NEW ORLEANS – Travelers Insurance has a longtime partnership with SBP, a nonprofit disaster recovery organization based in New Orleans, to help fund and build homes constructed to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) FORTIFIED™ standards.
Since 2011, Travelers has collaborated with IBHS and Habitat for Humanity to build affordable, wind-resistant homes to FORTIFIED standards throughout the country. The company has been adding and scaling resilient rebuilding partnerships since 2018 to include SBP, Team Rubicon, Smart Home America and Rebuilding Together. This initiative, known as “Travelers Fortifies Communities,” has resulted in more than 750 FORTIFIED homes built across the United States, made possible by funding from Travelers.
“We are not just funding home construction; we’re also investing in community resilience, partnering with organizations that work to educate the public about the benefits of building back stronger,” said Erin Haberman, Senior Director of Community Relations at Travelers and Assistant Vice President of the Travelers Foundation.
FORTIFIED home construction practices are designed to help homeowners and communities better weather future storms, including hurricanes, high winds and severe thunderstorms. Building FORTIFIED means exceeding the minimum standards set by building codes for construction techniques and materials.
Travelers’ collaboration with SBP has resulted in the construction of more than 470 homes across multiple states, including Louisiana. Notably, homes built in New Orleans under this initiative withstood Hurricane Ida (2021) with minimal damage, demonstrating the effectiveness of FORTIFIED construction techniques. “Travelers Fortifies Communities” demonstrates that by making a few important changes in home construction standards, homes can be built to better withstand storms without significantly adding to the cost.
“Sometimes it is difficult to measure resilience, unless interventions are put to the test,” said Thomas Corley, Chief Operating Officer at SBP. “Fortified roofs that SBP built with philanthropic support from Travelers have been tested twice in Louisiana alone. After Hurricane Ida, all 60 homes that we built to FORTIFIED standards in Houma, Louisiana, were unscathed, while many adjacent homes suffered severe damage. In 2024, Hurricane Francine hit Houma, and the homeowners we supported with FORTIFIED roofs reported no damage.”
“When you build to these stronger standards, you are protecting more than just a physical home,” Haberman added. “A family’s wealth is often linked to their home, and in many disaster-impacted communities’ homes are assets passed from generation to generation. Protecting them is not only critical to helping our society thrive but also crucial to preventing devastating losses of intergenerational wealth.”
Louisiana Fortify Homes Program
The Louisiana Fortify Homes Program is a state initiative designed to help homeowners strengthen their homes against severe weather by upgrading their roofs to meet the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) FORTIFIED Roof™ standard. Administered by the Louisiana Department of Insurance, the program offers grants of up to $10,000 to eligible homeowners for this purpose. Travelers participates in this program by providing premium discounts ranging from 8% to 24% for homes that meet the FORTIFIED Roof designation.
Key Features of the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program
Grant Amount: Up to $10,000, covering construction costs for roof upgrades.
Payment: Funds are disbursed directly to contractors upon project completion and submission of required documentation, including the FORTIFIED certificate from IBHS.
Homeowner Responsibilities: Homeowners are responsible for costs exceeding the grant amount, including permits, inspections and any additional construction expenses.
SBP
SBP is a nonprofit organization based in New Orleans, Louisiana, dedicated to disaster resilience and recovery. Founded in 2006 by Liz McCartney and Zack Rosenburg in response to Hurricane Katrina, SBP – originally known as the St. Bernard Project – aims to reduce the time between disaster and recovery by rebuilding homes, increasing resilience and improving policies to better serve all survivors.
SBP’s mission is to shrink the time between disaster and recovery. They achieve this through a variety of programs that focus on rebuilding homes, enhancing resilience and advocating for policy improvements. Since its inception, SBP has rebuilt homes for over 6,300 families with the help of more than 150,000 volunteers across multiple states, including Louisiana.
To learn more about SBP’s disaster recovery and resilience programs, visit www.sbpusa.org.
