No matter where in the world you’re from, a safe, comfortable living space is essential for you to feel happy and secure. Although it’s easy to take for granted, sometimes we are given vivid reminders of just how lucky we are to have a place to call home.

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the devastation caused by the storm was immense. Many people lost their homes and businesses, and over the last ten years there has been a concerted effort to rebuild the areas of the city that were the worst affected by the hurricane.

One man who has become a leading figure in the reconstruction effort is Hollywood actor and New Orleans resident Brad Pitt, who owns a US$6.5 million, five-bedroom house in the French Quarter with his wife, Angelina Jolie. Since visiting the areas that were the hardest hit by Katrina, two years after the hurricane struck, Pitt has dedicated himself to the cause, and has been helping to provide new housing for people left homeless by the storm.

He established the Make It Right foundation in 2007 to build environmentally-friendly, attractive homes for the people of the city’s Lower Ninth Ward. Since then, the foundation has successfully completed 109 properties: houses that not only provide much-needed security for their occupants, but that are designed to keep running costs to a bare minimum, with solar panels to save on fuel bills and other eco-friendly features.