NAHB has received many inquiries from concerned members who want to help the victims of the severe tornadoes and storms that tore through large portions of the South in late April. These devastating events wiped out homes and businesses, and claimed hundreds of lives. Alabama was the hardest hit, with 31 out of 67 counties sustaining significant damage. Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee were also severely impacted. Accordingly, on May 2, NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen sent a memo to the Board of Directors and all state and local HBA Executive Officers to let them know how they can help. In this communication, he explained that the Home Building Industry Disaster Relief Fund (HBIDRF) is a recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization that assists areas affected by disaster by facilitating the rebuilding of communities. The HBIDRF makes funds available for direct contribution to other recognized charities working to rebuild and/or repair housing in affected areas. While this fund cannot provide assistance directly to individuals or to NAHB’s affiliated associations, the HBA of Alabama has its own recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which is now accepting donations online. Any contributions earmarked for the tornado disaster will go directly towards helping the local affiliated associations and their members recover from this tragedy. Potential donors to the HBIDRF can visit www.nahb.org/hbidrf or contact Jessica Lynch (800-368-5242, x8401) or Melissa Voorhees (x8251) for more information.

NAHB staff have reached out to each of the state associations affected by the disaster as well as several members from these same states. At this point, most of the HBAs themselves are back in operation, and so far, we have not heard news of any loss of life from the NAHB membership on account of these storms. That said, the physical damage to communities that were hit is tremendous and it will take a great deal of time to rebuild. In the meantime, we are pointing affected HBAs to NAHB’s free resources, including radio Public Service Announcement scripts that warn consumers about unscrupulous contractors following a disaster, and providing links to government assistance and downloadable information from FEMA, the Red Cross and the Small Business Administration. Please visit www.nahb.org/disasterresources to access all of these.

To Contribute

To contribute via mail, make checks payable to the Alabama Home Builders Foundation earmarked for “Tornado Disaster” and send them to:

Home Builders Association of Alabama
7515 Halcyon Summit Drive
Suite 200
Montgomery, AL 36117