This week Hurricane Sandy carved a path through the Caribbean before moving up the Atlantic and turning into New Jersey striking many coastal towns. The storm moved north and created a storm surge that has devastated the New York Metro area. There has been widespread major damage and loss of life.
Donate by mail: Architecture for Humanity, 848 Folsom Street, Suite 201, San Francisco, CA 94107
Our Response
Architecture for Humanity provides design and construction services after disaster. We help rebuild, and will be focused on disaster mitigation and technical assistance to under-served communities.
A Reconstruction Plan
Last Updated: November 2, 2012
Right now the need is relief and recovery but very soon it will be long-term reconstruction. Beyond the large scale water and wind damage, we need to think about upgrading and restoring in a sustainable manner.
A five-point plan for long-term reconstruction:
1. Enable our local chapters to provide technical assistance and support to existing recovery agencies.
2. Provide design and construction assistance to nonprofits and community-based organizations in affected communities to repair civic structures and public spaces.
3. Provide technical assistance to property owners, with a focus on small businesses and rental properties in low-income communities.
4. Provide community design, planning and architectural support to local agencies to rebuild and to develop model mitigation strategies, especially along the New Jersey shore.
5. Build back green. Provide assistance to replace outdated building systems with more sustainable energy-efficient solutions.
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Updates: Updates will be added to this page regularly.
Twitter: The Official Architecture for Humanity twitter account is @archforhumanity and we've been doing on the ground updates at @afhdisasterteam - If you cannot contribute and want to support our appeal, please link to our site with your social network accounts and/or blogs.
Volunteering: In a few months we will organize a volunteer build but for now we are focused on assembling our team. We will be doing transitional and long term reconstruction, much like our work after Hurricane Katrina. If you would like to offer design, engineering or construction services please sign-up to volunteer.
Chapters: The New York Chapter will be the chapter lead on rebuilding initiatives. We are also talking with the DC, New Haven, Philadelphia and Baltimore chapters about regional support. If your chapter is hosting a fundraiser, please let us know.
Our Experience
For the past 14 years we have been at the forefront of post-disaster reconstruction work around the world.
