January 4, 2019 – SAN DIEGO – A group of 16 construction volunteers are being deployed by San Diego-based International Relief Teams (IRT) to Lake Charles, Louisiana on Sunday, January 6, 2019 to rebuild homes for Hurricane Harvey victims who cannot recover on their own.
San Diego volunteers leave on Sunday, January 6; American Airlines Flight 1611, departing San Diego at 8:56 am.
Hurricane Harvey was a powerful category 4 storm that hit Texas and Louisiana in August of 2017. The hurricane destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes and many families continue to suffer. Thousands of residents, including the elderly, the uninsured, the disabled, and the poor, who lost their homes are still displaced, living with friends or family in Louisiana, another state, or in FEMA trailers. Some of them – the very poor – are living in their mold-infested, damaged homes.
In partnership with the Louisiana United Methodist Conference, skilled IRT volunteers from San Diego and around the country, will help rebuild and repair damaged homes for families that were affected by this disaster.
“Many people don’t realize that recovery after a disaster can take years. That is why IRT stays involved for years after the disaster, helping poor and underserved families rebuild and recover,” said Barry La Forgia, IRT Executive Director.
This is the first team to deploy to Louisiana in 2019. IRT sent six teams in 2018 and will continue to send volunteer teams in the years to come as long as they are needed.
IRT has 30 years of experience in assisting victims of disasters, both nationally and internationally. IRT also rebuilt and repaired homes following Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi from 2005-2012 and Superstorm Sandy in New Jersey from 2012-2016.
International Relief Teams alleviates the suffering caused by poverty and disaster around the globe, from the forgotten corners of the world to right here at home, by sending volunteer teams and medical supplies to make immediate change for the world’s most vulnerable people. For more information visit: http://www.irteams.org.
