WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Habitat Building Blitz

Habitat Building Blitz

By David Kenney
david@wlbt.net 

This week hurricane victims who lost everything are getting help to receive the one thing every family needs... a home.

Dozens of volunteers, along with one N.B.A. franchise player are making it happen. 

It's Habitat for Humanity's biggest building blitz ever in Jackson, 18 houses in three weeks.

Right now, volunteers are working on ten homes on Hunt Street, for families in desperate need.

Cindy Griffin, with Habitat for Humanity, says "They're for familes from Hurricane Katrina that lost everything. It's amazing to talk to these familes, they have some horrific stories, being plucked from the rooftops, this has taken their disparities and turned them into hope."

Every house has a local sponsor and dozens of volunteers who are busy building.

The money for all the materials came from up north, in care of the Minnesota Timberwolf's franchise power house, Kevin Garnett.

Diane Ashley and Judith Page came all the way from Cape Cod to lend a hand in the building blitz.

Ashley says, "There's nothing there, then you see a house go up. They work with us yesterday. I worked with two of the owners."

Page says, "It's been really an emotional experience, it's really hard for me to talk about it because these folks have been through so much and they are so grateful to us. We just do our little bit. They are overwhelmed with gratitute."

The families will be giving even more thanks once they see their mortgage.

Griffin says, "They're made affordable because it's a no interest, no profit mortgage."

The new homeowners are also helping build their new homes, working beside some people they don't know who are making a world of difference in their lives.

Griffin says, "We couldn't have done it without the people repsonding from people to come help us build these houses."

Habitat for Humanity is hoping to have the homes on Hunt Street completely finished sometime in June.