The MV Integrity left the Port of Georgetown this afternoon to supply about 180 homes for Haitians devastated by January’s earthquake, from which the tiny island is still trying to recover.
They are $600 a home. For $600 we buy the material, we assemble the wall panels, we bring it to the port here in Georgetown. We put it on the ship, take it to Haiti and put it up. Nobody gets paid.
Virginia-based “Christ in Action” is a non-profit organization heading up the effort to provide approximately 500 homes. Dr. Denny Nissley is the organizer for “Homes for Haiti,” and said he saw a need for housing when he visited earlier this year, so he put that need into action.
Nissley, a volunteer himself, says there is still a great need in Haiti.
Following the earthquake there was 250,000 people displaced and the latest report says there are a total of 230,000 people that are still displaced. As a total of homes, we have a little over 500 homes. We are shipping some out of Houston. We can sleep about eight people per home. So, that’s 4,000 people that are going to have a place to live.
As for the future:
We’re not going to build anymore here. Once these homes are up, we are going to look at the feasibility of bringing raw materials to Haiti and doing all the construction down there.
Nissley says for the past few months, Nissley says volunteers in the Myrtle Beach are have helped build these 8′ wide by 12′ long homes in a warehouse donated by The Sun News newspaper. Funding came strictly from donations, including private citizens and churches from all across the nation.
Nissley says they still need donations. Go to http://christinaction.com to donate.
AUDIO: Nissley’s interview (3:51)
