Project LIFT and other non-profits build tiny houses to help families still recovering from Hurricane Milton – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale
PORT SAINT LUCIE, Fla. (WSVN) — Tornadoes spawned by Hurricane Milton raged across South Florida in October. Although the worst of the storm has passed, some communities are still in recovery mode.
Many residents lost their homes to the tornadoes spawned by the tropical storm; however, two nonprofit organizations lent a helping hand, providing temporary housing to those people in need.
Project LIFT is a transformative nonprofit organization seeking to assist at-risk teens and young adults work on their mental health.
In the wake of Hurricane Milton, they built tiny houses for people whose homes were damaged.
“The footprint of this house is about 240 square feet on the bottom, about 426 total with the top floors, which gives you opportunities for two bedrooms,” said Robert Zaccheo, the CEO of Project LIFT. “There’s probably between six and 10 individually different teens that work specifically on this house alone.”
Two neighborhoods in Port Saint Lucie were hit especially hard by the historic storm, one seeing their roofs torn off and doors blown out.
Other nonprofits sprang into action amidst the destruction, partnering with LIFT to offer supplies and create solutions for the community.
Casey Cass, the CEO of a community service nonprofit, was among the first people on the ground assisting in the effort.
“We thought we were just going to do, you know, some scholarships and some fun events, but it turned into a pretty major effort,” he said.
The houses came installed with heaters and other amenities to help ease the burden on the families as they awaited a more permanent solution.
“You also have inline hot water heaters here for your washer and dryer,” said Zaccheo. “So the construction alone, just the materials and labor costs on it, are about $75,000 per house. You end up right around $110,000 to $115,000 just to land a house on the spot.”
Zaccheo and Cass were willing to bear the weight of that price as long as the mental health of the kids who work on the homes improves and the community knows they are supported.
“To fundamentally get a person to change, they have to understand that they’re not takers, but they’re givers,” said Zaccheo.
“Now our goal is to get them moved in so that they can be here while their homes are being rebuilt,” said Cass. It’s a huge cost that Project Lift has incurred to make it happen. I came from a family of nine, and I wouldn’t be where I am now if people hadn’t reached out at different times in my life.”
As of Sunday, there are two tiny homes in the neighborhood. With more funding, the group hopes to build more.
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