My brother-in-law called my wife today to tell us that her parents' (uninsured) house burned to the ground today in the Lumberton/Whiteville/Evergreen area of Columbus County.

Her dad is a retired preacher, and we've talked with some churches about the support they can offer, but it is difficult to do from Hawaii.

Was wondering if anyone had any HFH contact (campus or local) that would not mind assisting (in whatever way possible).

Thanks.

1/17/2010 1:17:43 AM

in my experience, if you don't have young kids then you're at the bottom of HFH's list of priorities--but things may have changed since i was in those circles

1/17/2010 1:24:59 AM

do they own the property? get someone to raise the money for the construction of the home and i will head up getting it rebuilt.

with a lot of assistance from people willing to help you could figure needing to raise $80-$85 a square foot.

1/17/2010 1:23:05 PM

WACO HFH: http://www.habitatwake.org/ though, in my experience, they haven't been the best when it comes to communication.

NCSU HFH (though, they only do workdays... but maybe they have some contacts): http://clubs.ncsu.edu/hab_for_hum/index.php.

1/17/2010 1:39:25 PM

thanks for the help...here's an update...the foundation was sound yesterday when they left for the hotel...and the fire was out...drenched...etc...

they went today to see if they could salvage kitchen items and such, and when they got to the property, the fire marshall and a hose unit was there, and the remainder of the house was also gone, as well as the barn behind the house...when my dad-in-law talked with the fire marshall, he was told the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) was going to be coming out and investigate a possible (probable) arson

so there you go...

1/17/2010 9:12:03 PM

Wouldn't their insurance pay for this? I know that's what happened when my neighbor's house burned down.

1/17/2010 9:16:35 PM

^ The OP said they were uninsured.

1/17/2010 9:38:57 PM

heh, skipped over the parenthesis

This situation sucks for them, but their best bet is to get the local community to help them out. Like someone else already said, if they don't have young kids in the house they're going to be on the bottom of HFH's list.

1/17/2010 9:41:15 PM

They can always move in with you.....temp......

1/17/2010 10:13:55 PM

^the OP is in hawaii. that may not be an option.

1/17/2010 10:28:57 PM

why should everybody help them out? if they were too cheap to buy insurance i wouldn't give them my money

1/17/2010 10:48:08 PM

Contact the Bladen Baptist Association in Elizabethtown. They have a men's group that does a lot of construction when there are crisis situations.

1/17/2010 10:50:34 PM

^^ Why pay for insurance when suckers will donate you a new house?

1/18/2010 12:06:37 AM

1/18/2010 12:14:56 AM

Sorry to hear about this. If you get some sort of community donation thing going, let me know, and I'll pitch in a few bucks.

1/18/2010 9:13:45 AM

So...my wife just set up a "Donate" option on her purse store website...

http://thepursepantry.blogspot.com/

if you want, you can click on it and donate some bucks

thanks in advance!!!

1/18/2010 12:22:33 PM

Wow...my sister-in-law took these pictures today...unbelievable...

1/18/2010 8:53:08 PM

They have a reality show that builds houses for people if the story is sad enough.

1/18/2010 8:58:36 PM

my wife thought about it but the chances of something like that happening would be like winning the lottery

1/19/2010 12:52:06 AM

Doesn:t hurt to try.

1/19/2010 1:33:14 AM