Habitat Hammers Back: One year progress report

One year after the historically devastating hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria forced thousands of people to flee their homes and communities in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, Habitat continues to work with affected communities to rebuild and strengthen housing.

With the generous support of donors and volunteers, Habitat has made notable progress working with homeowners, other nonprofits and the public sector to help communities recover in each of the affected regions. We are executing a long-term plan to address what has been deemed the worst housing crisis caused by disasters in U.S. history.

By July 2018, we had delivered more than 15,700 recovery services and construction activities in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. This number includes 24 new homes built and more than 750 homes repaired or rehabilitated, with the bulk of them in Florida and Texas.

Our progress in Puerto Rico has faced extraordinary challenges, given the severity of the destruction and major obstacles to rebuilding, including unstable water and food supplies; the massive need for reconstruction of homes, bridges and roads; lack of electrical power; lack of ownership titles necessary to receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and systemic barriers to affordable and resilient housing and economic issues that existed prior to the disaster.

Yet we are beginning to see results through our work with the government, partners and donors committed to restoring the island. Addressing longstanding issues in tandem with recovery will improve economic opportunities, return families to safe housing and make families and communities more resilient to future disasters.

In addition to Puerto Rico, a number of Caribbean islands suffered damage, some of which was catastrophic, from hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria. Habitat initiated an emergency response in the Dominican Republic and the Commonwealth of Dominica, where the governments accepted our offer of support and assistance.