The University of Notre Dame Alumni Associations ninth annualHammerinIrishHabitat Blitz Build will take place June 19 to 23 (Monday to Friday) in Shreveport, La., marking the first time the program has taken on a project outside of South Bend, Ind.
Fifty Notre Dame alumni volunteers from 15 states will participate inBuilding on Higher Ground,a 100-unit housing project for displaced Hurricane Katrina victims.The Alumni Association is partnering with Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity and current president of theFullerCenterfor Housing, to construct a new home in fewer than five days.
Building on Higher Ground was established last year as a partnership between the Fuller Center and " Shreveport-Bossier Community Renewal to provide permanent homes for evacuees from the hurricanes that devastated theGulfCoast.The Notre Dame alumni will represent the projects largest organized volunteer effort and the first group to construct a home in less than a week.
In the wake of unprecedented hurricane destruction throughout theGulfCoast, the calls for help continue to pour in, and the Notre Dame family has responded most generously,said Sean OBrien, director of Alumni Community Service.The HammerinIrishBlitz Build offers another opportunity to restore hope and rebuild lives for those who have lost everything.
Established in 1998, theHammerinIrishprogram has resulted in the construction of eight new Habitat homes inSouth Bend.
* Contact: * _Sean OBrien, director, Alumni Community Service Program, 574-631-6723, sobrien3@nd.edu *
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