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Elda and Calvin first laid eyes on each other in kindergarten. Many years later
they have been a couple for 15 years and married for five. Before Katrina swept into their lives, Elda
worked 10-hour shifts in a warehouse located directly behind her house while her husband, who is disabled, stayed at home.
The Marreros had lived in the Parish for 14 years, surrounded by friends and family: their daughter across the street
and many aunts, uncles, and cousins all within walking distance. In the days before the storm, a policeman
came to their door and told them to evacuate. Elda and Calvin each packed a small bag and evacuated to her brother’s
home with her brother in law, a cancer patient, with the full intention of returning to their home in a few days. After three weeks in Baton Rouge, and the passing of her brother-in-law—who
died from of a lack of a refill oxygen tank left behind in the Parish—the Marreros began their trip back to their beloved
Parish. They arrived in St. Bernard to find their home and Elda’s work both severely flooded and damaged. The Marreros
have been renting a small home from a kind friend since their return to the Parish. As Calvin is on disability and Elda
is applying for disability, they do not have the funds to pay for the rebuilding of their home. Through the assistance
of the St. Bernard Project and many volunteers whom Elda calls her angles, this wonderful couple will once again live in the
Parish they love.
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