When a massive, deadly tornado devastated Joplin, Mo., last year, Jackie Allen and her 9-year-old son Dylan lost nearly everything.
Allen’s mother passed away just months before the tornado hit, leaving her the home she and Dylan lived in. The storm demolished the home.
“I had just paid off the home before the storm hit,” says Allen. “I hadn’t yet had a chance to get insurance and found myself homeless for the first time in my life.”
With the help of Convoy of Hope, Allen’s new home will be greener and more storm-resistant than their prior home, and will be completed just in time for the mother-son pair to move in before the one-year anniversary of the tornado, May 22.
In partnership with the Global Green Building, Joyce Meyer Ministries–Hand of Hope, Project Safe Home and T.F. Concrete Forming Systems, Convoy of Hope is embarking on a mission to help build at least six storm-resilient, “green” homes for deserving families in Joplin. The groundbreaking took place on Monday, and the homes are scheduled to be completed in three months.
Convoy of Hope and its community partners will construct homes that emphasize protections against strong winds and promote environmental efficiencies. These partners hope to coordinate efforts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who would provide expertise on other “resilient” constructions. These new high-tech, low-energy buildings are specially designed with reinforced concrete walls and other innovations to be sturdier and more sustainable than traditional houses.
“We’re happy to put our newly formed Extreme Hope Fund into action to build these homes,” said Jeff Nene with Convoy of Hope. “Our goal is for these homes to give families displaced by the tornado a new lease on life.”
