St. Vincent de Paul Furnishes New Homes for Hurricane Helene Survivors in Douglas
Georgia volunteers who responded after the storm return to help families rebuild
Douglas, GA – March 6, 2026 – Nine families whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane
Helene will soon move into fully furnished homes thanks to a collaborative effort led by St.
Vincent de Paul Georgia (SVdP GA), Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA, and Disaster Services
Corporation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA.
On Saturday, March 14, volunteers will gather at the Sims Park development in Douglas,
Georgia to assemble beds, dressers, couches and dining tables and stock the homes with linens,
cookware and dishes. The furnishings are being provided through Disaster Services
Corporation’s House In A Box program, which delivers complete household furnishings to
families rebuilding after disasters.
The effort includes $60,000 in furniture and household goods, ensuring families who lost
everything during the storm can move into homes ready for daily life. For St. Vincent de Paul Georgia,
the moment represents a continuation of work that began immediately after Hurricane Helene struck in fall 2024.
SVdP GA volunteers were among the first boots on the ground in Coffee County, helping
launch a recovery assistance center at St. Paul’s Catholic Church (Douglas, Georgia) along with
Catholic Charities of South Georgia and Disaster Services Corporation of the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul USA. There, families received emergency support and help navigating the
complex process of disaster recovery.
In the months that followed, SVdP GA assisted 25 families with applications and connections to
long-term recovery resources – part of the organization’s ongoing commitment to the
community.
“The resilience of Coffee County families inspires this collaboration,” said Lisa Regan, associate
director of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia. “From the first days after the storm to helping furnish
these homes today, our long-term commitment to rural Georgia and this community in
particular remains strong.”
The opportunity to furnish the homes came through the new Sims Park development led by The
Hope Initiative and Hope for Coffee, in partnership with the City of Douglas, Georgia and other
community organizations.
Within weeks, St. Vincent de Paul Georgia secured the funding and coordinated logistics with
national partners to deliver the furnishings. “I am incredibly inspired to see the impact of SVdP’s
strong national and local partnerships in action to prevent disaster survivors from falling into
situational poverty and homelessness,” said Kevin Peach, CEO of Disaster Services Corporation
of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA. “By building homes and providing new furniture to families
recovering from disaster, we are restoring dignity, stability and hope.”
The Sims Park Dedication and Celebration will take place Tuesday, March 17 at 11 a.m. at 101
Dream Makers Way in Douglas, Georgia.
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About St. Vincent de Paul Georgia
Founded in 1903, St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Georgia is the oldest, largest, most trusted and
only state-wide social services safety net organization in Georgia. With the mission to serve
our neighbors with love and respect, delivering help, hope and pathways to self-sufficiency,
more than 3,500 Vincentian members and staff rely heavily on face-to-face encounters for
mission impact. The holistic deployment of aid, counsel and programming all serve to feed,
clothe, house and heal neighbors in need, by reducing and eliminating barriers to self-sufficiency,
independence, and economic mobility.
For more information or to get involved, please visit www.svdpgeorgia.org
