
years, including critical training for 140 members annually in TPS,
leading them to better identify and solve problems as they support
SBP’s rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, New York, New Jersey and
other communities.
“Disasters are happening more frequently and they are often
stronger. But this does not mean we need to accept a
slow recovery,” said Zack Rosenburg, CEO & Co-Founder of
St. Bernard Project. “A delayed and unpredictable recovery from a
disaster puts families’ lives on hold, while draining their
financial resources and also destroys local businesses and
jobs.”
Rosenburg continued, “We know that every dollar invested in
preparing for natural disasters saves $4 after one strikes. This
expanded partnership with Toyota will enable us to continue our
work in New Orleans and help other vulnerable communities be better
prepared for the worst and ready to speed the recovery.”
“We are amazed at what Zack and the team at SBP have
accomplished in New Orleans and other communities and are proud to
support their work helping the most vulnerable people prepare for
and recover from disasters,” said Latondra Newton, Toyota Group
Vice President and Chief Social Innovation Officer. “We’re
also excited to train more of SBP’s AmeriCorps members in the
Toyota Production System – an approach that has been core to the
success of both our organizations.”
In addition, Toyota’s three-year, five-million-dollar investment
in SBP will fund a fleet of vehicles for SBP’s national disaster
recovery efforts.
Toyota and SBP’s joint efforts to strengthen U.S. disaster
resilience through this expanded partnership is a 2015 Clinton
Global Initiative Commitment to Action.
About St. Bernard Project (SBP)
SBP's mission is to ensure that disaster-impacted citizens and
communities recover in a prompt, efficient and predictable
manner. Since its founding in 2006 in St. Bernard Parish,
Louisiana following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina,
SBP has rebuilt homes for more than 950 families with the help of
100,000 volunteers in New Orleans; Joplin, MO; Staten Island, NY;
Rockaway, NY; and Monmouth County, NJ. SBP is deeply supported
by AmeriCorps which provides 140 members annually to manage
worksites and clients, and train the organization’s volunteers
nationally.
Through its Disaster Resilience and Recovery Lab, SBP works to
share lessons learned, prevent common barriers to recovery and help
communities utilize SBP’s standardized, repeatable and
proven-effective model. To learn more,
visit www.stbernardproject.org and
follow @stbernardproj on Twitter.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in the United States in
1957 and currently operates 10 manufacturing plants. Toyota
directly employs over 31,000 in the U.S. and its investment here is
currently valued at more than $23 billion, including sales and
manufacturing operations, research and development, financial
services and design.
Toyota is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the
communities where it does business and believes in supporting
programs with long-term sustainable results. Toyota supports
numerous organizations across the country, focusing on education,
the environment and safety. Since 1991, Toyota has contributed
nearly 700 million dollars to philanthropic programs in the
U.S.
For more information on Toyota's commitment to improving
communities nationwide, visit
http://www.toyota.com/philanthropy.
1 State of Louisiana Office of Community Development, The
Homeowner Assistance Program Situation & Pipeline Report #443
June 2015, (July 10, 2015):
https://www.road2la.org/HAP/Docs/HAP/Situation%20and%20Pipeline%20Reports/Week443%2007-10-2015.pdf
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150806005272/en/
St. Bernard ProjectEvan Achiron,
646-856-9287evan.achiron@stbernardproject.orgorToyotaMike Goss,
859-746-6676mike.goss@tema.toyota.com
Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024