Three years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita rendered uninhabitable all 27,000 homes in St. Bernard Parish, less than 50% of the population has returned. Even for those who have returned, many are not yet living in their homes. Nearly 2,000 families still reside in FEMA trailers, and thousands of others live in FEMA/DHS supported housing (ending in March 2009) or in over-crowded family houses. In St. Bernard nearly 75% of the 25,000 homeowners did not have adequate insurance. These homeowners, following the recommendations outlined by FEMA’s flood maps, did not purchase flood insurance because they were told that their communities were not at risk of flooding.

Nearly two years after the federal government initiated its Road Home program to help families return and rebuild, an unacceptable number of homeowners are still waiting for assistance. According to a report published by the Brookings Institution in August 2008, only 70% of all qualified applicants for federal Road Home assistance have received funding through the program. To further compound the problems with the Road Home program, an independent study determined that the majority of Road Home recipients did not receive sufficient funds to rebuild. The small size and slow pace of the grants being awarded has resulted in an unnecessarily slow recovery for residents in St. Bernard Parish.

St. Bernard Project's Rebuilding Program is succeeding where others have failed. Our program serves financially challenged clients in three categories: elderly, disabled, and families with small children. By utilizing volunteer labor, skilled supervisors and affordable building supplies, we are able to return clients to their homes in 12 weeks. The cost to the Project is approximately $12,000 per home. To date the Rebuilding Program has completely rebuilt 167 families’ homes. We are currently at work on more than 30 damaged homes.

In order to further contribute to the health and stability of the area, SBP developed a partnership with LSU to open the Center for Wellness and Mental (CMWH). The CWMH will be offered from a private section of the St. Bernard Project’s office, a place that residents have visited to access our Rebuilding Program and in which they have developed strong institutional thrust. By operating the CWMH under the same roof as the Rebuilding Program, residents will benefit from a one-stop shopping model that will minimize the stigma that is often associated with accessing mental health services.

The CWMH will begin offering services January 19, 2009 for participants in the St. Bernard Project and other St. Bernard residents including children, adolescents, adults and families. The CMWH will offer both group and individual services including The Welcome Home Program, which will be available to all new participants/families of the St. Bernard Project as they begin the rebuilding process to encourage and support the “psychological rebuilding” that optimally should accompany the structural rebuilding of homes.