NAR teams with Habitat to help displaced tsunami victims
The National Association of REALTORS® has partnered with Habitat for Humanity International to build “REALTOR® Villages” to help people who lost their homes during the great tsunami that devastated several South Asian countries last month.
REALTOR® Villages are designed to get the homeless out of temporary shelters in camps as a first step toward permanent housing. The villages comprise “core houses,” which are permanent structures that, in some cases, will be built on the foundation of the previous homes. Each unit will feature one room and a porch under a roof, plus sanitary facilities. The homes could be improved and extended later on.
“The magnitude of personal suffering caused by the tsunami, in number of deaths and injuries to people, and destruction of homes and property, is astounding. NAR feels that since our mission is housing, it would be appropriate to assist tsunami victims by providing them shelter,” said NAR President Al Mansell. “We have an ongoing relationship with Habitat and we are impressed with how extremely efficient the organization has been in getting the donated dollar to the persons in need.”
NAR and Habitat have set a goal to build 1,000 core units in the hard-hit countries of India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Sumatra area of Indonesia. To cover the full cost, NAR has set a $1 million goal for the REALTOR® Tsunami Relief Project, established by NAR Jan. 4. All contributions to the REALTOR® Tsunami Relief Project will be donated to Habitat to construct the REALTOR® Villages.
Mansell urged REALTORS®, as well as the public, to contribute to the project.
“NAR’s effort to help Habitat for Humanity help others exemplifies the good in humankind,” said Tom Jones, vice president, Habitat for Humanity International. “We are truly grateful that NAR and HFHI once more will join in partnership to meet needs about which both organizations so deeply care. This will have permanent positive results for families rebuilding their lives.”
All of the administrative costs of conducting the REALTOR® Tsunami Relief Project are being absorbed by NAR; 100 percent of all donations will go directly to Habitat for construction of the REALTOR® Villages.
Contributions are tax deductible, but hurry; they must be made by Jan. 31. Congress passed and President Bush recently signed Public Law 109-1, which allows tax relief in 2004 taxes for contributions made by Jan. 31, 2005, to victims of the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami.
Project Contribution Totals
As of Jan. 27, just three weeks since the NAR launched the project, it has surpassed the halfway mark toward its $1 million fund-raising goal. The Association reported the receipt of more than 3,420 donations totaling $539,593 as of Jan. 27. These contributions will be combined with NAR’s initial donation of $50,000 and all incoming gifts to the REALTOR® Tsunami Relief Project.
Contributions can be made online through the following secure site powered by NAR’s e-commerce system:
www.realtor.org/RelFundTrack.nsf/
To contribute by mail, checks should be made payable to the REALTOR® Tsunami Relief Project and sent to: REALTOR® Tsunami Relief Project, Attn: NAR Finance Division, 430 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.