Earthquake Relief Shelters for Haiti


Virginia Beach, VA - In the aftermath of Haiti's recent earthquake which killed an estimated 300,000 people and left another one million homeless, relief organizations have been working around the clock to help alleviate the devastation. Two humanitarian organizations and a church pastor were in need of buildings and contacted SteelMaster Buildings, which is based in Virginia Beach, Va. to provide them.

When World Vision Intl. and World Vision Haiti, a repeat customer of SteelMaster's for many years needed additional shelters for food storage for the relief efforts, they contacted SteelMaster Buildings knowing that we would under promise and over deliver. "On many occasions, we have designed, engineered, manufactured and worked out the shipping logistics for large Hurricane resistant warehouses to arrive in Port-au-Prince, Haiti three times faster than any other company" says Noah Taylor, the Business Development Manager with SteelMaster who specializes in the Caribbean market. World Vision is an international Christian relief and development organization working on six continents. Cross World-an international evangelical Christian outreach organization with more than 400 member missionaries organized into over 80 teams in 25 regions around the world purchased a large housing shelter to house hundreds of people. The pastor and congregation of the Boca Raton Community Church joined together to purchase a steel shelter to be erected on the STEP Seminary grounds in Haiti where currently 5,000 people are living outside. This building will be the first building in the reconstruction phase of the seminary.

"Our hearts go out to everyone in Haiti and their loved ones," says Michelle Wickum, the Director of Marketing for SteelMaster. "The fact that our buildings will be used for such causes is very humbling."

SteelMaster's pre-fabricated metal buildings in over 35 countries on 6 continents are designed for a broad range of residential, commercial and government/military applications including garages, workshops, carports, agricultural storage, metal barns, Quonsets, airplane hangars, RV storage, roofing systems, storage buildings, military buildings, government buildings (GSA), commercial warehousing, metal sheds, industrial storage and are also commonly used for private, personal, government and military housing and shelters.

SteelMaster metal buildings are extremely durable offering fire resistance and the ability to withstand the worst weather conditions on the planet. Our buildings meet hurricane wind ratings (up to 170 mph) and D2 seismic earthquake rating. "With our structures being the fastest to assemble and can be done so using common/un-skilled labor and without the need of special equipment, we can deliver a building anywhere in the world that can be assembled in half the time of conventional construction" says Noah.

"Haiti is also a location where many cyclones also seem to occur, and we are confident that our buildings will remain strong and intact through severe storms and floods," says Wickum. "It is our hope the SteelMaster Buildings provide shelter and security to many people as they work to rebuild and repair their lives."

For more information on SteelMaster, visit www.steelmasterusa.com or call (800) 341-7007.

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