Joplin Tornado Victims Move Into Homes Built By Tulsa Volunteers

Ten families in Joplin will get to cook Thanksgiving dinner in brand-new homes. Tulsa's Habitat for Humanity handed over the keys to new houses in a neighborhood that bore the brunt of the damage inflicted by last May's EF-5 tornado.

The winds of change are finally upon Joplin as Michelle Hale opens the door to a new life. The smell of fresh paint is in the air, and the holiday trimmings are in the kitchen.

The friendly cottage replaces the FEMA trailer Hale and her two sons moved into after the tornado turned their world upside down.

"We were driving home on 20th Street. He had just graduated from high school," Hale said.

With entire neighborhoods flattened, Tulsa's Habitat for Humanity chose these ten families, and built them new homes in just a few weeks.

Jim Sweat lives in Tulsa, and spent a week in Joplin helping build Michelle's house.

"I think I was as excited as Michelle. I didn't sleep much last night just thinking about the magnitude of all of this," Sweat said.

He calls it an honor to help heal a city, where the wounds are everywhere you look.

As Hale's family unpacks, she received one final gift from the Tulsa volunteers: rocking chairs for the front porch.

"It's quite amazing that something so simple could make her so extremely happy," volunteer Judy Hicks said.

Hale said there are no words for how she feels, except: thank you.

"I just don't know what else to say. It's awesome," Hale said.

Because they lost everything, Hale's kids put college on the backburner. But now they'll get to achieve their dreams of a college education. Missouri State Southern University is giving full, four-year scholarships to all of the kids moving into the Habitat For Humanity neighborhood.

10/30/2011 Related Story: Volunteers Help Build New Homes For Joplin Tornado Victims