Sadly, many families lost their homes to Typhoon Tino. After the storm died down, some families were able to return to where their homes had once stood. With the help of kind hearts, NVC provided many families with construction materials to build new homes with. Unfortunately, other families used to live in areas that were not safe to return to. For many months, these families lived in evacuation centers.
The LGU of La Carlota initially identified 100 families that would be relocated to a safe area. NVC agreed to build an elevated 27.25-sqm model house with a bedroom, common area, toilet and balcony. We had sufficient funds to build just one home and planned to raffle it off to one lucky winner. Our funds could cover construction materials so the remaining 99 families to build their own homes based on the model house. In addition to providing the land on which the houses will stand, the city is in charge of installing roadways, a sewage system and a water source.
We posted that while we would love to provide all the 100 families with homes that are ready to move into, we lacked the funds to cover the construction costs. Without any prodding, some of our supporters offered to foot the bill of the construction of a few homes. After that, we set a new goal for ourselves: to turn over 100 homes that families may move into immediately. Along the way, the city added five more families to the list of 100, bringing the total number of homes needed to 105. Donations poured in to cover construction costs. Before we had all the funds we needed, we took a leap of faith and set a date to start construction. And thanks to generous donors, we were able to raise all the funds needed to turn over 105 homes days before construction was scheduled to begin.
On January 21, La Carlota City Administrator Fini Alonso Jalandoni (in light blue) took us to see both the no-build zones where some of the 105 families used to live and the area set aside for the new homes.
It rained very hard all day on February 10, but we did not let that stop us. The team trooped to the building site in La Carlota where our partners from Cordova Construction Services (CCS) began construction. We are excited about the developments that will take place in this area over the next few months!
