NEW ORLEANS — Rebuilding Together New Orleans’ mission is “repairing homes, revitalizing communities (and) rebuilding lives.”
That’s what the non-profit has been doing non-stop since Hurricane Ida.
Thursday, the group was in the Central City neighborhood, helping Sharon Lee.
“It’s very bad, very bad,” Lee said. “The wind took the roof off completely. Holes came in the wall. I’m looking outside to the sky because there’s holes up there.”
Water came in and now most of what Lee owns is ruined.
The RTNO team moved her damaged belongings to the street and gutted her ceiling and drywall which are now full of mold.
“I am so grateful for them,” Lee said. “I thank God for these people right here y’all and this program.”
William Stoudt is Rebuilding Together’s executive director.
“Since Hurricane Ida, Rebuilding Together New Orleans has been able to assist 50 homeowners,” Stoudt said. “That’s mucking, that’s gutting, mold remediation, tarping.”
Rebuilding Together normally assists families in need in New Orleans. But it expanded its footprint to help families across southeast Louisiana who still face a long road to recovery more than 6 weeks after Ida turned their lives upside-down.
“We’re working across the region, down the bayou, out in LaPlace, because we know that there’s so many people that need help right now,” Stoudt said. “Everyone just wants a safe and healthy house. Storms upend that for so many people.”
Lee has been living in her SUV since the storm.
With help from Rebuilding Together, she hopes to one day get back in her home.
“Nobody else cared,” she said.” They are so kind, and those people came in like family.”
Rebuilding Together says it has received 16,000 requests for help throughout the region.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation, Saints and Pelicans and Shell are some of the non-profit’s key donors.
If you would like to volunteer, donate, or need assistance, log on to www.rtno.org.