Make It Right Foundation

Programs: Make it right was founded to build innovative and sustainable housing for families whose homes were destroyed in hurricane katrina. In pursuit of that mission, we continue to develop new designs, meth-ods and materials that will improve the performance and environmental effectiveness of affordable housing. We do this by gathering the world's leading experts in design and materials, apply their ex-pertise to our projects and share lessons learned and experience gained with designers and builders around the world. We share our knowledge and experience with the goal of improving the environ-mental and energy performance of buildings. In 2014, we accomplished the following: 1) continued to build safe, leed platinum certified homes in new orleans' lower 9th ward. Leed plati-num is the highest level of certification offered by the u. S. Green building council. Make it right com-pleted and sold nine houses in 2014, bringing our total homes in new orleans to 107. The foundation provided nearly $350,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance to low-income families for the houses we completed in 2014. An additional 5-10 new homes are expected to break ground in new orleans in 2015. Of note, make it right volunteer architecture firms received the following honors: eskew dumez rip-ple from new orleans was awarded the american institute of architects firm of the year in 2014 and shigeru ban of tokyo was awarded the pritzker prize. Bnim architects of kansas city received the han-ley award. Also, make it right was honored with the first annual hanley award for community service in sustainability. 2) make it right, in support of a grant from the greater new orleans foundation (gnof), has under-gone a study to evaluate the impact of green construction on their housing developed in the lower 9th ward in new orleans, la. The study was completed by blue frog building performance, a new or-leans-based green building consulting company with resnet hers rater and leed green rater certifi-cations. Competed in 2014, the study was an in? Depth analysis of the actual energy usage of make it right's homes that have been completed to date. The study looked at 76 of make it right's homes construct-ed in the lower 9th ward of new orleans, la. The study focused on four major areas of data collection for analysis; solar pv production data, electricity consumption data and home energy rating system (hers) index, homeowner usage habits and data, family savings data. This study showed that the make it right homes in the study have an average hers rating of 26, which means they are 59% more efficient than an energy star home and 141% more efficient than the tradi-tional new orleans homes that were part of the study (when comparing using the hers rating). Make it right homes studied met on average 54% of their electrical energy demand through their solar pv production. Eight of the 76 homes studied are actually net zero electric (they are producing more elec-tricity than they use) and 38 additional homes had less than 5000 kwh of annual electric usage (or $42/month). There are significant savings to the homeowners who live in make it right homes in terms of energy savings on their utility bills. On average (based on the results of the homeowner sur-vey), they are saving $130/month, which is a 65% savings over their previous utility bills prior to moving to their make it right home. 3) continued to work with neighborworks america (nwa), the premier affordable housing and com-munity development entity in the us. Nwa provides training and strategic guidance for our staff im-plementing our homeownership counseling and community development programs. Over 100 low-income families were able to access free financial counseling services from make it right staff as a re-sult of this partnership. 4) shared lessons learned at various industry conferences including: greenbuild. In 2014, the u. S. Green building council hosted its annual greenbuild conference in new orleans. Make it right was highlighted throughout the conference, hosting gatherings at our booth on the show room floor and participating in speaking engagements and panel discussions on affordable green building. Make it right also partnered with hanley wood, livinghomes, usgbc and the cradle to cradle product innovations institute to construct greenbuild's official show home inside the new or-leans convention center, as a demonstration of its building strategies and techniques. The home was eventually transported to the make it right neighborhood in the lower ninth ward and sold to a low-income buyer. Clinton global initiative. 2014 marked the tenth anniversary of the clinton global initiative (cgi) gath-ering, where member organizations make commitments to action to support poverty alleviation, glob-al health and safety, and the environment. Make it right was launched as a commitment at cgi in 2007 and in 2014, was selected to be one of the key commitments highlighted during the cgi tenth anniver-sary celebration. Dwell on design. Make it right was highlighted at the conference in los angeles, where the organiza-tion unveiled the five home designs for the fort peck reservation in montana.

make it right is partnering with the sioux and assiniboine tribes of the fort peck indian reservation in montana to build sustainable homes on their land. Make it right will build 20 cradle to cradle-inspired, leed platinum homes for tribe members in need of housing. In 2014, make it right completed the de-velopment of a sustainable master plan for the reservation, which covers thousands of acres and is home to more than 6,000 native americans. Currently, more than 600 people are waiting for housing. Overcrowding is a chronic problem on the fort peck reservation where multiple families commonly live together in two bedroom homes. Make it right's work on the fort peck reservation began in june 2013 with community-driven design meetings. Tribal leaders and future homeowners met with make it right's architects and designers to discuss housing needs and vision for their new neighborhood. Construction on the first homes began in 2014 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. The solar-powered homes have 3-4 bedrooms and 2-3 bathrooms and be available to tribe members whose income levels are at or below 60% of the area median income. A percentage of the homes will be dedicated to senior adult and disabled veteran housing. Homeownership will be structured through a low-income housing tax credit rent-to-own program with ownership transferring to the tenant after 15 years of renting.

in november 2013, make it right completed an ambitious project in a transitional urban community in the heart of kansas city. Our building in kansas city's manheim park neighborhood provides afforda-ble housing for more than 150 people and showcases innovative, sustainable redevelopment strate-gies and design. After a year of discussions with residents and community leaders in the blighted neighborhood, make it right committed to redevelop the site of the former bancroft elementary school. Built in 1904, the school functioned as a public elementary until 1999 and has remained vacant for the last 13 years. Make it right and our local partners converted the school into a leed platinum housing and community complex, including 50 affordable rental units for youth transitioning out of foster care, veterans and low-income families. Half the housing units are located in the historic school building; the other half are new townhome structures built around the school and designed by kansas city-based bnim archi-tects, american institute of architects 2011 firm of the year. The bancroft school redevelopment also includes a community center featuring an auditorium, gym-nasium, locker rooms, technology lab, job training center, medical clinic, grocery store and other retail space, along with community gardens, a playground, walking trail and police foot patrol office. Access to these resources is available to all 30,000 residents of the neighborhood, resulting in a health-ier, safer community. Make it right partnered with dalmark group and neighborhood housing services to manage the facili-ties and rental units upon completion of construction. In 2014, the bancroft redevelopment achieved leed platinum certification by the us green building counsel and was awarded the historic kansas city preservation award. In 2014, make it right began a second phase to this project. Partnering with local architects, make it right will design and build six leed platinum single-family homes on vacant, infill lots in the manheim park neighborhood. These six pilot homes, to be completed in 2016, will serve as a model for the sus-tainable redevelopment for vacant and blighted properties in the neighborhood. Make it right ex-pects this second phase to catalyze additional reinvestment in the community.