Written by Tina Marie Stinnett:

We are down to the wire in raising the funds needed to build this eco-friendly, 30' by 30', pallet cob/strawbale house for a worthy couple on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We have only six days left to raise $3479.00 or this home won't be built.

NO ONE is making a profit off of this build! Every cent is going to get the house built.

$5000.00 will build a complete 30' by 30' eco-friendly house!

Here's the breakdown of money:

$1500.00-- Material & Transportation

A missionary in Colorado has donated the doors, windows, and maybe some other kitchen materials and supplies but we won't know exactly what we have until their shipment arrives at the reservation. We must pay the missionary $1500.00 to transport the material from Colorado to South Dakota. Whatever material they're bringing inside of the truck is free!

$900.00-- Transportation and Food

David Reed, the owner of Texas Natural Builders is not from South Dakota but is from Texas and must drive 22 hours to get to the reservation to lead the build. He will be staying there for six weeks to complete the project. It will cost him about $900.00 in gas to get there.

**You should also know that six other volunteer trade workers have committed to building this home and have already purchased plane tickets with their own money to get to Rapid City, South Dakota. (Then they'll need to be picked up and driven to the reservation). They're coming from Canada, California, Minnesota, Colorado, and Illinois.

$2500.00-- Roof

The roofing material needs to be (R) Panel sheet metal as the house needs to have a Rain Catchment to harvest rain to supply water to the house. A composite roof won't work for this. The cost of the sheet metal in South Dakota for the 30' by 30' house will be around $2500.00

Pallets, clay, and straw are free and plentiful on the reservation but the rest of the material that goes into building a house costs money.



☼ WHAT IS the "PALLET HOUSE ON PINE RIDGE" PROJECT? ☼

This house is a pivoting point-- a pilot project to launch the building of more cob/strawbale homes for Native Americans on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Until people see a successful build it will remain hard for the program to generate funds. Our hope is that once people see the coming together of community to get this done that maybe next time it won't take so long for people to donate or a philanthropist to get involved. We'd like to build one or two homes per year on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. (Ultimately we'd like to see the expansion of the program to other Native American reservations)

Native Americans on the reservation are land rich but house poor which means they own great acres of land but don't have the financial means to build a house. According the U.S. Census Bureau over 38,000 people live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. For every one 800 square foot house on the reservation, it provides shelter for about 14(+) people. Those are crowded living conditions. In addition the homes are poorly built with no insulation so the people freeze in the extremely cold winters and roast in the sweltering summers.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have been cheering us on and if every one of those people gave us just one dollar we would have reached our goal by now. Won't you please help us reach our small goal of $5000.00? (This will build the complete house!)

Any amount you can give is fantastic. Hey, if you can donate the roof that would be awesome! Your donations are tax deductible and if you give over $25.00 you're entered to win an iPad 2.

Be smart, be cool, and be caring today! Make your contribution and help turn this wonderful idea turn into a reality right now!

Many thanks, Tina