Talk of the Town - May 2015

Celebrating 10 Years of Homes

by Karen Fineran
- Habitat Bay-Waveland has built over 200 houses in the ten years since Katrina.  Find out how you can help them build Number 202!

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Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed approximately seventy percent of all housing in the Hancock County. 

Thousands of caring, hardworking volunteers descended upon our community, just wanting to help in any way that they could.  Some of the volunteers stayed for many months or even years after the storm; some of them returned year after year to continue their work here; some fell in love with the Coast and never left at all.

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Habitat for Humanity Bay-Waveland (HFHBW) stands out as one of the most effective and inspiring volunteer/non-profit organizations that have revitalized our county since Katrina.  Its mission is simple – to provide affordable and sustainable housing for as many low-income people who need it as possible. 

It is estimated that about 10,000 volunteers have worked with Habitat here since Hurricane Katrina, rebuilding lives and families, as well as homes.  “Katrina changed everything and challenged the very core of our community,” said Executive Director Wendy McDonald.  “As horrible as it was, that catastrophic event also served to bring about an incredible culture of hope, resilience and love in our community.”

To show the community’s appreciation and gratitude to all of the volunteers who came to help in our hour of greatest need, in June HFHBW is holding a 10th Anniversary Reunion Build in Bay St. Louis. 

The month-long build will use volunteers to build a new home in BSL’s Seal Pointe neighborhood, between Easterbrook and Union Streets.  This neighborhood is where the first Habitat homes were constructed in 2006, and to date it contains 54 single-family and duplex homes. 

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Since 2009, all of HFHBW’s new homes have been built and certified to a green standard, as verified by nationally recognized third parties.  Since 2012, HFHBW also has been building its new homes to a “fortified” standard, designed to lessen the impact of damage caused by hurricanes or other natural disasters.

The home that will be built this June will become the 202nd home that HFHBW will have built in Hancock County since it began its work here in 2006.  Not only affordable to the lucky family who will live there, it will also be durable and sustainable, built to both green and fortified standards.

“This anniversary event is a time to celebrate the thousands who came to rebuild our community after the storm," said McDonald.  "They were total strangers to us before then, from places all over the United States and the world, who selflessly gave us their time, their energy, their money, their optimism, to help us rebuild."

Notwithstanding the sweat and enthusiasm of Habitat’s generous volunteers, it still takes money for building materials to build a home; in this case, about $75,000 will need to be raised.  Habitat is asking you, the residents of Hancock County, to donate to the Reunion Build, either individually or as part of your group or organization. 

 For more information about donating your time or money, please call the Habitat Bay-Waveland office at (228) 467-9699, email [email protected], or check out the Anniversary Build's website page.   

If your business, company or church would like to be a sponsor, corporate sponsorships are available at various levels.  In addition, a new on-line peer-to-peer fundraiser website called GiveGab (givegab.com) also is available to facilitate your tax-deductible contribution to HFHBW’s fundraising goal.