Three years ago, tens of thousands of people were impacted by the brutal force of Hurricane Sandy. This was a hurricane that cut a wide swath of destruction up and down the eastern seaboard -- with particular devastation hitting New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, resulting in lives lost, and livelihoods, homes and businesses destroyed.
The Red Cross was there.
The Red Cross moved quickly to support people in harm's way by opening shelters to provide a safe refuge from the storm. Working from over more than 300 emergency response vehicles, Red Cross volunteers visited heavily damaged communities and neighborhoods, delivering food, blankets, health care, emotional support and critical relief supplies.
But our work didn't end there.
After the emergency vehicles, brave first responders and reporters went home, the Red Cross stayed behind. Through generous donations from the American people, we put in place a plan to help those hardest hit to recover and rebuild. We established partnerships with local organizations -- those who understand their communities best -- and we went to work to deliver care, support and financial assistance to help people put their homes and families back together.
For the past three years, the Red Cross has been proud to have worked alongside our government and community-based partners to provide assistance to those who needed it most -- by providing financial support, housing-related expenses and grants to non-profit groups serving in impacted communities.
Here is exactly what we did.
- Spending: The Red Cross has already spent or made commitments to spend more than $312 million in support of our Sandy response efforts - which includes all of the generous donations we received from the American public.
- Emergency Relief: Before Sandy made landfall in October 2012, the Red Cross mobilized a massive emergency response effort that was ultimately supported by more than 17,000 workers from all over the country - 90 percent of them volunteers. Working with community partners, the Red Cross served more than 17.5 million meals and snacks and handed out more than 7 million relief items such as blankets, gloves, warm clothing and home clean-up supplies. Red Crossers offered 113,000 health services and emotional support contacts and provided nearly half of the 163,000 overnight shelter stays for Sandy.
- Recovery Support: The Red Cross has provided one-on-one assistance through casework to help thousands of families heal, rebuild and recover. The Move-In Assistance Program provided financial assistance to those whose primary homes were destroyed or made uninhabitable and who lacked the resources to relocate or make repairs. From 2012 through early 2015, this program provided more than $32.3 million to more than 5,100 households. The Red Cross has also worked closely with hundreds of partners and government agencies to make sure people have the support they need. For example, working with local residents and community organizations, the Red Cross helped start and support Long-Term Recovery Groups to address the disaster needs of storm-affected households. These groups continue to help people today in the hardest-hit areas.
- Partnerships: The Red Cross awarded $95.2 million in funding to support critical recovery services in Sandy-devastated communities in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. This funding has supported the repair and rebuilding of more than 7,500 homes; the training, housing and deployment of more than 230,000 volunteers; and casework, mental health and health services, financial assistance and financial and legal counseling to more than 120,000 households. In October, the Red Cross awarded $750,000 to four organizations to help them continue to provide financial assistance to Sandy survivors; the organizations are based in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The Red Cross could not do the work that we do every day without the incredible generosity and dedication of our donors, partners and volunteers -- which today, number some 340,000 across the country. From our home fire prevention programs, to the services we provide to our armed forces around the globe, to our disaster preparedness and recovery work, the mission of the Red Cross is even more critical than it was 134 years ago when a humanitarian named Clara Barton founded the organization.
I am particularly proud of the work we have done to support the people of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut in the three years since the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. The Red Cross is still here, helping people to recover and rebuild -- and we will be on the ground until all of our work is done.