From conception to closing, the 2015 AmeriCorps Build-A-Thon (BAT) Rebuilding America Street took about nine months to complete. Plans were drawn up, families selected, and sponsors and volunteers recruited months in advance, and site prep on the ten lots began in December 2014. With over 600 volunteers on site, Build-A-Thon was the largest blitz build NOAHH has ever undertaken. Making it possible took the dedication, teamwork, and coordination of dozens of NOAHH and HFHI staff, partner families, volunteers, sponsors, and donors.
Since Hurricane Katrina, thousands of AmeriCorps have served along the Gulf Coast. Their presence has brought hope, relief, and comfort to New Orleanians whose homes were lost to the storms. Over the last ten years, AmeriCorps members have been instrumental not just in recovery programs but in creating programs that will continue contributing to the area long after recovery is complete. Build-A-Thon served as a celebration of the resilience of New Orleans and the impact of AmeriCorps by furthering that impact. It served as a celebration, too, of the contributions of every volunteer, donor, and partner of the last ten years by providing a statement of commitment to the area and by celebrating those who had made so many lasting contributions.