The mission of the United Saints Recovery Project (USRP) is to assist economically distressed neighborhoods recover from disaster and become more resilient to the disasters of the future. Our primary beneficiaries are homeowners with the least resiliency, such as the elderly, the disabled, those with low fixed incomes, the uninsured or underinsured, owners of heir properties, and others who face barriers to both recovery and future disaster preparedness. In our experience, these are the individuals most likely to be preyed upon by fraudulent contractors, misinformed about the processes by which they can attain assistance, and the most likely to end up in "rebuild limbo" years after their neighbors have rebuilt.
We know from our experience in New Orleans that assisting these individuals benefits the entire neighborhood, because the home that does not get rebuilt today becomes tomorrow's blighted property. And we know that in rebuilding and beautifying a single neighborhood through mural projects, lot clean ups, and special events we are ineffect helping to heal the entire community.
We are now bringing all that we have learned and gained in New Orleans to the people of Tuscaloosa, Alabama as they begin down the road to recovery folowing the April 27th tornado that tore through parts of the city. USRP responded to the city's most immmediate needs right after the storm and have now returned with a commitment to the long term recvoery efforts.
