The response has been overwhelming, but the staggering need is even more overwhelming. More than 455,000 housing units in the region will need to be replaced or totally rebuilt as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Nearly 156,000 of those units were home to families with household incomes of less than $20,000 a year.

And people are rallying to rebuild. Already, corporations, individuals, celebrities, the media, churches and other non-profit organizations from North America and around the world have lent support to Habitat for Humanity’s efforts.

In an effort to serve more families more quickly, we have launched “Operation Home Delivery”, a collaborative initiative that will leverage the skills of Habitat’s huge corps of volunteers and partners across North America to deliver long-term rebuilding solutions to families in the stricken regions.

Among the approaches to be used in Operation Home Delivery is the innovative “House-in-a -Box” program, whereby integral house components will be constructed and shipped from all parts of North America, and assembled into complete homes in the Gulf Coast.

Operation Home Delivery

Operation Home Delivery is Habitat for Humanity International’s organized response effort to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. It is a three pronged approach

1) Helping Habitat affiliates that were hardest hit by Katrina and Rita restore some level of service and infrastructure, in addition to replacing the 250 Habitat homes destroyed in the area.

2) Serving as a catalyst in mobilizing and coordinating organizations, governments, corporations, foundations, etc., in providing housing solutions to those people most affected by this crisis on a scale otherwise unachievable by Habitat for Humanity alone

3) Implementing ‘House in a Box’ – the most talked-about initiative. Homes-in-a-Box will see over 1600 affiliates across North America work together with partners to build homes and ship them for reconstruction in the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. 

Click here for more information

Click here for more information

Give the Gift of Music and Support Habitat’s Operation Home Delivery   Warner Music Canada is donating all of the production costs for Our New Orleans on behalf of hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast.    To purchase Our New Orleans and for more information, please click here.   (Please note: a new window will open and you will be directed to Warner Music Canada's site).

• HFHC has created a Hurricane Katrina/Rita Response Fund that will be held in trust and utilized to build "homes in a box", send Canadian teams to the affected areas and/or transferred to the U.S. to support rebuilding efforts in the areas of greatest need
• Canadians can receive a tax receipt for donations make to the Hurricane Katrina Response Fund (Online, Mail, etc.) through Habitat for Humanity Canada. Donations sent directly to agencies in the United States cannot be receipted for Canadian tax purposes
• HFH Canada and its 69 affiliates will be involved in supporting Operation Home Delivery – Homes in a Box in a variety of relevant ways
• HFH Canada issued a national press release to communicate our involvement in the response efforts and to direct the public to our Canadian website to donate
• HFH Canada was interviewed the week of September 19 on national CBC to discuss Operation Home Delivery and Canada’s role in the initiative
• Our immediate objective is to take a leadership role in galvanizing Canadians behind Operation Home Delivery as a way to make a tangible difference in the Gulf Coast, and also, as a way to be introduced to the work that Habitat is doing across Canada every day
• It was announced Monday September 26, 2005 by HFH International that Kenneth Meinert, Chair of the Board of Habitat for Humanity Canada, has been appointed Senior VP Operations for Operation Home Delivery.  Ours is very much a global partnership.
• Habitat for Humanity is not sending general volunteers to the affected areas at this time. Right now, it is critical for first responders and relief organizations to get to the storm-affected areas for continuing recovery operations and first-response clean-up; as such, we are sending only those individuals trained in post emergency disaster relief.
• After the immediate relief phase is completed, Habitat for Humanity's volunteer teams will be mobilized to support the long-term re-building needs of the communities affected by Hurricane Katrina.
• The very first "House in a Box" was shipped October 3, 2005, to replace a Habitat home that had been under construction.