Habicrap for Humanity

The intentions of Habitat for Humanity are admirable, but like any feel-good endeavor, the actions sometimes produce unintended consequences. Here is an excerpt from the February 2009 issue of The Limbaugh Letter that i found interesting. 

 "Eight years ago, Jimmy Carter and a crew of 10,000 volunteers bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities like Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt went on a 17-day building blitz, erecting a model housing complex in northern Florida for Habitat for Humanity. Feeling good about themselves and their ability to remake America and bind us together, the do-gooders went home. Now many of the 85 homeowners in the Fairway Oaks development complain their houses are falling apart. Turns out, according to The Sunday Times (of UK), Fairway Oaks was apparently built on a dump. One occupant says he pulled up his kitchen floorboards only to discover garbage five feet deep. Other residents report that rats and ants are pouring through cracked walls and rotten doorframes. The signature Jimmy Carter structures are now recognizable to homeowners by their cochroaches, mold, and mildew. 

"The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars have left, we're stuck with the consequences," says another Fairway Oaks resident, who says her children suffer from mysterious skin rashes. "This house looks pretty but inside it either stinks or sweats." 

Attorney April Charney is representing the Fairway Oaks victims in an upcoming legal battle - though she knows Carter's Habitat for Humanity is a 'darling of liberal social activists.' Lesson 1 of infrastructure building: liberal good intentions cannot cover up a foundation of garbage.

As a professional Civil Engineer, I know home construction requires proper engineering and design by professionals for the foundation and framing, and construction by professional contractors, so I am not surprised one of these do-good activities failed miserably. Those rich actors would have done better to donate money to build quality apartments than trying to build half-ass homes for people who cant afford one anyway. Or use their time to repair homes of poor people, not build new ones when they are not qualified to do so. I volunteered once in college on a Habitat for Humanity outing and appreciated the individual efforts, but an effort should be made for quality in design and construction, not just building low quality homes.