Toxic drywall puts end to Catholic Katrina program

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Operation Helping Hands, the Catholic ministry that
employed thousands of volunteers to rebuild nearly 200 homes after
Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday (Sept. 7) it will shut down next
summer, sooner than expected, because of its disastrous encounter with
toxic Chinese drywall.

"Simply, we didn't have the funding to stretch it any further," said
Kevin Fitzpatrick, director of Helping Hands. "And the biggest issue
was, we got hit with Chinese drywall."

Fitzpatrick said officials with the Archdiocese of New Orleans have
decided to spend their remaining money, about $2 million, gutting and
rebuilding 41 homes tainted with toxic drywall.

The agency also will fulfill commitments to other families already
accepted in its rebuilding program, Fitzpatrick said. "But we're not
taking on new commitments."

Officials said closing the rebuilding agency will not affect
Catholic Charities' 42 other ministries in areas like counseling,
literacy, food support and help for battered women.

Fitzpatrick and Catholic Charities President Gordon Wadge said
Helping Hands might have continued for two or three years, but for the
massive repairs mandated by the tainted drywall.

High-sulfur Chinese drywall entered the U.S. market during the
building boom of 2006 and later.

But after living with it a few months, homeowners found the material
emitted vapors that corroded electronics, ruined appliances and air
conditioning, tarnished jewelry, aggravated respiratory conditions and
often drove families from their homes.

Nonprofit agencies that helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane
Katrina soon found they had installed the drywall in more than 200 homes
before realizing it was toxic.

Nonprofit groups like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together
New Orleans, like Operation Helping Hands, elected to shoulder the full
costs of repairing homes where the drywall was installed.

In many cases, that ran to $40,000 a home, Fitzpatrick and others
said.