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Homeowner Bio
Debra Brown has lived in New Orleans all her life. In 1997, she settled into her home in Gentilly. In a word, New Orleans is “home.” It is where Debra raised her three sons Zirece (35), Cederic (24) and Josef (18). So when Hurricane Katrina hit Southeast Louisiana, Debra remained in her home thinking it was safe since it was raised off the ground. Debra recalls that the following morning was “a fine, sunny morning that is until the water came… and came.”
As the water continued to rise, Debra and her sons waded through knee-deep water to an adjacent two-story home. As they hunkered down in their neighbor’s home, Debra remembers the sinking feeling of seeing the water as it crept up the stairs. Before the water reached the top of the stairs, two volunteers on a boat rescued Debra and her sons. While Debra does not recall the volunteer’s names, she still remembers their faces and the fact that they were from Kansas and Canada.
Debra and her sons were transported to Interstate-10 at the St. Bernard Exit where they remained overnight. In the morning an Army truck brought them to the Superdome. While there the youngest, at age 13, had an elderly person die in his arms. Buses arrived at the Superdome in order to transport the citizens elsewhere. Debra and her 77-year-old aunt boarded a bus that was initially bound toward Baton Rouge. But Debra believed in earnest that her sons were en route to Houston; therefore, Debra became dead set on finding her way to Houston. Debra arrived in Houston only to discover that her sons were in San Antonio. In short order, Debra and her sons were reunited. Moreover, she was able to find work in Houston at a Neighborhood Center, where she worked for approximately a year. After their year in Houston, Debra resigned herself to the fact that she would have to stay in Houston for her youngest son, Josef, who was still attending school. While Josef settled into Wheatley High School, Debra resumed her former employment as a Passport agent.
In 2009, after Josef graduated from high school, Debra and her family decided that it was finally time to move back to New Orleans. In early September Josef began his freshmen year at Dartmouth College where he is playing basketball. Meanwhile, Zirece and Cederic live close by in the Greater New Orleans Area with their respective families. Debra's father was living in New Orleans at the time she returned, but was ill and died in August. She had to use some Road Home money to bury him and is still grieving his loss.
Debra and her sons suffer from post-traumatic stress, and are often upset as they recall the Superdome conditions, their separation in the chaos, and their evacuation to far away locales. She has a hard time sleeping at night and is generally exhausted. Still, this determined and strong woman looks forward to once again living in her own home.
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Under Construction
Some of our homes currently under Construction
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David Melerine, St Bernard, LA
Deborah Vita, Violet, LA
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