Habitat of Greater L.A. Builds Houses for Gulf Coast
The Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Los Angeles is building six house frames this week for families displaced by the hurricane.
LOS ANGELES — The sunny City of Angels may be thousands of miles away from any of the Gulf Coast but the Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Los Angeles is showing victims of Hurricane Katrina that help is not far out of reach.
The Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Los Angeles is building six house frames this week for families displaced by the hurricane, as part of "Make a Difference Today," a joint effort between NBC News “Today,” Habitat for Humanity International and Warner Music Group to build at least 100 homes for the Gulf Coast.
“We are thrilled to be part of this amazing effort to rebuild the lives of the families profoundly affected by Hurricane Katrina,” said Erin Rank, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, in a recently released statement. “We hope this event will raise awareness and additional funds so we can continue to build homes for the Gulf States."
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Other cities participating in the build project include Jackson, Miss., and New York City.
In Los Angeles, over 400 volunteers from NBC News, Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Los Angeles, Warner Music Group, and AmeriCorps are participating in the week-long build, which began on Monday, Sept. 26, at 3320 W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank, Calif.
The goal was to build five house frames but that number increased to six after Lowe's, a supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, donated more material and tools for the construction of the Habitat houses. Also, volunteers were ahead of schedule and had completed the fifth house frame by Wednesday.
On Friday, Sept. 30, volunteers will disassemble the erected house frames into sections to be shipped to Covington, La., where the sections will be reassembled into houses for the new "Hope Village," a neighborhood of around 15 Habitat homes for local families.
Rank told the Christian Post Wednesday that typically the Habitat affiliate builds houses for its communities but will do something unprecedented for this effort.
"In this case, we are building for communities 2000 miles away and for families we will never meet," she said.
Rank added that when natural disasters hit or when times are tough, the good in humankind comes forward. People find themselves heeding to God's call to help our neighbor, to give without wanting return, and to do what we can for the least of our brothers, she said.
While volunteers begin their day at 3:30 a.m. to allow live coverage for the “Today" show, some don't seem to mind the early work schedule.
"I got over having to wake up really early the first day," Joe Zarro, an AmeriCorps volunteer, told the Christian Post after his nine-hour shift Wednesday. "It's really good work. I'm actually really amazed at what we've been doing."
"The atmosphere has been very enthusiastic," Zarro said. "They've all been willing to help. Habitat volunteers have such big hearts and I can't imagine where we'd be without them."
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also stopped by Wednesday to contribute labor to the building.
After each house frame was completed, workers and volunteers signed their names along with messages of blessings on them.
One volunteer, Sarah Weiss, an AmeriCorp volunteer, wrote, "Fill this house with the love that made it."
"They are our fingerprints on the work we do for the people," said Zarro, who wrote "From Joseph, with love" on the houses he built.
Said Rank of the project, "This is absolutely a demonstration of faith in action."
