Homes for West Virginia Partners with Appalachia Service Project on Rebuilding Rainelle to Help Town Devastated by June Flooding

RAINELLE, W. Va., Aug. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Homes for West Virginia today announced it is partnering with the Appalachia Service Project's (ASP) long-term recovery effort known as Rebuilding Rainelle.

Rainelle is the epicenter of June's flood and the town where ASP staff and volunteers have served for the last two summers. Rebuilding Rainelle plans to build at least 50 homes in the town, and work on many others that need repairs.

Homes for West Virginia is an initiative of SBP, a leading national disaster-recovery nonprofit organization formed in 2006 following Hurricane Katrina. Together, SBP and Homes for West Virginia are working in partnership with local stakeholders to help rebuild homes, restore lives and rejuvenate communities devastated by the 2016 West Virginia flooding.

Homes for West Virginia began earlier this month with the start of Homes for White Sulphur Springs, which announced a rebuilding project of at least 42 new homes there and initial donations of $1.75 million in gifts from Mylan, MedExpress and the Brad Paisley Foundation. The donations helped kickoff a $20 million goal by Homes for West Virginia to address additional needs across communities in the state impacted by the flooding.  Homes for West Virginia is proud to partner with ASP's Rebuilding Rainelle project and to contribute both financially and in kind with ongoing support and resources, including its community recovery model that was developed by SBP in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, following Katrina.

Zack Rosenburg, SBP CEO and co-Founder, said: "The flooding that hit West Virginia in June destroyed more than 1,200 homes, including the majority of homes in downtown Rainelle. By leveraging the support of our partners, we're here to help for the long term so that these communities can quickly recover."

Award winning country music star Brad Paisley said: "Congratulations to ASP and Homes for West Virginia on a partnership that will help so many people in the state. The residents in these devastated areas face a long road to recovery, but it's important for them to know they have partners who are there to support them. There's a lot of work to be done still, and I encourage those who want to make a difference to get involved."

Heather Bresch, CEO of West Virginia-founded Mylan, www.mylan.com, which earlier this month supported the creation of Homes for West Virginia with a $1 million gift, said: "Our goal in supporting the launch of Homes for West Virginia is to be able to impact as many communities as possible and I'm so pleased to see that effort spread to Rainelle. We're committed to helping these communities for as long as it takes, not only through financial support but also by being able to bring together the stakeholders who can help the proud people of my home state come back stronger than ever before."  

The goal of Homes for West Virginia is to raise $20 million to help rebuild homes.  To donate to Homes for West Virginia or learn more visit: www.HomesforWV.org.

About SBP
SBP's mission is to shrink time between disaster and recovery. Since its founding in 2006 in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, SBP has rebuilt homes for more than 1,120 families with the help of 125,000 volunteers in New Orleans; Joplin, MO; Staten Island, NY; Rockaway, NY; Monmouth and Ocean Counties, NJ; San Marcos, TX and Columbia, SC.

SBP's model is enhanced 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 (DRRL), SBP works to share lessons learned, prevent common barriers to recovery and help communities utilize SBP's standardized, repeatable and proven-effective model.

SBP shrinks time between disaster and recovery via five interventions:

1. Build innovatively, driving efficiency
2. Share SBP's proven effective model with other organizations to increase efficacy across the disaster rebuilding sector
3. Train home and business owners in resilience and risk mitigation prior to disaster
4. Advise local and state government officials so they can deploy federal dollars sooner, and in a way that empowers an efficient recovery
5. Advocate so that what is measured is what matters – a complete recovery

To learn more, visit www.SBPUSA.org and like/follow on Facebook & Twitter @SBPUSA.

About ASP
Appalachia Service Project (ASP), is a Christian ministry, open to all people, that inspires hope and service through volunteer home repair in Central Appalachia. Our vision is that substandard housing will be eradicated and everyone who comes into contact with this ministry will be transformed.

Since 1969, ASP volunteers have been making homes warmer, safer and drier for families in need in Central Appalachia and providing life-transforming experiences for everyone involved. In recent years ASP has expanded its outreach to include building new homes for low-income families whose homes were destroyed by flooding and others whose homes are beyond repair.

SOURCE Homes for West Virginia

Related Links

http://www.HomesforWV.org