| Shelita and her family were welcomed back into their New Orleans East home on May 7th, 2010. Many volunteers were in attendance to see the hard work volunteers before them have put into rebuilding this beautiful home, funded by Broadway hit, The Color Purple.
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Homeowner Bio
 Shelita Harrell has lived in the New Orleans area all her life. She and her five sisters grew up in the family home that has been treasured for 40 years. She says she had a great childhood, living close to the lakefront in a safe and family-oriented neighborhood where everybody knew everybody. During Hurricane Katrina, the family home became inundated under more than six feet of rushing water and was badly damaged. Fortunately, Shelita's parents were able to repair the family home when they returned to New Orleans eight months after Katrina. Shelita's entire family has returned to the area and are all currently living in her parent's home, except for her sister who lives in Georgia.
Shelita’s home, which she has owned since 2001, is located in New Orleans East and was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. She loves the house along with the friendly and safe neighborhood that once surrounded it. Sadly, it needs a lot of work before Shelita and her two sons, 18-year-old Victor and 15-year-old Ryan, can move back in. The boys miss their old neighborhood, too—especially the close friends they grew up with, all attending the same Catholic school. Shelita had a good job in the management office of an apartment complex. Their lives were quiet, simple, and ordinary, she says, and they were a happy family.
Shelita decided to evacuate with the boys on the Saturday before the hurricane struck. The kids were devastated by having to leave their home and their friends, but were looking forward to seeing their cousins in Georgia. They stuffed a weekend’s worth of clothes and the family dog in the car and off they went. They didn’t get far, however. The roads, in addition to being clogged with traffic, became dangerous as they neared Jackson, Mississippi. They were turned off when the road became impassible. Hurricane Katrina had already crossed the area making it impossible for the family to continue their journey to Georgia. Luckily, Shelita’s nephew was a student in the college there and gave up his dorm room so she and the kids could have a place to stay. There was no electricity and very little communication with the outside world. “It was a long, long time before we could contact anyone in our family or any of our friends. We didn’t know what was happening back home. We kept hearing horrible stories on the radio when it worked,” she says now. When they finally were able to get CNN on TV, what they saw was worse than anything they could have imagined. The boys were frantic with worry about their dad, a police officer, who had stayed in New Orleans. It took a week before they could talk to him.
When the roads were cleared enough for Shelita and the boys to travel, they once again headed for her sister’s house in Georgia, thankful that they would at least have a place to stay. “We were like refugees,” Shelita says. “We had no clothes other than the few we brought, no money, and we didn’t know what had happened to our friends—to anyone and we didn’t know anything about our house.”
As soon as she could Shelita went back to New Orleans to check things out. “I didn’t even recognize the neighborhood. The entire back of my house was gone. It was an unbelievable sight. Everything we owned was destroyed. I went back again the next day to be sure. There was absolutely nothing salvageable.”
Back in Georgia, Shelita put the boys in school and tried to find work. “It was like a war with the insurance company, even though I had both flood and homeowners,” Shelita says. Finally, after many battles, the insurance company gave her a six-month release from her mortgage instead of money. By now Shelita has managed to pay off the mortgage, but “Our whole way of life changed. I went back and forth and as money came in. I had a new roof put on and windows.”
The family lives in a rental unit now in the same apartment complex Shelita once helped manage. And she’s back at her old job, but the complex has new owners who pay her much less than she earned before. “We’re stuck for now,” she says. “But we’re not giving up. Everything that was life to you changed all of a sudden. It takes time to come back. People don’t know it, but this neighborhood we’re in still hasn’t come back. Parts of New Orleans East are still abandoned. You can still see a lot of damage and many of the big stores are still vacant. The boys really want to go back to our old neighborhood where they can feel safer. They want to be with their old friends.” After a volunteer group from the Corpus Christi Catholic Church worked on her home, she says, “I was so excited. I have walls and a ceiling. For the first time I can actually tell what rooms were where!”
“I’ve never applied for help before but when I heard about the St. Bernard Project, I took a chance. It’s the best help I’ve been offered and I’m so grateful. I just want to get out of here and go home. It’s hard to deal with this stuff and still feel positive,” Shelita says. “All you can do is be grateful for what you have. I’m grateful my parents are still here and my family’s all back, and I’m looking forward to having our own home back.”
House Updates
| 10/01/09
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| AmeriCorps State volunteers, who recently joined the SBP team, have spent the past two weeks working on Miss Shelita's home. |
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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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