BRACE is pleased to announce that World Renew-Disaster Response Services is returning to Escambia County to assist in restoring hope and homes for tornado survivors. World Renew will be partnering with the Escambia County Long Term Recovery Group, made up of organizations that have been assisting low income survivors in their recovery since an EF-3 destroyed and damaged over 140 homes in February. World Renew will provide skilled volunteer labor to construct replacement homes and make repairs on others that were damaged. World Renew teams, made up of an average of 18-20 volunteers, will be working in coordination with the Pensacola Habitat for Humanity and the Florida Recovery Team on recovery reconstruction beginning on October 24. The volunteers commit to serve for three weeks per team rotation.
Greg Strader, Executive Director, of BRACE states, “The Escambia Long Term Recovery Group is thrilled that World Renew has returned to our community.” World Renew-DRS deployed 349 volunteers to aid low income survivors following our 2014 flood. Those volunteers provided over 39,000 hours of service in our community.” In addition, the “green shirts” as World Renew volunteers are affectionately known, served in Escambia County for over two years following Hurricane Ivan.
The World Renew reconstruction volunteer teams will complement the work of community recovery partners that include the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners, Town of Century, Escambia County Housing Finance Authority, Northwest Florida Community Housing Development Corporation and over a dozen non-profit and faith-based organizations including Catholic Charities, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief, Legal Services of North Florida, Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, St. Vincent de Paul, United Methodist Committee on Relief, United Way and over a dozen more organizations, many of which have been assisting survivors since the night of the tornado.
The recovery work of the Escambia Long Term Recovery Group is supported by State Housing Initiative Partnership, or SHIP, funds and donations to the United Way Disaster Fund.
