Tsunami Fund to Support Starter Homes and Construction Training

In the spirit of Home Builders Care, NAHB and the National Housing Endowment have united to provide long-term shelter reconstruction support to those affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in South Asia on December 26.

Formed just after the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, the Home Builders Care/National Housing Endowment-Tsunami Shelter Fund will fund permanent home reconstruction along with education and training that will enable communities to sustain and participate in the ongoing rebuilding effort, which is estimated to take decades.  At the Spring Board of Directors meeting, both the Senior Officers and the National Housing Endowment Board accepted the recommendation to partner with two organizations — Habitat for Humanity International and Shelter For Life International.

Habitat for Humanity International already is working in four of the affected nations in South Asia and has set a goal of housing up to 35,000 families in its first phase effort, with nearly $39 million already raised toward this goal.

NAHB will direct a portion of the funds raised by the Tsunami Shelter Fund to support the construction of a Disaster Response Technical Center in one of the affected countries. These centers provide technical expertise and assistance to families, Habitat affiliates, and partners during the first stages of construction and are a resource to produce building materials, which are becoming scarce.

NAHB and the National Housing Endowment also will partner with Shelter For Life International (SFL) to build a “Home Builders Care Village” of starter homes in Sri Lanka. SFL is a 25-year-old international relief and development organization that assists people affected by conflict or disaster to rebuild and improve their lives and communities.

For the last six years, SFL has been working in Sri Lanka, helping rebuild after a 20-year civil conflict displaced 10 percent of the population. In addition to rebuilding homes, SFL provides training workshops to help the local population learn to make blocks and other materials that can sustain the rebuilding effort.  SFL is working with the government of Sri Lanka as they finalize plans for ensuring proper land use and selecting beneficiaries for homes built by SFL and other relief agencies.

NAHB seeded the Tsunami Shelter Fund with an initial $250,000 contribution and an additional $56,000 has been raised thus far. NAHB is encouraging members to participate by making a tax-deductible donation to the fund to support this important rebuilding endeavor. Please direct your donation check to:

National Housing Endowment
1201 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

Checks should be made payable to the National Housing Endowment, and in the memo section, please note "Tsunami Shelter Fund."

For more information, please contact Troy Patterson at the National Housing Endowment at 1-800-368-5242 x8483, or tpatterson@nahb.com or Kym Kilbourne in NAHB Public Affairs at x8447 or kkilbourne@nahb.com. [ return to top ]