Rebuild Joplin, a nonprofit group established to assist in the recovery of the tornado-ravaged Missouri community, recently sent a contingent to New Orleans to glean insights from the St. Bernard Project, which has rebuilt hundreds of homes since the coastal Louisiana parish was hammered by Hurricane Katrina six and a half years ago, the Associated Press reports.

While in Louisiana, the Rebuild Joplin contingent helped the St. Bernard Project renovate two homes in the Gentilly and Mid-City neighborhoods, visited the organization's mental health clinic, and met with local leaders. According to the AP, the two organizations have formed an alliance in an effort to break down geographic and cultural barriers and have created a template that other disaster relief groups can use to help their cities recover from a natural disaster.

"It's our job to learn these tools and pass it forward," said Rebuild Joplin co-founder Jerrod Hogan. "There's healing in those tools."