|
Welcome Home Mr. Nagle!
Richard Nagle has been a high-level quadriplegic for 27 years. He is now 49. Despite his disability, Richard had managed to build a pretty good life for himself. By the time Hurricane Katrina displaced him, Richard was married to Donna, and they had been living in their Arabi home from one and half years. Richard was a self-described “stay-at-home mom” to Donna’s three young teenagers from a previous relationship. He had an active life, volunteering as a peer counselor to other, more newly disabled people.
Richard also was a member of a Murder Ball team. Murder Ball (aka Wheelchair Rugby) is a team sport (the players use armored manual wheelchairs) that, as Richard says, combines elements of rugby, ice hockey, basketball and demolition derby. The team he originally belonged to in New Orleans disbanded four or five years ago due to lack of funding. Richard enjoyed the friendships he made through this sport and he missed the physical activity that made him feel alive, so he joined a team based in Jackson, Miss., making the three-hour drive each way to train and compete.
A native of the St. Bernard area, Richard grew up in Arabi with two older brothers and a younger sister. “It was a great place to live,” he said. “I felt safe there. Before Katrina my parents lived 10 minutes away from my house. I went back and forth in my wheelchair to see them at night and felt safe.” All the closeness he enjoyed with family in a safe, familiar place was washed away by Hurricane Katrina. As Richard said, “Elderly people who had spent their lives there had to relocate and ended up staying where they evacuated to. They never came back. I’m glad my parents could.”
The Friday before Hurricane Katrina struck, Richard was in Jackson with his Murder Ball team. At that point, the news stations weren’t making much of it, but when the hotels started filling up, Richard and Donna realized they should probably go home. The drive, which normally took three hours, took nine hours, even though they were going against the evacuation traffic. The next day they loaded up Richard’s van with everything they could fit in, including the cat and dog, and headed for Newton, Miss. They thought they would have to be there only two or three days but ended having to stay there for two months.
Arabi backs up to where the levee broke. Water topped Richard’s house and stayed there for more than a month because the pumping systems had been damaged, and the pumping stations were flooded out. Then, about a month later, Hurricane Rita brought about five or six feet more water. It was two months before Richard and Donna could return to see what had happened to their house, but they knew ahead of time that it must have been ruined. And it was.
They were left with a brick shell. Still, Richard feels he was more fortunate than his parents. They lived in an older area of Arabi where homes had been so badly flooded that they were lifted off their foundations and floated into the street. Richard’s parents had evacuated to Alabama and when they returned they built a modular home in the space their former family home had stood.
The Nagles’ marriage slowly dissolved under the stress that goes with a tragic disaster such as Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The couple stayed in an apartment in the Marigny of New Orleans for two months trying to work things out, and then Richard moved in with his sister in Slidell. When it became possible, he moved to a FEMA trailer parked on the lawn of what was once his home, and he stayed there for two years. When the FEMA trailer was taken away in January, Richard had to move in with his parents. He is grateful to them, but at age 49, he feels it’s important for him to live on his own.
Richard hopes that once he’s in his own home and his finances stabilize, he can pick up the threads of his old life and start over again. He heard about the St. Bernard Project from a friend of a friend and, hoping against hope to have a home of his own again, he applied. He says he’s surprised and pleased with the speed and efficiency of the St. Bernard Project’s staff and volunteers. They have already started the mold remediation process and will be able to make some adaptations to the house once funds are available.
House Updates
| 11/09/09
|
|
|
|
| Once again Church of the Brethren volunteers were full force this week helping rebuild homes with the St. Bernard Project. They were joined by Chris Goldschmidt, Camille O'Reilly, and Caitlin Meagher at Richard Nagle's house. The crew was able to finish mudding and apply texture at the home, which is now ready to be painted. |
| 10/26/09
|
|
|
|
| Department of Homeland Security fellows took a day out of their week long conference in New Orleans to volunteer with the St. Bernard Project and work at Mr. Nagle's home. The volunteers finished installing drywall in Mr. Nagle's home. University of North Carolina volunteers worked at the Nagle home later in the week. |
| 10/20/09
|
|
|
|
| Church of the Presentation had a group of 15 volunteers that came and participated in Women's Rebuild week. The volunteers worked at Mr. Nagle's home installing drywall. |
| 10/11/09
|
|
|
|
|
| Participants from Nuns' Build week finished installing insulation and started hanging drywall at Mr. Nagle's home. From Monday, Oct. 5 to Friday, October 9, more than 80 Catholic Sisters participated in Nuns' Build week and worked on 10 different homes. |
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
|
The St Bernard Project is a registered 501(c)(3); all donations are tax deductible.
|
