Brandon Twp.- Lauren Brasile expected to see severe damage from Hurricane Katrina two weeks after the storm hit, when she traveled to Louisiana.
She didn’t expect to see devastation eight months later.
Brasile, who went to Mississippi in May with her husband, Mark, and 20 Oakland County Habitat for Humanity volunteers, was shocked to see mattresses, ladderback chairs, clothes, blankets, tabletops and more 20-feet high in trees.
‘It smacks you in the face,? says Brasile, 40. ‘My husband said, ‘Did we just enter Beirut?? It looks like it happened yesterday? like nothing has been done.?
Brasile took time off from her job as a nurse at the North Oakland Medical Center to volunteer at a medical clinic in Jennings, La. for a week in September, aiding evacuees from the New Orleans area.
Driven to help again, she signed up to help Habitat from May 14-20 in Jackson, Miss. The group was working to build a home for an evacuee family from New Orleans. Ahead of schedule, volunteers took a free day and visited Bay St. Louis on the gulf coast, where Katrina came ashore.
‘It was Ground Zero,? says Brasile. ‘I had no expectation to see the level of devastation that still exists.?
During a tour of the area, Brasile learned some people are living in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, but only if they can get a sewer hook-up. This is difficult, she notes, because the local government is not back to its previous level of service. Brasile also points out that homes on 80 miles of the historic coastline weren’t even on sewers prior to the hurricane. The people there now live in tents. Children go to school in Army barrack type tents.
Motel parking lots are packed with construction crew vehicles as workers attempt to rebuild the decimated area, which has also led to a shortage of places for residents and volunteers to stay. The Morrell Foundation, a non-profit organization offering disaster relief, had large tents set up in the area. However, Brasile says they pulled out the week the Oakland County Habitat volunteers showed up because it was the beginning of hurricane season and they didn’t want to leave the tents vulnerable to another hurricane.
‘How do you get people to come and build houses when you have nowhere for them to stay?? asks Brasile. ‘Your best option is to tell them to bring a tent and sleeping bag, but that’s not really an option when you’re building a home and working 10-12 hours a day. It’s not practical.?
Brasile knew she had to do something and came up with the idea of creating a non-profit organization that would build housing for volunteers to stay in while they worked to rebuild the region.
‘I have felt so compelled to do something with this storm,? says Brasile. ‘I looked up ‘compelled? in my Bible and found a verse in 2 Corinthians, which paraphrased, said, ‘Do not worry if you’re tense or destroyed, for God has heavenly dwellings set aside for you.??
The verse provided inspiration for the name of the fledgling non-profit? Heavenly Housing, Inc.
Now, her vision is becoming reality. Brasile filed paperwork with the state of Michigan and was approved as a non-profit organization in early June. She has applied for an employee identification number from the federal government, whom she is also seeking tax-exempt statu from.
She is beginning to secure donations and the first thing she wants to do is build a 3-4 bedroom home in the Bay St. Louis area to house volunteers, where she believes they may be needed for 10-15 years. Brasile has found some appropriate house plans for floodplains online. The home could accomodate 8-10 people, which would be a work crew for a Habitat project, she says. Once it is no longer needed, she says, it can be sold and the proceeds can be used to fund a project elsewhere.
‘People say they shouldn’t rebuild,? says Brasile. ‘But those are their homes. One woman I met had her historic coastline home that had been there more than 150 years ruined. I feel like I am being led to do it. I want to achieve the goal of providing lodging for volunteer workers after a disaster so people can rebuild and restore their lives.?
For more information on Heavenly Housing, call Brasile at (248) 390-2203. Donations can be made to Heavenly Housing, 2857 Hadley Road, Ortonville, Mich. 48462.