Relief and Recovery

Yardi lends a hand after disasters

By Leah Etling on Dec 18, 2013 in Giving, People

As 2013 wound to a close, natural disasters both abroad and at home were devastating for the Philippines – where Typhoon Haiyan killed nearly 6,000 people – and in Illinois, where tornadoes destroyed more than 400 homes. Both events occurred in November and were fast-moving and unexpected, leaving tremendous destruction behind.

Yardi Systems has a long track record of providing financial assistance to disaster victims, and that tradition continued after these catastrophic events.

Typhoon Haiyan

To reach families who lost their homes and were without access to clean water following the typhoon, Yardi contributed to ShelterBox USA, a disaster support non-profit that is rooted in Rotary volunteerism.

Based in Florida, ShelterBox committed to send 6,000 ShelterBox kits, which include a tent, water purification system, and other supplies to help people who have been left with nothing after a disaster.  More than 2,100 families have already received their ShelterBoxes. The organization will spend more than $2 million on the effort. Yardi contributed $100,000.

Volunteers accompany the boxes to the disaster site and train the recipients on how to use the water system and set up the temporary shelter, where they can stay while they get back on their feet. The tents can house an extended family, accommodating up to eight people.

“We’re trying to find the more remote, hard-to-reach areas, places where international aid organizations might not be able to access,” said Erin Holdgate, ShelterBox Donor Relations and Communications Coordinator.

The non-profit has 24 volunteers on the ground in the Philippines, based in Manila, Bantayan Island, Cebu City, Leyte Island and Bohol.  Holdgate said that they have reported profound gratitude on the part of the typhoon survivors, who can’t imagine that people from far away who have never met them would want to help. Listen to ShelterBox volunteer Sue Nelson describe her experiences assisting with recovery efforts.

Illinois Tornadoes

In Illinois, a cluster of 25 tornadoes that developed over the Midwestern state on a winter Sunday afternoon last month included one of EF-4 magnitude that touched down in the city of Washington, IL.

Seven people were killed and dozens injured, with tremendous property damage left behind. Entire neighborhoods were decimated, houses were ripped to shreds by the powerful winds, and cars were flung into the air, smashing to pieces as they fell back to earth.

Just a few weeks later, hundreds of families are receiving aid from the Red Cross and Salvation Army and living in temporary accommodations while they rebuild their lives.

Debris from the tornado is still on the ground, and Washington City Administration Tim Gleason told us that coming snow storms will make it more difficult to remove it. The city is also still waiting to learn what governmental disaster relief assistance will be available to repair and rebuild infrastructure, roads and public spaces.

Yardi made two donations in Washington, $50,000 to the Red Cross and $100,000 to the city’s tornado relief fund, most of which is being held in reserve until the scope of federal aid is made clear.

“In the short term, directly out of that fund we are trying not to duplicate the services that the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are already providing. But we have pulled about $35,000 out of the relief fund and given it directly to victims in the form of gift cards,” Gleason explained.

In all, more than $1 million was donated to over 80 non-profits by Yardi Systems in 2013, continuing the company’s commitment to philanthropy and service.