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Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation to build sustainable homes for Native Americans

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation to build sustainable homes for Native Americans

Brad Pitt’s home-building operation, Make It Right, was initially established in 2007 to rebuild homes in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina. The non-profit has built dozens of starchitect-designed houses in New Orleans and a subsequent expansion to Kansas City, near where the actor grew up. Now the organization has taken up its latest charitable challenge: the construction of several sustainable housing developments in Fort Peck, Montana for a Native American tribe there.

Fort Peck, Montana is home to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, which in turn is the homeland of the Assiniboine and Sioux Native American tribes. The grounds are the ninth-largest Indian reservation in the country, but records indicate there are over 300 people without homes.

To solve this problem, Make It Right is teaming up with the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes and the architects and designers from Architecture for Humanity and Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative to build 20 houses at the site.

The project’s chief architects first surveyed the lands and deliberated what kind of structures would be ideal before going to the tribes themselves to ask what sort of houses they preferred. The houses are designed with the customs and traditions of both tribes in mind, such as the directions the doorways face or the significance of certain colors.

Construction is slated to begin by the end of the year. All of the homes are expected to be LEED platinum certified when complete incorporating numerous sustainable building practices. You can donate to the project here.

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