Hurricane Katrina
Laundry Design/Build, Waveland, MS
Location: Waveland, Mississippi
Beneficiaries: Everard Family
Implementing Partners: New York Says Thank You
Design team: Mark Lescher and David Vilkama, University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Kathy
Everard lives in Waveland, Mississippi. She uses a walker and is living
in a small FEMA trailer with her 17-year-old granddaughter, and all
their belongings. Their home was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.
She, like many residents, has been fighting with insurance companies
and expects it will be a year to 18 months before they can rebuild.
In February, members of the New York City Fire Department with New York
Says Thank You came to Waveland to volunteer their time in an effort to
say "thank you" to all those who came to their aid after 9/11. To help
alleviate the Everard's cramped quarters, the firefighters offered to build the family a small wooden storage shed and laundry room.
Architecture for Humanity and students of University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
came to their assistance, designing and building a small facility that
includes a refurbished washer/dryer and storage space to be sited next
to the family's trailer. The design by graduate students, Mark Lescher
and David Vilkama, was selected by Kathy and together with New York
Says Thank You, worked to erect the structure over the course of a
weekend. The laundry was officially opened on March 11th 2006.
