Modular Houses Help to Scale-up Hurricane Rebuilding

COVINGTON, La. (March 9, 2007) – Habitat for Humanity in Covington, La., put two homes on foundations today in a fast-track move to provide permanent homes in partnership with families affected by Hurricane Katrina. In an event that highlighted modular construction techniques, Habitat affiliates from as far away as Dallas and North Carolina joined the St. Tammany West affiliate to watch two homes being lifted in place by a crane and to tour some of the 24 modular-built houses in a subdivision between Abita Springs and Covington.

At the same time, volunteers, family members and staff installed flooring in modular homes that had been delivered earlier.

“We’ll complete these 24 homes in four months—and that’s amazing,” said Maureen Clary, executive director of Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West. “At the same time, we’re able to keep up a busy schedule of stick-built homes.”

Before the hurricane, the affiliate had planned an aggressive push to build 20 to 30 homes a year, starting in 2007. Since October 2005, the affiliate has 49 homes completed or under construction, with plans to complete 100 homes within two years of the hurricane.

The three- and four-bedroom modular homes, all with front porches, were designed by Covington architect Shiloh Moates. The modular homes are the same high quality as the rest of the local Habitat homes.

“These homes were factory-built to our standards, including 130-mile an hour wind-load. With the rain we’ve had, we wouldn’t be nearly as far along if we had been building them all on site,” said Clary.

“Modular housing is just another tool we are encouraging affiliates to use to scale-up building for hurricane-affected families,” said Veronica Taylor, senior director of Operation Home Delivery, Habitat’s hurricane-recovery program.

Seeing the homes arrive over the past few weeks has helped to ease first-time homeowner Shawn Schexnayder’s mind about the future for her and her daughter Hayley.

“We were supposed to move out of the trailer by March 1st, but we got an extension,” Schexnayder said. “I’m just so relieved to be able to buy this house, because rent has gotten so high around here.”

Tommy and Angie Mulligan will reunite their family when they move into their home at the corner of Success and Pansy streets. Since the hurricane, the couple and their one-year-old son Aidan have shared a room in his grandmother’s house. Angie’s daughters, ages seven and six, are staying with relatives until the house is finished. So is Tommy’s 14-year-old daughter, Christina.

“It means a lot to me to provide a good home for my family,” said Mulligan. “We have worked and saved for this. I want our house to be the place where all the relatives come for Easter and Thanksgiving.”

About Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West
Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West is an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing by building simple, decent and affordable housing. Since it was founded in 1981 as the tenth Habitat affiliate in the USA and the first in Louisiana, over 100 repairs, 17 major home renovations and 95 new home construction projects were completed and sold to partner families with no-profit, zero-interest mortgages. Contact Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West at 985-893-3172 to volunteer or to donate.