NEW ORLEANS – August 27, 2008 – Project Home Again (PHA) announced it has completed the selection of 20 local families who will receive new homes currently under construction in New Orleans’ Gentilly neighborhood.  Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble, and his wife Louise created PHA following Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild New Orleans by providing new homes for families displaced by the hurricane. 

“We are pleased to announce the selection of our first 20 families,” says Leonard Riggio.  “PHA has invested a significant amount of time to ensure that they are absolutely the right choice for this project and have truly been moved by their invincible spirit and heartbreaking stories.”   

One recipient’s home took on eight feet of water during Katrina. Single father David Briant and his children, Mariah, 13, and Daylen, 9, moved into David’s ex-sister-in-law’s home after his was destroyed.  Currently, David and his family live with four other people, sharing one bathroom between the seven of them.  David and his son must sleep together on a sofa because there are not enough beds.    

“There were times when the kids and I had just given up hope,” Briant says.  “I want to express my own gratitude and the gratitude of my children to Project Home Again and to Mr. and Mrs. Riggio for such a huge gift.”

Another family, Kenneth Camp, his wife Tracey and their three children (Rodi, Reno and Remi) lost everything in the hurricane.  They did not have insurance and ended up living in a FEMA trailer before it was taken away from them.

“We realize that it’s been three years since Katrina,” Kenneth Camp says.  “But we want people to know there are certain portions of New Orleans that still need help—the Gentilly neighborhood included.”   

PHA will provide the families with a forgivable mortgage (no monthly payments) over a period of five years, at which point the family would own the home free and clear.  The families will start moving into their new homes by August 2009. 

PHA homes are being constructed by Louisiana-based TKTMJ Construction.  The homes will come in three sizes and will be completed in 9 to 12 months:

• Two bedroom/two baths
• Three bedrooms/two baths
• Four bedrooms/two baths

“We are especially excited to be working with TKTMJ, a local, family-owned construction company managed by a father and his two sons.  They have been committed to rebuilding New Orleans ever since Katrina,” said Donna Lawrence, Executive Director of the Riggio Foundation.  Ms. Lawrence added that three of the 20 homes have been framed and are well on their way to completion.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  The two families mentioned in this release will be available for interviews and photo ops on Thursday, August 28, 2008.

Representatives from Project Home Again and the Riggio Foundation also will be available.