HAZARD, Ky. (LEX 18) — Nearly a year after flooding devastated Eastern Kentucky, a group of volunteers is spending the week in Hazard to build homes for two families.
The Maryland-based volunteer group 'DreamBuilders' traveled to Hazard on Sunday.
The group of 21 is collaborating with the local Housing Development Alliance to complete the exterior structure of both homes by the end of the week.
The future homeowners are expected to pay a mortgage less than half of the value of the new homes, thanks to funding from DreamBuilders, HDA and federal grant money.
Volunteers include teens as young as 13 years old, like Anna Gerdes. Gerdes traveled with her mother and has been in the middle of the action.
"I've never used a nail gun before this trip. It was a little nerve-wracking," Gerdes said on Wednesday.
Arthur Gold and his wife have been working with the group for more than a decade. He's traveled as far as New Mexico and Vermont with the group.
"Soon there will be two families living here. That's exciting," Gold said.
DreamBuilders describes itself as an interfaith organization that travels internationally to help build and repair homes for those who need it most.
"We just want to help out other communities that have the need. So we go where the need is the greatest," said Brian Rezac, group leader for the trip to Hazard.
Once the homes are finished this week, contractors will complete the interior and families are expected to move in within the next few months.
