After Hurricane Katrina, Brad Pitt formed a charity called Make It Right Foundation, in order to help Lower 9th Ward residents return home after the devastating storm. The mission of the charity was to build 150 well-designed, green, affordable homes in the Lower 9th Ward, the area hit the hardest by Katrina. As of 2016, the group reported spending $26.8 million building 109 homes, reports NBC News.
But 12 residents told NBC that many of the Make It Right homes are rotting and dangerous. They spoke of mold, collapsing structures, electrical fires and gas leaks. They say the houses were built too quickly using low-quality materials, and that the designs did not factor in New Orleans’ humidity or the rainy climate. NBC also reports that as the problems got worse, the organization basically disappeared. Make It Right hasn’t built a home, filed tax forms, or updated its website since 2015. The staff has been cut and the downtown New Orleans office was closed.
Last week, two residents sued Pitt and Make It Right, accusing the organization of breach of contract and fraud, reports NBC, for selling them “defectively and improperly constructed” houses.
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