On June 15, volunteers began loading a Dearman Moving and Storage Company truck with a “home in a box” that was transported and then “re-constructed” in Louisiana for a family victimized by last year’s hurricanes. The home was under construction since mid-April and is the first one built as part of a new program developed by Berean Baptist Church called “Healing Hearts Through Housing.” Tim Campbell, director of operations at Dearman, is the logistics and beneficiary coordination manager for the Healing Hearts project.

“We wanted to help victims of Hurricane Katrina who still have not found a place to call home since that devastation,” Campbell says. “But we also wanted to develop a curriculum that churches across the country could implement in the wake of any disaster. The program will be designed to walk churches step-by-step through the process of building homes at their locations, and then shipping the homes in a box to the locations where they are needed.”

The recipients of this home, Forest and Mary Ann Billiott of Montegut, La., lived in a trailer with their two children, ages 12 and 18, when both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita caused significant water damage to the structure that is likely irreparable.

Berean Baptist Church raised more than $30,000 and secured volunteers to build the outward structure of the home, as well as to buy many of the interior materials needed to complete the construction in Lousiana. All of the home’s pieces were loaded onto the Dearman moving truck transported to Montegut, La. Volunteers from Berean also traveled to Louisiana to assist with the final construction on that end.

“We are so proud to be a part of this project and to be literally delivering a place that this family will be able to call home,” says Campbell. “We’re also excited about the opportunity to develop a curriculum that will allow other churches to accomplish a similar feat when the need arises.”

United Van Lines, with headquarters in suburban St. Louis, maintains a network of 1,000 affiliated agencies throughout the world. As the nation’s largest mover, United holds more than 30 percent of the market, which is nearly double the market share of the second largest carrier. More information about United and its services is available at www.unitedvanlines.com.