4Patriots Contributes to Team Rubicon’s Home Rebuilding Efforts

4Patriots recently donated three Patriot Power Generator 1800s and three additional 100-watt solar panels to Team Rubicon to use at construction sites where the humanitarian organization is engaged in rebuilding operations following disasters.

Team Rubicon is known for its quick responses to disasters of all sizes occurring around the world.

Founded in 2010, this veteran-led humanitarian organization deploys thousands of volunteers across the United States to provide relief to communities and their most vulnerable residents in need.

Currently Team Rubicon employees and volunteers (Greyshirts) are responding to one extreme weather event after another, such as recent tornadoes in the South. Including those in Alabama and Georgia. 

By the time you read this communication, they will undoubtedly be deployed in another part of the country where they’ll provide relief to those who’ve been hit with the latest in an ongoing series of crises.   

Assisting Low- to Moderate-Income Families

But thanks to the generosity of donors including 4Patriots, after the immediate urgent crisis has been dealt with, Team Rubicon does not just pack up and go home, leaving residents to fend for themselves. 

Since early 2018, the organization has been conducting long-term recovery efforts in some areas severely damaged by extreme weather and other disasters.

With an emphasis on supporting low- to moderate-income families, Team Rubicon conducts extensive, multi-year rebuilding operations.

These efforts help affected homeowners not only with their immediate misfortune, but also enable them to become more prepared and self-reliant going forward.

Team Rubicon goes above and beyond by incorporating features specifically designed to withstand future weather events and other disasters.

A Perfect Fit

“We want to positively affect the people who can’t help themselves,” said Ken Farris, Deputy Director of Rebuild Operations at Team Rubicon. “Especially low-income people, children, and the elderly.”

Ken graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1993 and served as a military officer before retiring in 1998 with the rank of captain. Since then, he has lived in Houston and worked in the construction arena.

He said the Team Rubicon job resonated with him due to its connection with the military, its veteran component, and the strong connection he already had with self-reliance, having done much of the repair work on his own home after Hurricane Ike severely damaged it in 2008.

Speaking from his office inside a Houston-based facility that can sleep 30 volunteers and/or employees, he said the majority of his days are spent in meetings with Team Rubicon managers and fundraisers, “coaching and leading and talking to, making sure that we’re all headed in the same direction.

“The good days are when I can get away from my desk and actually get out in the field and work with our team.”

Post-Hurricane Rebuilding Efforts

Examples of Team Rubicon’s long-term rebuilding efforts have and will take place in areas that were hammered by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and most recently – Ian.

Over the next several years, Team Rubicon will continue to execute a long-term recovery program with a goal of rebuilding 100 homes in Houston affected by Harvey and 40 homes in Florida affect by Irma, as well as conducting a roof-building program in Puerto Rico necessitated by Maria.

Actually, the organization has already rebuilt 120 homes in Houston, with three more under construction. And they’re also working on homes in Alabama. The plan for a Rebuild Operation in response to Ian is still in the works.

Estimates revealed that more than 100,000 families were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. No single organization can help that many people. But well over 100 low- to moderate-income families are enjoying rebuilt homes that would otherwise not have them, thanks to Team Rubicon.

Giving the Gift of Self-Reliance 

Ken said the Rebuild Operation’s objective is to help these homeowners become more self-reliant by providing them with homes that are more disaster-resistant than they were in order to withstand the next inevitable disaster. 

These new homes are designed to withstand hurricane wind speeds of up to 145 miles per hour. He said Team Rubicon is the only organization that has reached Institute for Business & Home Safety’s Fortified Gold standard on a house older than 50 years. 

Ken added that his favorite part of the job is the personal relationships he develops with families whose homes are repaired and rebuilt.

“It’s the welcome homes, when we finish a house and get to welcome the family back into their house,” he said. “Hands down, that’s the best days we have.”

Ken also shared that a 14-year-old boy going through leukemia treatments and living with his grandparents while their home was being rebuilt by Team Rubicon is now attending Wesleyan College in Connecticut on a full scholarship. His grandfather occasionally texts Ken to update him on how his grandson is doing. 

4Patriots Pitches In 

4Patriots has been a Team Rubicon partner since 2017. In addition to regular financial contributions, 4Patriots periodically donates supplies to aid Team Rubicon workers and the communities where they work.

The latest such donation is three Patriot Power Generator 1800s, as well as three additional 100-watt solar panels, to aid workers at construction sites.

Ken said these donations have been valuable due to occasional loss of power at construction sites.

He appreciates that the generators never need gas and that they are also able to charge cordless batteries and help keep their saws and air compressors charged.

4Patriots is honored to be involved with an organization such as Team Rubicon.