St. Bernard Project (SBP) is an award-winning rebuilding, nonprofit organization whose mission is to remove physical, mental and emotional barriers for those who are struggling to recover from the devastation and trauma caused by natural disasters. With clients throughout the Greater New Orleans area, SBP reaches the communities most in need through several programs.
To achieve its goals, SBP uses an “Under One Roof” model to operate four direct-service programs: Rebuilding Program; Center for Wellness and Mental Health; Opportunity Housing; and Good Work Good Pay. We offer case management, construction services, funding for our clients, and volunteer recruitment and in-house management. By offering all of the necessary services to rebuild our clients’ homes, SBP hopes to restore the hard-working, family-oriented communities in New Orleans and St. Bernard to a level of vibrancy and self-sufficiency so that they can participate in the city’s prolonged recovery and rebirth.
Click on a program for more information:
Rebuilding Program
In 12 weeks of supervised volunteer labor and approximately $20,000 in building materials, SBP can rebuild a home for a low to moderate income family home whose home was flooded and rendered uninhabitable. We are currently rebuilding 50 homes in New Orleans and St. Bernard and have a waiting list of more than 130 qualified families.
Wellness and Mental Health Programs
SBP’s Center for Wellness and Mental Health delivers a range of free evidenced-based mental health services to uninsured residents through partnerships with LSU’s Department of Psychiatry, Tulane’s School of Social Work, and Metropolitan, the state run mental health program. The Center’s clinical team – faculty and post-doctoral students from LSU’s School of Medicine – provides free therapy services to an average of 85 to 90 patients each week.
Opportunity Housing
SBP’s Opportunity Housing Program builds/rebuilds blighted properties and puts them back into commerce as affordable for-sale and rental housing. By utilizing volunteers and Good Work Good Pay employees, SBP both makes these properties livable and revitalizes communities at a cost significantly below the market rate.
Good Work Good Pay
SBP’s Good Work, Good Pay Program hires, trains and pays fair wages to veterans and other unemployed residents, primarily as electricians, plumbers and carpenters. Good Work Good Pay creates living wage jobs in residential construction while tackling the region’s significant blight problem.
In addition, SBP’s Veterans Corps program creates opportunities for veterans to continue to serve their community through SBP’s extensive AmeriCorps program.
©2010 ST. BERNARD PROJECT