Oklahoma ranks 3rd in the U.S. for disasters. Home repair for disaster survivors who can not recover on their own is a constant need. COVID-19 has reduced volunteers to historic lows leaving many impoverished families waiting over 81,506,637 seconds of their lives for help. Families across the state have been isolated to small sections of their home due to damages, mold, and access. Recovering Oklahomans After Disaster, Inc. (ROAD) is working to make that long wait end!
Most Oklahoma disasters are undeclared and under resourced leaving families without assistance. Historic low numbers of volunteers leave families without hope. Spring 2019 flooding & tornadoes, winter 2020 ice storm, winter 2021 sub zero temperatures... put Oklahomans in a constant state of recovery from past disasters while at the same time responding to new disasters. Families on fixed incomes, with disabilities, and single parents and their kids, are left especially vulnerable to hardships.
ROAD found a solution to low volunteer numbers through a partnership with CareerTech and WorkForce by training unemployed individuals in construction while at the same time providing much needed free home repair services to disaster surviving families. The Vocational Training Apprenticeship Program offers full time work week after week repairing homes. This program reduces the time a disaster survivor has to wait for repairs while providing a new financial future for each participant.
The Vocational Training Apprenticeship Program is duplicatable across the state with each WorkForce board and CareerTech campus. Resourcing the states unemployed population provides an ongoing labor source enabling ROAD to more immediately respond to current disasters as well as continuing to provide free home repairs on past disasters. The states vulnerable population are given hope through more immediate resources and the apprentices are given long term employment possibilities.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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