Habitat For Humanity & Hurricane Katrina

I think that the article below really taps into a couple of key topics about HFHI, and is a well-timed follow-up to our discussion of the HFHI case.

1) Is their HQ/corporate control of affiliates too rigid for the chaos and differing circumstances that follow large scale disasters? I applaud the fact that they have not sold the brand short by quickly building large volumes of poor quality housing, but rather have stuck to their guns regarding quality, credit-worthiness recipients, and sweat equity. I do think that HFHI has the ability to further expand and build its brand in emergency situations – it is realizing that there are more politics and acute emotion involved, relative to the traditional community housing it builds. There is so much press surrounding emergencies that there is a high risk of both good and bad associations for HFHI, depending on how the HFHI response jives with what is expected. The fact that they reject over 90% of applications is difficult for many to swallow in a time of crisis.

2) It shows that despite their $1.8 BB brand (!), there are a lot of people who do not understand the core of what their brand stands for (i.e. it does not give away easy shelter, but rather builds and fosters a responsible, giving community through its actions). Brand building requires chronic effort.


Volunteer Group Lags in Replacing Gulf Houses

By LESLIE EATON and STEPHANIE STROM
Published: February 22, 2007
Correction Appended
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. — In the two years following the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, Habitat for Humanity International, the nondenominational Christian ministry, built or repaired 8,500 houses in Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.
Volunteers at Musicians’ Village, a Habitat for Humanity project in New Orleans that focuses on bringing back traditional jazz musicians.
Habitat for Humanity seemed poised to do the same thing along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Just days after the storm, its chief executive appeared on CNN, promising to build and repair as many homes as it could pay for, “hopefully in the thousands.” The organization quickly mustered 50,000 volunteers, raised $127 million, and attracted prominent backers like President Bush and the New Orleans jazz luminaries Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis.
But almost 18 months after storms destroyed more than 250,000 homes, Habitat for Humanity says it has built just 10 houses for poor hurricane victims here, 36 in New Orleans, and a total of 416 along the entire coast, from Alabama to Texas. More are under construction, for a total of 702.

For the full story, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/us/22habitat.html?th&emc=th