ATLANTA, May 2, 2023 – The Home Depot Foundation is expanding nationwide disaster preparedness, response and long-term recovery efforts through $4.4 million in grants to disaster response nonprofit partners. The investments take the Foundation’s 2023 disaster response financial commitment to more than $4.8 million and will help several partners bolster west coast operations.
Record rainfall has brought deadly flooding to California this year, adding to a growing list of west coast climate concerns. As a result, Foundation partners Convoy of Hope and ToolBank USA are working to open new warehouses near Sacramento to provide faster response times in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. To continue to support communities in the west, World Central Kitchen has further built out its relief team to include more regionally-based team members so they can ensure they reach crises around the world even quicker than before.
“As Convoy of Hope looks to serve more people across the globe in bigger and better ways, establishing a new West Coast Regional Distribution Center coupled with our partnership with The Home Depot Foundation will play a vital role in accomplishing that goal,” said Stacy Lamb, Convoy of Hope’s vice president of disaster services. “We are excited about how both will position us to meet the needs of hurting people in the years to come.”
The funding also includes $1.2 million for long-term recovery efforts nationwide, with a focus on fortified and sustainable rebuilding practices. The Foundation will be working with local Habitat for Humanity affiliates in several states to continue rebuilding efforts from Hurricanes Ida, Michael and Florence. Additional grants to Team Rubicon will extend hurricane and tornado recovery operations in Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Kentucky.
“Every day, across the country, people are living with the effects of a natural disaster. Our dedication to those people and their communities extends long past the initial response phase,” said Shannon Gerber, executive director of The Home Depot Foundation. “With the help of our nonprofit partners, we are helping communities rebuild stronger and more sustainably so they can withstand future storms.”
Additional funds from these grants will support ongoing preparedness efforts with Operation Blessing, American Red Cross and Inspiritus, which includes stocking warehouses with relief supplies, building disaster relief kits, packing emergency meal kits, purchasing new response trailers and more.
