JOPLIN, Mo. —
Charity and other organizations have promised to build at least 100 houses over the next several years to replace those destroyed in the May 22 tornado that struck Joplin and Duquesne.
The Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri also will make available $2.5 million from donations to tornado relief through grants to organizations for housing projects. That potentially could add more than 25 houses to the total.
The list of organizations building houses may be incomplete.
More than 7,500 homes were destroyed or damaged in the tornado.
The most recent announcement is from Convoy of Hope, which plans at least 18 houses.
“It will end up being more than 18,” said Jeff Nene, spokesman for Convoy of Hope.
He said the organization, which has participated in other relief efforts since the tornado, originally identified eight families in need, but the list has grown.
“The 18 is just a start for us,” Nene said. He said the organization also may assist those whose insurance won’t pay to replace their destroyed home with a comparable one by helping to cover the difference.
“We’re going to help them cover that spread, people who fall between the cracks,” he said.
Convoy of Hope is teaming up with TF Forming Systems, using energy-efficient and disaster-resistant insulating concrete forms. Plans call for construction to begin late this month and be complete in May.
Joplin Habitat for Humanity completed 10 houses in November in partnership with Tulsa Habitat for Humanity. Five more houses are under construction. Scott Clayton, executive director, said the organization will start building 10 more houses within the next two months.
Clayton said there is a range in the level of need among tornado survivors, and Habitat is trying to meet the needs.
ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” built seven houses in a highly publicized effort.
The charity Samaritan’s Purse has committed to building 20 houses. Homes of Hope also plans to build 20 houses in the next three to five years. Construction has started on the first houses for both groups.
Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri is building eight houses, with two of them finished, said Amy Rogers, administrative assistant with the charity.
The United Methodist Church, through its disaster response agency, also is building houses for tornado victims, but the number was unavailable Wednesday.
Another organization, Relief Spark, had announced a plan to build 50 homes in 50 months, but problems with a contractor derailed those plans, said Sidney Ray, executive director. She said the two houses that have been started will be completed, but she can’t say beyond that.
The Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri is taking applications from nonprofit agencies through Feb. 17 for grants to build housing. The foundation has $2.5 million available from donations, including $500,000 from Home Depot, $1.5 million from the Lilly Endowment and a donation from the Kansas City Community Foundation.
Assuming each house would cost $100,000 to build, 25 houses could be constructed.
Michelle Ducre, foundation director, said homeowners insurance and Federal Emergency Management Agency payments and the potential of donated building supplies likely would reduce the cost of each house far below $100,000, allowing more than 25 houses to be built.
Clayton, with Habitat for Humanity, declined to say if his agency would apply for a grant.
Conditions
FOR MOST OF THE PROJECTS, the recipients will be required to contribute their homeowners insurance payout and payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. With Habitat for Humanity, the recipients also are required to work on the project in what the organization terms “sweat equity.”
“I KNOW IT’S GOING to benefit so many people here in Joplin and Duquesne,” Scott Clayton said of the Community Foundation money. “I’m excited about whatever is going to be done.”
Local News
Related Photos
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Jim Raymond, of Springfield, co-owner of Roofmaster Plus, volunteers his time and skills Wednesday as he attaches trim to the eaves of a Habitat for Humanity house on Central Street in Joplin. Multiple organizations plan to construct more than 100 homes for victims of the May 22 tornado. GLOBE | T. ROB BROWN
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Tom Weens, a driver for Joplin Supply Co., makes a delivery Wednesday at a Habitat for Humanity house under construction in Joplin. GLOBE | T. ROB BROWN
Discussion
More than 100 houses in works through nonprofits, other groups
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