On Wednesday, April 12, 2023, Fort Lauderdale, FL experienced an unprecedented 26 inches of rain in just seven hours, resulting in severe flooding throughout the city. One of the buildings affected was the HANDY main campus, which has been closed since April 13, 2023 and will remain physically closed until further notice.
The flooding caused extensive damage to the building, including the staff cubicle area, Best Buy Teen Tech Center, bathrooms, and Life Room area, leaving our building devastated. Water intrusion from the windows, roof, and door areas has left the building in need of significant repairs. As we wait for word on insurance, we need to act quickly to ensure further and long term damage isn’t sustained to the building.
The impact of this flooding on the HANDY community cannot be overstated. We are back to a remote work environment for many of our staff and programs. As a result of the damage, staff are working a hybrid schedule and the main site youth group programming is currently taking place virtually.
To help rebuild and recover the HANDY main building, we have launched a Restoration Fund. Our goal is to raise $50,000 to cover the cost of repairs and restore this critical community resource which provides a loving, safe and empowering place for hundreds of youth in our community every day. And thanks to a very generous HANDY supporter, funds will be matched providing us a total of $100,000 to restore as quickly as possible.
Your generous contribution will help us make the necessary repairs to the building and ensure that the HANDY community has access to the services and resources they need. From repairing the staff cubicles to restoring the Best Buy Teen Tech Center, every dollar raised will make a difference.
Please donate to our Restoration Fund today and share this campaign with your network to help us reach our goal! Together, we can rebuild and recover from this devastating flooding.