Brad Pitt honored for his humanitarian efforts

On Thursday, Pitt attended the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual philanthropic event organized by former President Bill Clinton, to talk about the effects of Hurricane Katrina on residents of New Orleans.

Aside from the talk, he was also recognized for his “Make It Right” foundation, which the U.S. Green Building Council said has made the “largest and greenest single-family community in the world".

”Make It Right”
Pitt established the foundation in 2007 with the goal of providing housing to the thousands of people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He said that "'Make It Right' has exceeded my expectations."

The actor also talked about their goals and how they started.

He said, "Our criteria from the beginning were at odds, to say the least. We demanded that these homes be sustainable, that they have aesthetic qualities ... that they be storm resilient and take safety in mind of the families who live there and that they would be affordable."

Building homes for the homeless
The “Make It Right” foundation has built 13 homes in the 9th Ward in New Orleans till now, but it is targeting to build up to 150 homes by next year.

To make the homes more affordable to live in, they incorporated solar panels and other eco-friendly features. The average cost of utilities for each home is only $35 per month, but this is expected to go down to zero.

Pitt stated, "If we had not been so blissfully naive to the potential, we would not be experiencing what we are seeing today and that is the unquantifiable joy of families returning home to the 9th Ward and returning home to something that was better than before."

Hurricane Katrina claimed the lives of 1,500 people and left thousands homeless. It also caused damages amounting to $80 billion. Most of the residents in the 9th Ward have not yet returned due to slow re-construction process.