unofficially began in September 1996 in the aftermath of Hurricane Fran in Raleigh, North Carolina. Several of us strong women emerged from our debris-strewn houses and yards and banded together to help each other clean up the mess. We quickly discovered that, though the work was tough, we were totally invigorated by the power that we all felt from cleaning up a place that, when we arrived, had looked devastated. We were, indeed, strong women!

We quickly became specialists in awesome hurricane clean-ups. And our numbers grew as friends told friends who told friends. From the original 16 women, we now have over 500 women from the Greater Triangle area and beyond on our mailing list.

Since 1996, we have branched out from hurricane work to doing landscaping/yard renovation, fence-building, painting, refurbishing, and construction/renovation for the elderly, low income, disabled, or “simply overwhelmed.” If there is a project to do, we can usually find one expert among us who can guide the rest of us – again, it is another SWOOP miracle!

SWOOP officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization on October 1, 2001. SWOOP is open to all women.