Glenn Locklin has been in construction most of his life and enjoys utilizing his talents in painting the most. His skills with textures, colors, and finishes along with his heart to do the job right and to the customer's satisfaction have made him a sought after painter and wood furniture restorer.
Glenn began applying those skills and others he has learned throughout his career to constructing homes for hurricane Katrina victims in the small town of Pearlington, MS. This area took the brunt of the storm twice with the eye of the hurricane passing directly over as a calm between onslaughts. With no governmental structure to request aid, this unicorporated community has been piecing itself back together bit by bit, family by family.
One House at a Time (OHAAT) was originally a division of Habitat for Humanity of Walton County, FL - a group of people who adopted Hancock County, MS as their own to help restore. After a year in the trenches, Habitat for Humanity moved on to other locations and left OHAAT in Glenn's capable hands. With the help and support of his wife Kris, and their children, Glenn has received non-profit organization status for One House at a Time Disaster Relief, Inc. and is utilizing donations to build homes more than twice the size and durability of the original "shotgun" cottages that OHAAT began with immediately following the storm.
Since January 2006, Glenn had been working and living among the Pearlington residents along with hundreds of volunteers helping to restore hope and faith to a devastated community. Many "experts" believe that it will take anywhere from five to ten years for this area to recover economically, but there are many churches and small businesses that will not reopen because of the severe losses following hurricane Katrina. In any case, Glenn and his family have been committed to building homes for those who would not otherwise be able to get into homes of their own.
Now, with volunteers, funding, and immediate need dissipating nearly in unity, it has been made clear that the time has come to close down OHAAT and its services to Pearlington. Glenn and his family currently continue to reside on the Gulf Coast, living, working, and worshiping among the people, climate, culture, and landscape they have come to know and love so well. |
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