CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fifteen families who lost everything in the June floods in West Virginia get a Christmas present beyond anything they could have imagined. The families, per-selected by the state’s long term flood recovery organization, were brought to the West Virginia Air Guard in Charleston Wednesday to look over 15 new “tiny” houses.
The homes were constructed by high school vocational students as class projects to help out.
“I cannot believe the work done by these young people,” said Kathy D’Antoni who heads the Vocational Education programs at the State Department of Education. “Our emerging workforce is unreal. West Virginia is truly blessed.”
The “tiny” home movement is taking hold across the United States and the students decided to take on the task without much time to spare. They constructed the homes with supervision from class instructors who are certified tradesmen to insure quality work.
“They have worked weekends, they worked through their Thanksgiving vacation, they gave up their nights through the week,” D’Antoni said. “Our students are so excited. Their main focus is meeting the people they have helped.”
The students got to meet those flood victims and show off their work when the homes were set up temporarily Wednesday at the Air Guard facility in Charleston.
“They will be given one of these homes and then the National Guard will transport these homes to the site,” said D’Antoni. “They’ll be set up and these folks will have a place to live before Christmas.”
D’Antoni said the cost of site preparation and utiliy hookup was funded by charitable orgnaizations, mainly the United Methodist Church of West Virginia. Each home is about 700 square feet and will come fully furnished.
“They are equipped with washer-dryer, entire kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms,” said D’Antoni. “They have hardwood floors, groceries, TV’s, they are turn-key and they are amazing.”