And Grace Will Lead Me Home

We finally met our homeowner!  Elmore is a Vietnam vet and a retired police officer.  Generations of his family were born in his beautiful home.  When he knew Katrina was coming, Elmore and his family fled, more concerned about their safety than about their home.  Still, though, we could tell that Elmore loves his house, stating 'She is still standing!'  His nephew, living around the corner, told Elmore about how the Earth rumbled as a 70 foot wave of water came into the Upper Ninth Ward.  After a few months of staying in Atlanta, Elmore's daughter went back to see the damage, because Elmore felt that he could not handle it.  The bottom floor of the house was completely drowned.  The walls had to be torn apart, and the house had to be re-built from the inside out.  Although the water did not come upstairs, it completely moved the upstairs floor.  When we asked Elmore what it was like to see his house being re-built, he said 'It is like re-building my heart.' 

When Elmore described the aftermath, he talked about a lot of things that hadn't occurred to us:  His neighborhood was a ghost town, no people, no birds, no dogs barking.  He compared it to Hiroshima, saying that even then people were walking around there.  The water in his house was toxic.  He has health problems, inflicted in Vietnam,  and told us about how people could get Gangrene from touching the water.  Dead animals would float into the homes, and you never knew what you were going to find.  Elmore was away from his home for 3 years, and was not sure he would be able to re-build.  Now, he and his wife are living in his re-furbished basement as hey wait for his house to be re-built. 

We also had a unique opportunity yesterday.  After work, we got to go to a home dedication!  Jack and Toni had their house re-built by Project Homecoming, after two different contractors stopped work on their home halfway through because of running out of money.  Jack has lung cancer, and is not expected to live long.  The family had been living in a tiny FEMA trailer for 5 years.  The family invited us into their beautiful home for a ceremony.  Everyone teared up as we sang 'Amazing Grace'.  The family had prepared food, and were proud to show us their home.  The whole family was there, including the children and grandchildren.  It was a powerful, beautiful ceremony.  Toni talked about how all she wanted during that time was to come home.  She was not concerned about minute details of the work on her home, or even when they had to move back in for a number of weeks with no hot water.  All she wanted was to come home.  Now, 5 years later, they have. 

After the ceremony, Toni gave Barb a hug.  Barb commented that she had not even worked on her home.  Toni said that it does not matter, that every person in that house is a piece of the puzzle who is working to re-build New Orleans.  Elmore, too, was very thankful.  Both of these people have been through so much, and both very much appreciate the work that we have been doing, despite our lack of expertise.   Having Elmore show his appreciation motivated us to work harder to finish his floors. 

A woman whose house was re-built by Project Homecoming made us dinner last night. Boiled shrimp!  YUM!

- Sumalabarbgie