WV VOAD member Team Rubicon is an organization of highly skilled veterans who respond when disaster strikes. Normally, they are among the first on the scene to clean up, muck out or secure a damaged roof after destruction hits. However, their mission includes expanding into recovery activities WV VOAD’s nationally recognized Bridge Program intrigued Team Rubicon leadership. Using engineered plans and a system of bank-to-bank construction, supervised volunteers can replace a private bridge in less than two weeks. In a state that loses many bridges each year to flooding, this program is invaluable.
When WV VOAD asked for help to replace the access bridge of a 74 year-old widow, Team Rubicon answered. In the summer of 2019, a team of eight arrived in Clay County to restore safe access to the homeowner who had been forced to use a treacherous makeshift temporary bridge for three years since 2016 flooding damaged her bridge beyond repair. Safe access has been restored thanks to WV VOAD’s case management and bridge team along with our friends at Team Rubicon.