Corpus Christi (KIII News) — Corpus Christi's Habitat for Humanity announced Monday that their services are no longer bound to the city. They can now cover all of Nueces County.
That means families in places like Port Aransas and Driscoll can seek their help.
Habitat for Humanity already existed in Coastal Bend counties like Aransas and San Patricio counties, but that wasn't the case for Nueces County until now.
"There is different Habitats locally, but here in Nueces County, we were restricted by the Corpus Christi city limit, whereas now we're expanding beyond that," Habitat builder Mark Blankenship said.
Blankenship has been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for close to a decade. He said he is amazed at what the organization is capable of doing now, and that it's all because of their new executive director, Carol Gomez.
Gomez has been with Habitat for only a year.
"The organization before her arrival and after her arrival have been two different organizations," Blankenship said.
Before, the organization could only build new homes, but now they can help repair damaged homes too, and that's what they are going to focus on as a part of the expansion.
"First of all, we want to start off by offering critical repairs to those who've received roof damage from Hurricane Harvey," Gomez said.
Gomez said they will be assessing houses for roof damage in Nueces County starting in January. In order to qualify for Habitat for Humanity's help, Gomez said there are some criteria you must meet.
"We need to make sure that it is low-income, they have no insurance on the home, and that they didn't receive any money from FEMA for the assistance on the roof repairs," Gomez said.
Gomez said the long-term goal is to begin building new homes for families in need throughout Nueces County.
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