Before the storm hit, Gladys evacuated the area with eight members of her family and their many pets. They drove in a very crowded van to Wisconsin to stay with relatives. Gladys says she loved it there—the weather, the people, the great neighborhood. Yet she knew she wanted to go home where her real life and all her memories are.

When Gladys and her family returned to St. Bernard Parish they were stricken to find that everything was gone—the house, her furniture, precious pictures of her mom and dad. She had nothing left. She lived for a while in a FEMA trailer; currently she lives with her 31-year-old son, her daughter-in-law, and her three grandchildren in her daughter-in-law’s grandmother’s house in Arabi under cramped conditions.

Her two sisters now live in Dallas as does one of her brothers (the other brother lives in Baton Rouge). They have generously given Gladys their share of her parents’ home. This is where she hopes to live with her family and her beloved pets. But she is having difficulty getting her Road Home money. She says they keep requiring more and more papers. The process seems never-ending and it’s wearing her down. Although her son has done a great deal of work on the house already, a lot more needs to be done before it’s finished. So when Gladys heard about the St. Bernard Project, she applied and was accepted.

Though she’s waiting for the work to begin, she’s hopeful and looking forward to moving in with her family where finally there will be room for everybody. This is the house she grew up in and she says, “I just want to go home!” She hopes to stay there forever, surrounded by her supportive family, her grandchildren, and her pets.

Hurricane Katrina destroyed the house she used to live in and it’s been a long time since Gladys Ruiz has had a house she could call her own. Born and raised in St. Bernard Parish, Gladys, now 51 and disabled, has endured much tragedy in her life. She escaped an abusive marriage after losing her unborn baby. Both her parents are dead and she frequently visits the cemetery where they are buried alongside her baby. These visits are both comforting and necessary for her. Yet there is strength along with her fragility—she has never given up trying to find a good and peaceful life.

House Updates

10/01/09
Church of the Brethren volunteers spent the past week doing finishing work on the Ruiz home. Soon, the Ruiz family will be able to move home!

8/23/09
Volunteers from Free Spring Church of the Brothern in Pennsylvania were busy mudding at the Ruiz home this week. Volunteers left feeling touched by theire experience and said they felt as if they were doing what they were created to do, helping others.