The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) understand that homes and communities are the foundation for family life. Losing a home can gravely affect the well-being of a family along with their dignity and identity. Building new homes for families is the first step to the path of recovery. Many families in the Philippines, Bangladesh and Indonesia are in need of support to build new homes. With the help from The Father’s Table Foundation & the CRS, homes are being built for these families.

The Building Homes program in the Philippines helps the local governments to provide holistic and effective services to vulnerable families. The CRS is primarily focusing on the Bangsamoro region and the Manila area. They are providing peacebuilding, agriculture, and emergency programs to the Bangsamoro region. The region has suffered from violence for decades that has left over 3 million people displaced. The local government has been reconstructed and saw a need for homes to be built for 310,000 people. The CRS researched the proper materials for strengthening houses built in coastal areas prone to typhoons. The research will be a great resource for the Ministry of Human Settlements and Development.

Bangladesh just like the Philippines is also vulnerable to natural disasters. From 1980 to 2008, the country had around 219 natural disasters. This proved to be very bad for certain groups that were underserved such as refugees and people living in displacement. With the help from The Father’s Foundation the CRS has been helping the refugees live in safe homes that have been strengthened. In addition, the CRS is bringing their work to scale by encouraging government and market actors to adopt their Building Homes approach.

In Indonesia, the growth in population has created a need for additional housing. There are around 12 million families across the country who are in dire need of a home. This demand has made builders focus on quantity instead of quality. The focus on quantity has made it very difficult for the houses to withstand natural disasters. With their pilot program, the CRS is exploring localized funding programs that will repair 25 homes in the Mauk sub district. Village governments can then use these model homes to implement their won financing programs. Each village across Mauk gets an average of $158,000 in house funding. Following all the guidelines and programs, the CRS will support a bigger number of village governments to meet the housing target.