World Hope provides semi-permanent shelters for homeless earthquake survivors

WHI and local partners, which include a group of believers in Türkiye and another faith-based organization in Israel, are racing against the clock to build at least six homes per day to shelter families from the brutal winter cold. They are pressing on, undeterred by a powerful second earthquake that dealt a blow to this province just two weeks after the initial quake. As a result of the second quake, our contact on the ground has informed us that many families are too afraid to re-enter their homes for fear they will collapse, choosing instead to sleep in their cars. The need for these shelters has never been greater.  

This quick response has been nothing short of miraculous as local teams, comprised of workers who lost their own homes along with their livelihoods, rapidly prototyped and then sourced all the materials needed to build, figured out a way to transport them, secured private property owner’s permission to allow the homes to be built on their land and worked alongside the local municipality to secure government-owned land for additional dwellings. This team has also begun negotiations with a furniture factory willing to switch its production line to construct the shelter’s framework and additional parts of the homes to speed build time. Great generosity of spirit has never been more needed nor more evident in an area suffering from unspeakable loss.

Those on the ground are toiling day and night to supply the immediate needs of food, shelter, and medical attention. This recovery effort is expected to last for the next 12 to 18 months until there is some return to normalcy. So much more needs to be done, and quickly, so that our Turkish brothers and sisters in the Hatay province will see a glimmer of hope on the horizon. We invite you to join with us and those on the ground in this herculean effort to provide as many shelters as needed for devastated earthquake survivors.