Lets’ hope these folks get this settled and fixed before something really bad happens – like more than a square block of the subdivision goes up.

Ever see a big dump site ? There’s vents sticking up out of the ground all over with filters, monitors and other devices detecting and handling the methane and other gasses needing to come up to the surface, or there’d be some real unpleasant booms and resulting problems in the area.

This is not a good thing at all and that one comment is spot-on……and it applies for just about everything our friends on the left do…….. “The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars have left we’re stuck with the consequences.”

Cheers !

True, Habitat for Humanity uses volunteers to build the houses. Keep in mind that there are also lots (and I really mean lots) of skilled laborers on each project. They oversee all of the labor that goes on to make sure that the houses are being built properly.

Now, if the site location sucks. Blame that on the local chapter. They didn’t do their research.

And a further point. Habitat is not a leftist program. Sure, President Carter is the face of the organization, but this is certainly no example of liberalism.

   More often than not, whenever I read or hear about these things, I wonder if President Carter and his entourage use Habitat for Humanity as another photo-op for good press.  I’m dirt poor and would love to have a place of my own, but I doubt that they’d come build my house for me; I’d just as soon choose the site and volunteer my free time to help build it myself.  (That, and I’m not in all the politically correct ethnic and philosophical circles needed for me to receive the gift of a celebrity or politician pretending to provide me with some sort of alms.)

Roaches are not exactly unheard of in low income housing. They are interested in food they can eat, not food that was composted years ago and has turned into soil. The mildew and rotting wood would probably have more to do with it being Florida and poor maintenance than anything else. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence that the site has anything at all to do with their problems. I could see uneven settling being a problem on a former dump site, but I would think the problem would be more severe than “cracked walls,” whatever that means. They don’t mention any foundation issues.

I’m not so sure this is any different than any other ambulance chaser going after a builder (which is routine), except this time the builder is a charity. Once you get a couple people signed on, it is pretty easy to get others to sign on as well. Lots of lawyers make their living doing this kind of thing.

As others have mentioned, a lot more goes into Habitat for Humanity housing than a bunch of guys showing up and slapping some wood together. I do have a problem with Jimmy Carter, but not with his Habitat for Humanity work. Private charity is something to be admired, even when it’s not 100% successful.

I’ve always thought this “habitat” stuff was a scam, anyway.

H4H has done several good projects both inside and outside of America. Notwithstanding this, Fairway Oaks residents have all the right to file a case and make H4H people responsible for the unacceptable “environmental siting” work.

Many of you have hit on bits and pieces about the service and bs has even been involved personally with a project or two. But like any
endeavor it’s only as good as the people running it and my experience has been that those people cycle in and out like weekend laundry.
Yes it has great intentions and we have all bandied about our little cliches about intentions, but the concept is a wonderful idea and when the concept doesn’t work out, like in this case, that intent becomes the suave that tries to inoculate failure.
My experience with it here in southwest florida has been a mixed bag of success and failure. You are dealing with providing a family with a home with suspect labor, materials and location. The two homes I worked on the material would not show up, those of us donating our time were left standing around, or in my case purchasing material on my own so as to accomplish something and so I could return to my “paying job” asap. It’s extremely hard to schedule donated labor on a project that’s schedule is always up in the air. Then when the material did arrive it was old framing and drywall that had been donated by supply houses who couldn’t sell it anymore due to it’s age and condition. So they dumped it on H4H and got a wonderful tax deduction. These two homes were basically in the “hood” built where two other abandoned duplexes had stood…well actually fell down, and between several other duplexes occupied by dealers, users and the walking dead. I have no problem in giving a family a hand up…..but I looked at it as a hand sideways at best if not straight down. That home will never
achieve any value unless the rest of the area is bulldozed along with that “new” home.
It’s not all that different than giving people a home loan that leaves them surviving check to check with the very real risk of losing that home after one financial hiccup. In this case we put a single mother with two young kids in a home who’s location and neighbors will most likely be a yoke around their necks and a danger to their futures. As well as a home that, in the end, may be
worth less than what it cost them.

I only mention this story to point out that maybe the above story isn’t all that unusual. I am 100% sure that there are other cases where H4H changed lives and did a good job. I just also know
that a lack of incentive can greatly effect the quality of a project.

They built the entire subdivision in 2-1/2 weeks as I read the story. Is that how most H4H chapters operate, or do they built a house here and house there? If trying to build seven dozen houses in 17 days was primarily a huge publicity stunt, then this seemed destined to follow.

I’ve done some consulting work for one of H4H’s largest chapters. Many don’t realize that H4H’s stated mission is that of Christian service. Methinks many of the liberal Hollywood supporters aren’t aware of the Christian connection. Some of the chapters don’t promote their own Christian mission, and the national office minimizes it.

Jimmy Carter & Habitat for Humanity: Celebrity slum lords?