With Help From Oprah and Tyler Perry, 15 Families Left Homeless by Hurricane Katrina Are Home for the Holidays

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Angels come in all forms and, this holiday season, 15 families displaced by Hurricane Katrina have found their angels in Oprah Winfrey and filmmaker Tyler Perry ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman," "Madea's Family Reunion").

Perry, a native of New Orleans, donated $1 million to Oprah's Angel Network, which in turn funded Habitat for Humanity's "Operation Home Delivery" to replace homes lost in the New Orleans flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina. Fifteen families moved into their new, fully-furnished homes in Baton Rouge, just in time for Christmas.

For the first time in its U.S. operations, Habitat for Humanity is using modular, or factory-built, homes in order to speed up delivery to displaced families. Not enough volunteers are available for the scope of rebuilding needed in the Gulf Region, and modular homes can be delivered in almost move- in condition, whereas site-built homes require months of labor to complete.

"Modular housing is a good product that we decided to pilot, along with other alternatives, to supplement traditional building methods," said Kenneth J. Meinert, Habitat for Humanity's Senior Vice President, Operation Home Delivery. "We are pleased with the results and will be including modular housing in future Gulf Region efforts."

Habitat has built more than 500 homes in the Gulf Region since hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the area in 2005. "The Perry Project" -- the 15 fully furnished homes recently occupied in Baton Rouge and 12 that are scheduled for delivery to Dothan, Alabama -- are the first wave of modular homes to be built for Habitat in the Gulf Coast region. These homes were built by Palm Harbor Homes of Dallas, a member of the Manufactured Housing Institute, the national trade association for both manufactured and modular homes.

"Modular housing makes so much sense in a situation like Louisiana and Mississippi," said Bruce Savage, Vice President of Public Affairs for MHI. "When so many people need homes quickly, factory-built housing can get people into beautiful new homes in matter of weeks."