A House For Sal and Linda
Community Partners : East Biloxi Coordination Center
Building Partners: Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
Sal and Linda have lived in their house for the past 17 years. Prior to this, the house belonged to Sal’s parents, and Sal grew up here. On the weekends, the home was host to many of their seven grandchildren. After Hurricane Katrina, Sal and Linda’s family continued to visit them, although they all had to stay in the FEMA trailer.
Most of the changes that were made to the former plan involved opening up spaces to make the house less compartmentalized. The kitchen now opens up to the living room with a bar counter. Also, one of the extra bedrooms was converted to a small office for Linda to work (she is chief deputy clerk for Harrison County) and large walk-in closet and half bath were added to the master bedroom.
Habitat for Humanity Northern Virginia took extra steps to build this house with style and dignity--see the photo of the recessed lighting system being installed for the dining area. As an ex-boxer and Commissioner of Boxing for Mississippi, Sal was able to salvage a ring post from the now-destroyed Biloxi Boxing Club after the hurricane, and wanted to integrate it somehow into the final construction of the house. The volunteers decided to use it as a post, integrated into the construction of the back porch.
Plan for the Rehab
Plan after Katrina
