House of Hope creates disaster kits with donation from Community Foundation

STUART — When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, it’s nearly impossible to gather the supplies you’ll need before a hurricane or the resources you’ll need to recover.

House of Hope staff knows this story all too well: low-income families entering a hurricane without the means to stockpile supplies, households losing valuable, perishable food when the power went out, and hourly workers not getting paid. Because workplaces were closed.

Thanks to a special disaster relief fund established through the Community Foundation of Martin-St. Nonprofit organizations like House of Hope can be proactive in providing customers with hurricane preparedness kits before the storm and responding quickly after the storm, Lucie said.

“Historically, I would be prepared to reach out to our customers and friends in the middle of the storm and say, ‘OK, this is real.’ The storm hit. We’re going to have to help the organizations on the front lines really quickly,” said Elizabeth Barbella, Community Foundation Martin-St. Lucie’s CEO. “And when the dust settles, we’ll be reaching out to organizations requesting some sort of simple implementation and then distributing the resource.”

The Local Disaster Relief Fund allows donors to set aside money before a hurricane or other disaster. Their proactive philanthropy gives nonprofits like House of Hope the knowledge that resources will be there when needed.

“We can now plan knowing that we will keep our resources in place and available when our clients need them,” said House of Hope CEO Rob Ranieri. “This will make us an effective resource for the low-income community, and it will be like flipping a switch almost instantly.”

This summer, House of Hope began using money from the program to assemble 1,150 hurricane preparedness kits; 250 of these contain additional material for those experiencing homelessness. Supplies include non-perishable food, flashlights, batteries, water, tarps, hand sanitizer, manual can openers, garbage bags, first aid kit, tents, insect repellent and rope bags.

Without that help, Ranieri said, many of the organization’s customers wouldn’t be able to stock up on supplies.

“That’s a few hundred dollars that they didn’t have in their budget,” he said.

House of Hope is leading the effort with partner organizations in neighboring counties and St. Distributing support to the Mustard Seed and GraceWay Village in St. Lucie County and our Village in Okeechobee County.

“The Local Disaster Relief Fund is an ingenious concept and a lifesaver,” Ranieri said.

To learn more about House of Hope or to donate, visit House of Hope’s website: www.hohmartin.org or call 772-286-4673.

Founded in 1984, House of Hope is a nonprofit organization that empowers Martin County residents to overcome hunger and hardship. It touches the lives of more than 21,000 people every month; It assists with basic needs such as food, clothing, furniture and financial assistance, as well as long-term case management services that help develop life skills for a more self-sufficient future.

This article was first published in the Palm Beach Post: House of Hope creates disaster kits with donation from Community Foundation