The housing development from hell; or, Mr. Jimmy Builds His Dream House

“Charity homes built by Hollywood start to crumble,” says the Times of London:

RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.

Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity.

Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes.

A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter.

At this point in the article, Jon W., who sent it to me, starts adding some irreverent bracketed comments:

The case could challenge the bedrock [?] philosophy behind Habitat for Humanity, claiming that using volunteers [led by mainly morally vacant poseurs], rather than professional builders [Judeo-Christian grounded traditionalists], is causing [only?] as many problems as it solves.

April Charney, a lawyer representing many of the 85 homeowners [who, of course, been made victims of their free homes] in Fairway Oaks, said she had no problems taking on Habitat for Humanity, despite its status as a “darling of liberal social activists”. She said the charity should have told people [assuming the charity’s awareness rather than its hubris] that part of the estate had been built on a rubbish dump [indeed!]….

[[A tract resident said, ]] “The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars [the nomenklatura] have left [for the next manufactured crisis] we’re stuck with the consequences. This house [that liberals projected onto the cave wall] looks pretty but inside it either stinks or sweats,” she said.

Judy Hall, the charity’s local development director…. added that skilled work was carried out by professionals [by right liberals?].

Some [traditional moral order-tainted] residents dismiss their neighbours’ worries. Diennal Fields, 51, said people [had been levitated and booted past their characterological deficiencies and necessary growth hurdles and] did not know how to look after their homes: “It’s simple stuff [for the grounded]: if there is mildew, don’t get a lawyer [or a Gore], get a bottle of bleach [revisit rationalism afforded under traditional Christian Order].”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 05, 2009 07:19 PM | Send