In November, Habitat for Humanity Japan (HFH Japan) expanded its Home Repair project, a new financial support scheme for home repairs, to Osato, Miyagi Prefecture. Osato is located in the north-central Miyagi Prefecture near Misato and Wakuya where HFH Japan launched its Home Repair project targeting inland community earlier this year.
HFH Japan became aware, through the 2-year home repair operation in Iwate and Miyagi, that families living in temporary shelters tend to receive more attention and assistance than the families living in their own damaged homes. In addition, people living in the coastal areas and affected by tsunami receive more attention and assistance.
Habitat Japan acknowledged that there are a number of people and communities that have not received enough support and are facing difficulties even after 3 years since the disaster.
Home Repair project targets families who were not affected by tsunami but by the great earthquake. Habitat Japan reaches out to those families in need of home repairs.
Thanks to many supporters and volunteers, HFH Japan has provided financial support to more than 60 disaster affected families in Higashimatsushima. In total, HFH Japan and its volunteers have served more than 210 families with home repair support since the 2011 disaster.
* This project was made possible by support from HFH Germany and Action Deutschland Hilft among others.
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HFH Japan Home Repair Project: HFH Japan supports families that find difficulty in repairing their homes due to economic reasons. Before home repairs, HFH Japan provides housing consultation* including professional assessment by architects. Those families will know not only which repairs are essential but will also learn about the public subsidies and other useful information. HFH Japan often partners with attorneys and financial planners to offer expert consultations as well.
*Housing Consultation: Through its housing consultation, HFH Japan provides information about rebuilding and repairing homes. In particular, it is often difficult for the elderly people to collect and understand the information on different assistance schmes, many of them are somewhat complicated. HFH Japan's housing consultation helps them to obtain appropriate information in a prompt manner.
HFH Japan's home repair scheme combines the house repairs and consultations, so that it can help people affected by the 2011 disaster in a way that suit their individual needs to rebuild decent homes.
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