Posted on 01/03/2009 4:55:35 PM PST by bruinbirdman
RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.
Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity.
Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes.
A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter.
The case could challenge the bedrock philosophy behind Habitat for Humanity, claiming that using volunteers, rather than professional builders, is causing as many problems as it solves.
April Charney, a lawyer representing many of the 85 homeowners in Fairway Oaks, said she had no problems taking on Habitat for Humanity, despite its status as a “darling of liberal social activists”. She said the charity should have told people that part of the estate had been built on a rubbish dump.
One man pulled up his floorboards to find rubbish 5ft deep under his kitchen. Other complaints include cracking walls and rotting door frames that let in rats and ants. Many residents have complained of mildew and mysterious skin rashes.
One resident said her children were suffering from skin complaints. “The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars have left we’re stuck with the consequences. This house looks pretty but inside it either stinks or sweats,” she said.
Judy Hall, the charity’s local development director, said recently that it had been dealing with about 30 complaints. She added that skilled work was carried out by professionals.
Some residents dismiss their neighbours’ worries. Diennal Fields, 51,
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Jimmah should have to pay for all repairs out of his Nobel Prize winnings.
Is there any work that Jimmy Carter has ever done that was quality work?
“The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars have left we’re stuck with the consequences. This house looks pretty but inside it either stinks or sweats,” she said.
Libs.
Hollywood:”it either stinks or sweats”.
That’s because Jimma and the celebrities don’t have brains.
I’m no fan of Jimmy C., but if people get houses for next to nothing, and then don’t maintain them, what do they expect. Oh, wait. They expect someone to maintain the house for them as well. I think thats called Government Housing, aka the projects.
Of course it was NOT picked up and reported by a U.S. MSM. They would not want to make their idols look bad in any way.
LOL!
bttt
—the “Habitat” ones he helped build in South Dakota some years ago only made it to the first snowstorm—the roofs caved in since nobody knew about “snowload”—
Any house, no matter how well built or otherwise, will fall into disrepair in no time if regular upkeep is not performed. How many other HH homes are falling apart?
They aint lifted a finger to pull maintaince and now things are starting to go south. So what do these welfare folk do? Call the lawyers to go after that free money. Just goes to prove that no good deed goes unpunished. Although I would like to see them sue Carter personelly just to see him dance to the tune that he called.
Oh good grief! Somebody forgot to tell them the house had to be cleaned at least once a month.
Did the “Habitat” home not have to meet local building codes?
Dammit, build these people some mansions!! Give them each a butler, maid, and handyman too! They are POOR, for G-d’s sake!
Just wait till the Habitat and Brad Pitt homes in New Orleans’s 9th ward are under 12 ft of water again. To bother
rebuilding in what had been a decrepit war zone was stupid to begin with, but to invest all that volunteerism and $$ in an area that WILL be submerged again is obscene.
If I were the ‘poor’ who are being put right back in such a dangerous area I would be insulted. Wait for the lawsuits when the next hurricane floods the rebuilt areas again.
These Gubmint projects are not self cleaning??
What kind of give-away is this, anyway?
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