‘One Foot in Front of the Other:’ A Story of Recovery After Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Months after Hurricane Helene tore through Laura Maidenberg’s Holiday, Florida, neighborhood in September 2024, surreal reminders of the storm’s force lingered in her yard. A kayak she’d never seen before lay stranded in her front lawn, never reclaimed. In her backyard sat a 250-pound teak bench, a matching rocking chair, a Burmese water jar—all shoved into one corner by the wind and water. A heavy picnic table from a public park two and a half miles away had floated over her fence and landed beside the debris.

Hurricane Milton, which struck two weeks after Helene, added to the wreck. The fence separating her backyard from the lake was mangled and twisted. A full propane tank, weighing nearly 250 pounds, had been tossed from its base like it was nothing.

By June—nine months after the back-to-back blows of the Category 4 and Category 3 hurricanes—Laura’s home was still unlivable, and debris remained scattered across her backyard. It wasn’t until SBP’s team arrived that she finally felt a sense of hope.

Finding Help: “The most incredible feeling I’ve ever experienced.”

Laura had evacuated before Helene arrived and stayed with a friend. But she had security cameras running at home, and she watched in real time as her world was overtaken.

“I sat in my friend’s house and watched the hurricane batter the roof,” she said. “Then I watched, on camera, the ocean rise in my front yard, and the lake rise in my backyard—until they met. I had four-foot waves crashing through my property. I watched the water come into my house until the cameras cut out.”

“You’re not okay when it happens,” she said. “It’s something you can’t wrap your brain around. Something you cannot be prepared for.”

Before Laura even stepped back into her storm-ravaged home, she made a choice: she was going to find help before the trauma could fully take hold.

“I decided to do my research first,” she said. “I hadn’t even seen my house yet, but I knew I needed a plan before the shock took over.” That’s when she found SBP online.

Since its founding after Hurricane Katrina in 2006, SBP has rebuilt more than 6,700 homes in response to major disasters across 16 communities in the U.S. and the Bahamas. In Florida, SBP began work in 2018 after Hurricane Michael and has since supported survivors through home rebuilding, assistance with FEMA appeals, and a Recovery Acceleration Fund to provide access to critical repairs. With a new regional office in Tampa, SBP is deepening its long-term commitment to communities affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

It was SBP’s mission that struck Laura: to reduce the time between disaster and recovery. “It’s such a simple mission,” she said, “but it’s also so intensely powerful. When you’ve lost your home, your sense of safety is gone, and someone gives you hope that it can all be rebuilt—that’s the most incredible feeling I’ve ever experienced.”

Assistance and Appeals: “There’s no way I could have done it alone”

For Laura, the most immediate hurdle after the storm wasn’t just physical damage; it was the mental fog that trauma brings. “Your brain just shuts down to protect you,” she said. “You’re walking around your house like a ghost. You can’t function. You can’t think. You just stop.”

Navigating the FEMA process in that state felt impossible. “That paperwork is mind-numbing,” she said. “There’s no way I could have done it alone.”

Thankfully, she didn’t have to. SBP connected Laura with one-on-one support to guide her through the FEMA appeal process. “They walked me through every sentence, every contract, every appeal, step by step,” she said.

She’s especially grateful for Adrian Vargas, an SBP team member who stood by her for nine months. “Adrian is just spectacular,” Laura said. “He never gave up on me.”

With that steady support and guidance, Laura found a path forward. “If it weren’t for SBP,” she said, “I’d be living in my car. It’s that simple.”

Long Road to Recovery: “It’s the small things you learn to appreciate”

After helping Laura successfully appeal her FEMA decision, SBP offered something even more life-changing: the opportunity to rebuild her home.

While the work was underway, Laura lived in a small apartment, waiting for the day she could return to the place she loved. In the meantime, SBP’s team got to work: checking for mold and remediating it where needed, inspecting and repairing plumbing, gas lines, and fixtures, and restoring critical systems like her HVAC. They installed insulation, hung new drywall, added baseboards, painted, and cleared out debris to make the property safe and accessible for everyone involved in the rebuild.

For Laura, these weren’t just construction tasks. They were acts of restoration, each one bringing her closer to stability and peace of mind.

“What I’m looking forward to most is just taking a bath in my own tub,” she said. “It’s the small things you learn to appreciate. I’ll finally feel safe here again with my animals, in a home that works, where I’m not camping out between two bicycles, without appliances, electricity, or water.”

The SBP Difference: “SBP gave me the courage to get up and put one foot in front of the other.”

Laura found the speed and clarity of SBP’s rebuilding process remarkable.

“SBP uses the Toyota production system and a cost-efficiency model, which means the average rebuild takes just 62 days,” she said. “Try getting a private contractor to rebuild your house in 62 days—I challenge you.”

But it wasn’t just the pace that impressed her. It was the integrity. “Every contract I’ve signed with SBP has been completely solid, legally watertight, straightforward, and easy to understand. They don’t obfuscate anything. They don’t delay. They speed everything up. They start immediately, and they do it all—from mold remediation to repairs and clean-up.”

Still, beyond the construction, Laura kept returning to one word: trauma. “There’s been no psychological help to deal with it,” she said. “And it’s still quite crippling.”

That’s where SBP made the deepest difference. Help was not just about rebuilding her home, but helping her reclaim her footing.

“SBP gave me the courage to get up and put one foot in front of the other,” Laura said. “They gave me the hope of rebuilding my home and making it safe and secure. It’s the most incredible feeling I’ve ever experienced.”

We are grateful for the many donors who have helped make SBP’s programs and Laura’s journey home possible.