The Recovery Corps commissioned a report by The Urban Institute entitled Affordable Rental Housing in Healthy Communities: Rebuilding After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In that report, it was noted that the impact of the storms left Louisiana with a severe shortage of housing. Specifically, the report said:

Louisiana needs affordable housing for both renters and homeowners in order to recover fully from the devastation and displacement of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Even before the storms, decent affordable housing was in short supply and many low-income families and individuals faced housing hardship. But the hurricanes -- and the flooding that followed – left the state with a severe housing shortage. In the greater New Orleans region, for example, almost half the housing stock was damaged or destroyed. So far, rebuilding has been slow and the prospects for the future are uncertain.

The Recovery Corps recognized that the absence of safe, secure, affordable housing was a key barrier in the recovery process. Armed with this information, the Recovery Corps sought to help alleviate this problem by providing home repair and rebuild programs. Back in their homes, these residents could accelerate the process of recovery and avoid many of the mental, physical, and emotional hardships faced by those still displaced from their homes nearly four years after Katrina and Rita.

In 2007 these proprietary programs provided repairs and restorations via the Parish Initiative Program to more than 300 homes across the state for a total cost of $2,802,998, with an average repair cost of approximately $9,000, allowing those residents to move back into their homes and out of FEMA trailers and hotels. Of the homes repaired, 75% were located in the southeastern portion of the state in Orleans, St. Tammany, and St. Bernard parishes, while the largest percentage of remaining repairs were conducted in the western parish of Calcasieu. Thirty-nine percent of the households consisted of a single parent or relative caring for one or more children under 19 years of age, while 27% of households served were single adults with no minor children. Sixty-seven percent of the households served in the Parish Initiatives Program consisted of smaller households, normally indicative of the elderly and single parents with children.

The Recovery Corps continued those efforts recently via two home repair programs, one in St. Tammany Parish in conjunction with the Louisiana Housing Finance Authority and one in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes in partnership with the Louisiana Conference of the UMC Disaster Response, Inc. Together these programs repaired and restored more than 100 additional homes in those three parishes.

The Homeowner Repair Grant Program was designed to repair single family dwellings and mobile homes in St. Tammany Parish. The grant funds were used to assist impacted homeowners with the repair, rehabilitation, or reconstruction of owner-occupied units. A maximum of $25,000 in Homeowner Repair Grant Program funds were invested in each client's home. Funds for the program were provided through a grant from the Louisiana Housing Finance Authority (LHFA). The program proved to be an outstanding success for the Recovery Corps, which completed its work months ahead of the anticipated close of the program.

The Recovery Corps' Housing Repair Assistance Program also provided home repairs and accessibility modifications to eligible single family dwelling homeowners with damages resulting from hurricanes Katrina or Rita. The program was executed in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. Using the criteria set forth by the Recovery Corps and funds provided by the Louisiana Department of Social Services, a partner agency provided construction supervision, materials, skilled and volunteer labor, and financial oversight for each selected home repair project. Home repairs for this program could not exceed $15,000.00.

The Recovery Corps will continue its work of repairing homes of those impacted by the hurricanes. In late 2009 the agency received $1.2 million from the LHFA to provide home repairs for families in Tangipahoa and Plaquemines parishes. The Recovery Corps is committed to continuing to seek federal and state funds to continue such work, as there still remain many families who have yet to be served.

In implementing our home repair programs throughout the state, there have been many lessons learned and areas identified in which the Recovery Corps can help educate the populace to ensure more efficiency should disaster strike again. One such area has to do with legal titles and proof of home ownership, where it has been shown that many rural residents do not necessarily follow through with the legal requirements relative to heirship upon the passing of a relative. The process has also revealed the need for social services to assist families in securing required replacement documents which were destroyed by the storms. Finally, a major quandary exists relative to providing repairs and restoration of mobile homes. In the Terrebonne Parish community of Dulac, for example, more than sixty percent of the homes needing repair are mobile homes. However, the total repair costs often exceed the value of the manufactured homes, thus bringing into question the prudency of providing rebuild funds for these properties.