From Green Right Now Reports
Real estate developer and author Frank McKinney has built opulent mansions, including a $24 million oceanfront estate called Acqua Liana in Palm Beach that he promotes as the biggest green certified manse in the world .
But the Florida real estate entrepreneur also has been building sustainable housing for the poor for many years, including in Haiti. (Which is why we’re skipping the discussion today about whether ginormous homes like that Palm Beach manse are truly green, and will accept that this house, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council and Energy Star, occupies a special rarified category.)
Caring Village residents in Haiti, before the earthquake
Back to Haiti. McKinney, builder of homes for the super rich and a self-described Robin Hood, has been supporting work in Haiti since 2003. His non-profit Caring House Project Foundation (CHPF) has built 11 villages on the impoverished island. The villages provide basic, sanitary housing, and are designed to be part of a self-sufficient community, with a village center, a school, a clinic and other infrastructure. The communities typically have a “commerce element”, such as a fishing coop, to help residents make a viable living. Several of the projects were damaged or destroyed in the recent earthquakes.
Now the charity is appealing for donations to help rebuild the villages, and add new ones.
To find out how to support this work, you can visit the CHPF website’s donor page. The page lists a menu of options, offering donors a chance to fund everything from an entire village of 25 housing units for $62,500 to a single pig for $18, with dozens of options in between. Funding a house costs $2,500; housing for one homeless person is $313; food to sustain three lives for a year is $250.
Donors also can just give cash to the Caring House, a 501(3)c, and let the organizers put it to best use. Contributors also can call 1-561-722-3950 to donate over the phone, or mail to P.O. Box 388, Boynton Beach, FL 33425.
McKinney, dubbed the real estate “rock czar” because of his successes, media exposure and penchant for long hair, has been a real estate investor and builder for nearly 25 years. He has appeared on many talk and news shows and written several real estate and inspirational books. His latests books include The Tap (HCI, 2009, which explores life-changing moments when God taps a person, and Burst This! (HCI 2009), which discusses how to invest in the post-bubble economy. He also co-authored a fantasy book for children Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes and the Good Luck Circle (HCI 2009), based on discussions with his daughter.
After the major earthquake struck in Haiti on Jan. 12, the real estate developer assembled a crew of doctors, nurses and rescue workers. The group flew to Haiti several days after the disaster, joining other early-arriving rescue teams from around the world. They were able to rescue four people stuck in or under collapsed buildings, according to McKinney’s blog, where you can hear his account of the rescue mission.