Going the Distance in the Gulf (continued)

Putting others first, two affiliates become one
Hurricane Katrina might have blown apart many things, but the winds of the storm put others together, sometimes in unexpected and beneficial ways. In the wake of the storm, southern Mississippi saw two Habitat affiliates--Habitat for Humanity of Jackson County and Harrison County Habitat for Humanity--look at their situations and decide to merge in early 2007. The result is Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a different approach to meeting the area's great need.

Al Sturgeon had been involved at some level with both affiliates before the merger. The pastor of Ocean Springs' Church of Christ, he had volunteered in Harrison County before going on to help found the Jackson County organization. He experienced firsthand the sea change that Katrina meant for his community.

Twenty-seven of the 90 families in his congregation were out of their homes, his own family included. Ten days after the storm, Habitat for Humanity International staff and consultants found Sturgeon at his church, where congregation members were cooking, sleeping and sharing basic necessities.

In the newly formed affiliate's service area, 75,000 houses were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina; all of the low-income housing was gone, he says. "I was near the end of my term limit (on the Jackson County Habitat board) when Katrina hit," says Sturgeon. By merging, the two affiliates recognized a unique opportunity to have a significant impact in an area where 95,000 people were still living in FEMA trailers 20 months after the hurricane.

The two boards "were going in opposite directions and as far apart as they could be" when they met for a joint retreat, Sturgeon says. But the hurricane had "scrambled" people. It was hard to maintain Friday night football rivalries after being dislocated; people were living and working in each other's communities. The affiliates realized that they could be stronger working as one. Turns out their individual strengths and weaknesses were complementary. Jackson County had a diverse and active base of committee members; Harrison County had a strong program of family education and support.

"This whole catastrophic event has forced us to look at how we do business," says Latan Griffin, board president at the time of the merger. "It has been an unbelievable journey. Before our merger, the two affiliates built five houses a year; this year, we are building 120."

Griffin had been a Saturday builder who aspired to be a volunteer construction supervisor. He wound up leading the board of the merged organization. "When I became board president, I didn't know much about Habitat, but I knew corporate America and I knew leadership," he says. "In our community, Habitat used to be a homegrown, apple-pie-and-mom volunteer group. We've got staff now; one year ago, we had no staff. Now there are 19 trucks, there's equipment and resources.

"We've been blessed," he says, with a wry smile. "God is taking us to a very exciting place of service."

New Orleans homeowner shares blessings
Habitat homeowner Casey LeBlanc lost everything when the levees broke after Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans flooded. While the mother of two may have lost her old life, she gained a new perspective and purpose.

These days, LeBlanc and two other new Habitat homeowners--all of them Lowe's employees--are using their recently acquired construction skills and leadership to give others the same chance at homeownership that each of them found through Habitat.

"You don't get blessed just to keep it to yourself," says LeBlanc, who now resides in Musicians' Village with her daughters Cayla, 4, and Calynn, 2.

Before the storm, LeBlanc and her family lived in an Uptown New Orleans rental. She had no hope, she says, of owning her own home; she couldn't have dreamed it. After being knocked down by the storm, spending two days in the Superdome and months after that in Houston, she heard from her former pastor that New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity was building houses with families who wanted to come home. She was determined to give it a try.

"Before Katrina I was struggling, living paycheck to paycheck, working crazy hours at a payday loan company and worrying about day care," LeBlanc says. "Now I have a good job, financial stability and a house--a solid foundation for my family."

It's a foundation she wants to help others build. With her own home built and sweat-equity hours behind her, LeBlanc says she is committed to helping with the recovery. "I like construction; it makes you appreciate the house to be literally putting up the walls yourself," she says. With other volunteers, LeBlanc began attending Lowe's construction workshops for women. In June, the group raised the walls on a house being built with a hurricane-affected family.

Two months after the LeBlanc family moved into Musicians' Village, their home is sparsely furnished, but full of hope and love. In the room they share, the girls proudly show off their matching beds and dressers, their Dora the Explorer curtains and spreads. LeBlanc's mattress and box springs sit on the floor, and her clothes are put away neatly in plastic tubs. It takes time to build and furnish a new life, she says.

"God blessed and guided me," she says with a confident smile. "The path is paved and I'm walking in it."