Many families suffered not only natural disasters, but crime and fraud as well. The families we help have very little left. By utilizing a partnership with the St. Bernard Project, we find those families most in need and make moves. When EPTA gets involved with a family; we treat them like family. We don't just leave our clients with improved homes, we leave them with improved hopes.
Below you will find a few stories from the families we couldn't wait to welcome into our own.
PUERTO RICO
Dominga and Ángel - barrio calabazas, yabucoa
Dominga(79) and her husband Ángel(69) were born and raised in Yabucoa. They have lived in their house in Barrio Calabazas for more than 30 years. Dominga used be a seamstress at home while taking care of their children, and Ángel was a machinist. Now they are retired and spend their days to taking care of the house the best way they can.
When Hurricane María hit they stayed at their house. In the safest room of the house, they threw some blankets on the floor to sleep, but the roaring of the wind and shaking of the house did not allowed them to. Dominga tried to hold the kitchen window in place because she thought it was going to break and fly away. When she noticed the wind was too strong, she locked
herself in the bathroom for the remaining hours. The roof of the house was very affected, which caused severe filtration and damaged everything in the house.
They went months without water or electricity, collecting rainwater to bathe, wash and clean. Repairing the house has been impossible because of their low income. All Hands and Hearts helped them by sealing the roof, but the house still needs a lot of work. Living in the house with their health conditions has only made it harder for them. Dominga
lives with worry “We are not at peace. Our own house is not safe for us and I fear our lives are at risk”. They dream of having their house repaired and having peace of mind to enjoy their days again.
UPDATE: Miss Luisa (Dominga) and Angel have moved into their home. Thanks to EPTA and it's volunteers--the move in date was moved up a week and the family recieved brand new appliances and donated money to help make life a little easier.
Sarah and Juan - barrio calabazas, yabucoa
Sarah Gonzalez (58) was born and raised in Yabucoa. She lives with her son Juan Cruz(16) and enjoys her life as an artisan. She is a big part of her community and her town means a lot to her, “These are my people, my community, my nest”. She uses her artistic skills to make crafts out of Higuera trees and rocks from her backyard, which she then sells and gives away to her neighbors. Sarah has epilepsy, and a few years ago had a stroke that affected her speech, but she is determined to keep working hard to provide the best life for Juan, who has a developmental syndrome.
In the months after the storm she fed her family and neighbors from what she harvested in her backyard. She looked through her neighbor’s scraps and, with her son’s help, she built a lot of things for her house out of recycled materials.
All Hands and Hearts fixed her roof, which made her house a lot safer, but she still needs help for her house to be completely safe for her and Juan. Sara keeps fixing what she can around the house, “there are no impediments in life, whoever has will can accomplish anything”. She dreams of having her house repaired and enjoying life with tranquility again.
When Hurricane María hit, Sara was worried about staying at her house because of the river nearby, so she and Juan went to stay at her father’s house. The stress of not having food, water and electricity was too much for her and she had two seizures during the storm. After a few days, she went back home only to find the house had flooded. They had lost everything.
UPDATE: Miss Sarah and Juan have moved into their home. Thanks to EPTA and it's volunteers--the move in date was moved up a week and the family recieved brand new appliances and donated money to help make life a little easier.
NEW ORLEANS, LA
Etta and Melvin - metairie
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.
UPDATE: EPTA welcomed home Etta and Melvin with a complete home makeover in what was a joyous and emotional day.
Keion and JaQuan - village de l'est
Keion Smith was born and raised in New Orleans. She bought her first home in 2002, when she was 25. Before Katrina, Keion worked full-time in the social services field while raising her then 6-year-old son JaQuan. She holds an associates, bachelors and masters degree in substance abuse and criminal justice. Keion and JaQuan left New Orleans when they heard Katrina was moving closer. They bounced from Baton Rouge to Dallas, and remained there for a year. When they finally made it back to New Orleans, Keion learned that her place of employment had shut down, JaQuan’s school was closed, and she was left with an immense amount of water damage due to a destroyed roof and gaping holes in the siding of her home.
Keion soon found a new job as a social worker with Louisiana Spirit Hurricane Recovery and set about rebuilding her life and her home. She received money through the Road Home Program to complete the repairs to the inside on her home, but when she hired a contractor to elevate her home, he took her money and never completed the work. She spent months looking for the individual who was responsible for this terrible crime, but never found him.
In 2012, JaQuan found his mom in bed having a seizure. Keion was rushed to Ochsner Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The doctors were hopeful that they could reduce the size of the tumor with medication instead of surgery and they were successful! Keion feels very lucky to have survived the trials over the past several years, and although she has been declared disabled to work, she is confident that she can provide a good life for her son.
When asked what home means to her she said, “Home means a sense of community. My son and I had that when we were in our home and we look forward to living an independent life where we are settled and can start giving back to others again.”
UPDATE: Keion and her son were moved back into their home with EPTA providing a complete home makeover.
Joshua Felix, jr - ninth ward
Joshua Felix, age 69, has owned his home in New Orleans East since 1996. He worked for the railroad and as a baker until a work-related injury forced him into early retirement. Joshua, along with his wife and daughter, fled New Orleans the Sunday before Katrina.
Four months later, Joshua returned to what still seems like a bad dream. His house had taken on ten feet of water. When the water receded, all that was left was three feet of mud and sludge, the lifeless body of his beloved dog, huge flies, and the stark reality that everything was lost. Determined, Joshua immediately began to clean up and set about rebuilding. He hired a contractor, who took his money and disappeared. He hired another contractor: same story. Frustrated and dangerously close to being broke, he moved into his (unsafe, not-at-all-habitable) house and decided he’d do the work himself until his money ran out. When SBP came to assess the damage to Joshua’s home, they found floors with no coverings, water damage from a leaking roof,
and unsafe electrical and plumbing that was not up to code.
In 2014, Joshua’s homeowners insurance threatened to cancel his policy unless he finished the work on his home. In fear of losing his home forever, Joshua contacted many agencies; they all turned him down. It wasn’t until he was referred to SBP that he felt there was still hope.
Mr. Felix is divorced and lives alone, but his daughter and two grandchildren come over every day. He can hardly wait for his family to gather in a beautiful and safe environment. “I didn’t know who to turn to, so I put this decision in the Lord’s hands. It made me feel so good to meet people that care.” Mr. Felix is looking forward to living in a whole, safe, completed home. “It will be nice to finally clean out my house and make it look more like a home again.”
UPDATE: EPTA welcomed home Mr Felix with a complete home makeover including a unique personalized vibe and front yard party.
The Bailey Family - ninth ward
Harold Bailey was only 17 years old when Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city that he had lived in his entire life. He was in his freshman year at UNO, studying business administration. Harold was also working at Pizza Hut, awaiting a promotion to store manager. He was living in in a multi-generational household with his parents, his brother, his aunt and his grandmother, who owned the home. He loved being surrounded by his family and was excited by bright future ahead.
Harold and most of his family left New Orleans 18 hours before the storm ravaged the city. His grandmother, however, insisted on remaining in the house – she did not want to leave. As the waters rose to over eight feet high, she was forced to flee to the top floor of the house. There she waited for four days until a boat arrived to rescue them. While Harold and the rest of his family were in Selma, Alabama, his grandmother was taken to the Danzinger Bridge and then the Convention Center. She expected busses to come but spent four more days in the sweltering heat, waiting.
In mid-October of 2005, Harold and the rest of his family returned to New Orleans. His mother worked for the City of New Orleans and so the family was housed on a cruise ship provided by the city. Immediately they began to try and rebuild, comforted by the fact that the top portion of the house was not damaged. It was quickly looted, however, and everything they thought they had to come home to was destroyed. All of the insurance money that Harold’s grandmother received was forced to be given directly to the bank to pay the house off, leaving the family without enough funds to rebuild.
Today, Harold enjoys working as a maintenance professional at the Louisiana Department of Transportation. He’s renting an apartment in Kenner – it’s fine, but it’s not home. Since the storm, his family has grown. In 2007, Harold’s son Josh was born. In 2008, his wife gave birth to a second son, Hakeem. Hakeem was soon diagnosed with severe autism. Harold and his wife are no longer married, but they share custody of the two boys. Harold has waited a long time to come home. He’s looking forward to providing a safe place for his boys to live, and providing a home for his grandmother.
UPDATE: Harold and his family were welcomed back into their home in true EPTA home makeover fashion and have even come back in following years to donate and volunteer with EPTA!