By Matthew Terwilliger
Journal Intern
For the second time in three years, volunteers from Vestavia Hills have given Michelle Hunt and her family an opportunity she otherwise couldn’t afford: a house of her own.
Michelle, along with many others in Birmingham’s North Smithfield neighborhood, lost her home to the April 27 tornados that tore through the area. After the disaster, Hunt called the same people who volunteered to help build her house three years ago to help rebuild it.
In 2008, the Vestavia Hills High School Habitat for Humanity Club and Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church teamed up to co-sponsor the building of a home on Allen St. in North Birmingham for Michelle Hunt and her three daughters and son. The service group didn’t hesitate to return and help rebuild when they received the news.
“Rebuilding is the right thing to do, and Mrs. Hunt is a wonderful person that is well deserving of our help,” said Daniella Reimann, former president of the VHHS Habitat for Humanity,
Daniella said Michelle is happy she and her family survived the tornados and is grateful Habitat and volunteers are helping rebuild what she lost.
The organizations have been rebuilding the Hunt home for almost a month now, working Thursday through Saturday.
After workers saved what they could from the damage and recycled building materials, the house was stripped down to the foundation, and the building process started again.
With the help of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham, many homes affected by the tornados are being repaired and rebuilt.
The group’s goal is to have all the homes on Allen St. ready to live in by the first of August so neighborhood children can return to school in the fall.
“Helping the tornado victims is simply living up to the Habitat for Humanity mission statement,” said Cynthia McGough, longtime volunteer and team leader.
Habitat for Humanity requires $44,000 to build a home. The VHHS Habitat for Humanity Club and Vestavia United Methodist Church both raise $22,000 every year in order for the homes to be built.
This year will be especially important for Habitat for Humanity, as extra help will be needed in the wake of the tornados, Cynthia said.
Volunteers build year round across Jefferson County. They take buses supplied by the church during the school year and carpool in the summer months.
Since the VHHS Habitat for Humanity service club was started in the fall of 2005, students and volunteers from the church and high school have completed six homes; the last was finished in March.
The Hunt residence is just one example of the collaboration and work that goes into restoring neighborhoods and strengthening communities after a natural disaster, according to Cynthia. She believes that by finishing what they started, the students and volunteers are doing their part to revitalize a devastated community.
