Former Miss World Diana Hayden helps build homes for the poor

New Delhi, July 3 (UNI) Former Miss World Diana Hayden has joined forces with some of the most influential women in Hollywood to build homes for the needy and poor in Los Angeles in the US.

Recently, Diana Hayden teamed up with more than 100 Hollywood's most influential women including actresses Jeanne Tripplehorn (of 'Big Love' fame), Julie Bowen ('Ed' and 'Boston Legal'), Diane Farr ('Numbers') and TV personality Paige Hemmis ('Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' and author of The Tuff Chix Guide to Easy Home Improvement), for an event designed to empower and celebrate women while raising awareness about the need for affordable housing in the US.

The industry's celebrities partnered with the 'Habitat for Humanity' charitable organization in Los Angeles for this one-day annual invitation-only event termed 'Power Women, Power Tools', to build homes in South Los Angeles at one of the build-sites for this year's Jimmy Carter Work Project.

These 100 celebrity women volunteers gave up their Saturday (June 24) to make a difference in the lives of local families in Los Angeles.

''Diana helped put up framing for the homes and worked on other aspects including the fittings,''her spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar said.

''Apart from the delight that supporting such a charitable project like this gave her, what was, for her, most touching about the experience was meeting families who will one day live in these homes,''he added.

''The joy and euphoria was stunning! Some were clapping, some laughing and crying. When you see the expression on their faces you feel so special to be part of something so beautiful. And when you work alongside them, the love and magic you experience is priceless!,'' said the former Miss World talking about the experience.

''After the day's work was completed, a special ceremony took place to surprise 20 Los Angeles families with the news that they qualified to become 'Habitat for Humanity' partner families. Their reactions were a mix of shock and joy, from the adults as well as the children,'' Bhagwagar said.

The families selected had no idea they had been selected and were told they were just going to be shown what the site looks like with Habitat volunteers working there. Some selected families had children with special needs. They assembled together with all the ladies around them and then the announcement was made that they were all selected and the homes being built were actually their homes.

The 'Power Women, Power Tools' event was sponsored by Home Interiors Charitable Foundation, part of Home Interiors and Gifts, a direct seller of home decor accessories.

The partner families were chosen from more than 500 applications, and were selected on a basis of need, their willingness to invest at least 500 hours of "sweat equity" building their home and their neighbours' homes, and their ability to repay a zero-interest loan.

They will be able to move into their new homes later this year.

UNI