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Homeowner Bio
Warlette Smith, 35, and her husband Ernest, 40, currently live with their son Jadon in a FEMA trailer parked next to the house they own in Orleans Parish. They have been living in the trailer for several years and are eager to move back into their own home. Jadon was three years old when Hurricane Katrina changed their lives, and he doesn’t remember ever living in a real house. To him, it’s “the white house.” Warlette says, “It’s not comfortable, and it’s hard for my husband—he can barely stand up, but it’s a place to lay our heads when we come home from work.”
Their home had once been a house the Smiths had bought with savings from their jobs at the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board, where they are long-time employees. Warlette works in administration and Ernest works in the field. In fact, they met while working for the Water Board before they married and started their lives together. Soon they were able to purchase a home in Orleans Parish and lived there, enjoying what Warlette calls a “simple, ordinary life.”
Just before Hurricane Katrina struck, Warlette, her mother and Jadon escaped to Baton Rouge with little more than the clothes on their backs, expecting to stay only for three or four days. Warlette’s father (also employed by the Water Board) and Ernest were classified as essential workers and had to stay behind and face the hurricane’s dangers. The two women and young Jadon ended up in a shelter in Baton Rouge and then moved to a rented house trailer, where they stayed for several months.
Eventually, Warlette had to go back to work and their house was uninhabitable, so she drove an hour each way to New Orleans daily to get back and forth to her job, dropping Jadon off at school in the morning and picking him up on the way back to Baton Rouge. “I was trying to keep things normal for Jadon,” she says.
“But it isn’t normal. That wasn’t a normal way of life.” Meanwhile, Warlette’s father and Ernest were living in tents set up by the Water Board for essential workers. Their family, as well as their home, had been torn apart by Katrina.
As soon as they got a FEMA trailer, Warlette and Jadon moved back to New Orleans, and the family was finally reunited. Warlette’s mother, however, decided to stay in Baton Rouge, along with her sister.
Although their home hadn’t flooded, the roof had been severely damaged by the strong winds. Water had come pouring in through the large holes and down the walls, which soon became covered with mold. Most of their furniture and possessions were ruined, but they salvaged what they could and started the long rebuilding process, piece-by-piece, as they could afford it, still making timely payments on their mortgage.
At the end of May 2009, the Smiths received notice from FEMA that their trailer would soon be removed. Warlette didn’t know what to do. Would they have to move into their unfinished house with no electricity? On their own, they had replaced the roof and damaged siding, as well as the plumbing and wiring. A FEMA representative visited the property, saw that the house had been properly worked on, and they were granted an extension. Warlette says she felt bad seeing that others in the area had rebuilt their homes. “You’ve worked hard all your lives, and this makes you feel worthless,” she says. “But I tried to stay positive instead of throwing in the towel.” She called agency after agency seeking help, with no luck. Fortunately, an SBP staff member read about the Smith family in a newspaper article, called them and offered help.
Warlette was stunned. “We weren’t forgotten about,” she says. “I was awestruck. I couldn’t believe that the St. Bernard Project wanted to help us and I’m so grateful.”
Soon Jadon’s memories of separation and the stressful years spent in a FEMA trailer, seeing his mom and dad struggling to work and rebuild their house will fade. Hopefully, they will be replaced by happy memories of family life inside a real home.
House Updates
Church of the Brethren volunteers worked at the Smith house again last week. The volunteers continued to do finishing work and the house is almost complete!
Church of the Brethren volunteers volunteered at the Smith house last week. The volunteers were busying doing finishing work. Hopefully, the Smith's will be able to move home before the holiday season!
Participants from Nuns' Build worked hard painting and fixing windows at Ernest and Warlette's home from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9. More than 80 Catholic Sisters volunteered with SBP as part of Nuns' Build week and worked on 10 homes.
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Under Construction
Some of our homes currently under Construction
Barbara Williams, New Orleans, LA
Brenda Dupre-Williams, Lower 9th
Chana King, Violet, LA
Clarence and Diane Victorian, New Orleans East, LA
Cologero Caillouet, Chalmette, LA
Darren Anderson, Violet, LA
Darryn Carreras, Chalmette, LA
Darrell Betha, Mereaux, LA
David Lagrange, Arabi, LA
David Melerine, St Bernard, LA
Deborah Vita, Violet, LA
Debra Brown, Gentilly, LA
Delia Doty, Chalmette, LA
Donald & Tonya Topey, Violet, LA
Donnell Barthelemy, Violet, LA
Donnie Panarello, Chalmette, LA
Evelyn Solis, Chalmette, LA
Gerry Bierria, New Orleans, LA
Glenda Ceaser, Violet, LA
Jennifer Lanier, Violet, LA
Joycelyn and Lawrence Stokes, St. Bernard, LA
Joyce Guient, New Orleans, LA
Juan Toledo, Arabi, LA
Keith Florane, Chalmette, LA
Kenneth Burrell, Arabi, LA
Kenneth Dorsey, Lower 9th
Kwame & Dominique Adansi-Bona, Gentilly, LA
Mathilda & August Miller, Chalmette, LA
Mona Lisa Payne, New Orleans, LA
Ralph Dipadova, Chalmette, LA
Rebecca Holmes, St. Bernard, LA
Regina Beal, Violet, LA
Rhonda Krantz, St. Bernard, LA
Ricky Diecidue, Meraux, LA
Robert & Amy Barlow, Meraux, LA
Roosevelt Houston, Lower 9th
Sabrina Pacaccio, Violet, LA
Shane & Tina Meshell, Meraux, LA
Sharen Williams, Arabi, LA
Theresa McLuckey, Chalmette, LA
Vanessa Havers, St. Bernard, LA
Velma Lewis, New Orleans, LA
Willie Major, Violet, LA
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