CLOSE TO HOME

The idea that evolved into the business model that is now “Close to Home” was sparked by the rash of tornadoes that hit the United States in the spring of 2011. The year 2011 saw the second largest number of tornadoes recorded in one year’s time. I watched the news reports with concern. The tornado outbreaks occurred, and the stories of displacement continued. The same complaints were recounted by different people throughout the United States: temporary shelters in gymnasiums were often ov... ercrowded and lacked privacy and security; hotel rooms were often too far from the original community; FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Association) trailers were not deployed quickly enough and there were often not enough of them; rental homes and apartments were in short supply and were unfairly priced post-disaster. The consequences of these limited and imperfect approaches have been higher costs for government and insurers and the breakdown of communities after a disaster. I wondered why there were no new solutions to address these limitations. Close to Home (Housing) is the product of those questions and also of reflections about the issue from a perspective of sustainability on many levels. First, how can they help a community to build back more quickly? How can they prevent the loss of community cohesion—which can truly see people through the darkest of their days? If people move away from a community, whether temporarily or permanently, emotional threads are lost, leaving community ties at risk. At Close to Home, they are working toward solutions, with the understanding that housing people close to home post-disaster has positive ripple effects in numerous realms of life for communities that are rebuilding and restoring.More