New Orleans natives Etta and Melvin bought their Annunciation Street home in 1984. They raised their three children there and are now raising their grandchildren in the same house. Melvin worked as a contractor and carpenter for over 50 years; Etta worked at BellSouth for 30 years. Both continue to give back to the city that they love through involvement at their church and volunteering in their community.

The chaos of their Katrina evacuation left the Baham family separated. Etta and her daughter drove to Texas before the storm escalated, while Melvin and his son chose to stay behind until they had no choice but to be rescued by boat and taken to the Superdome. It was close to a week before they were all reunited in Texas. After a year of stays in Texas and California, Etta and Melvin returned to New Orleans to face the tedious and emotional task of rebuilding their home.

The storm ripped off their roof, leaving all their belongings exposed to the wind and rain. They used their Road Home funds to pay off their mortgage, which left them with very little to address the needed repairs. They hired a contractor to repair the roof and restore the interior, but like most of SBP’s clients, Etta and Melvin experienced contractor fraud multiple times, leaving them in a continuous cycle of fixing the mistakes the contractors had made. Melvin’s background as a contractor and carpenter gave him the skills to do some repairs on his home, but the lack of funds and his declining health left them with little progress to show.

In 2013, Etta suffered a freak spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Soon after Etta’s paralysis, Melvin had his left leg amputated below the knee due to diabetes. Etta and Melvin are both wheelchair-bound.

The Bahams hired a contractor to make their home handicapped-accessible and to fix the lingering repairs from the storm. Once again, the couple experienced contractor fraud and shoddy work; their savings were depleted, they were in an even worse position than before. Then, about a year into Melvin’s recovery, he was hit by a car and his rehabilitation had to begin all over again.

Etta, Melvin, their daughter and two grandchildren are currently crammed into two rooms of their almost gutted house on Annunciation Street. They do not have proper appliances or walls to provide privacy in their bathroom and the home is not equipped for wheelchairs, making it dangerous for them to live.

Home is Etta’s lifeline, and when she is able to finally share it with all her children and grandchildren she’ll feel complete.