A house a week in the hollers of Hurley

New homes are blooming like early spring flowers in the hollers of Hurley, Virginia. Built by MDS volunteers, one is already complete, with six others on the way to completion.

In fact, at least for the next month, it looks like the small town will see one new MDS-built home each week. Volunteers, working steadily since June, are building the homes for survivors of an August 2021 flood.

David Kanagy, MDS construction coordinator, said the biggest challenge is finding and transporting building supplies into the rugged mountainous area.

He’s also happy that the new houses will help homeowners avoid future flooding. “The houses we are building are out of the flood zone, according to the maps, and the ones in the food zone, we are building up higher,” he said.