LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. — The view of the bayou across from Brenda Billiot’s Lafourche Parish home is one she wasn’t sure she’d see again.
“I see the boats passing, people going shrimping and crabbing, making their living,” said Billiot as she stood on her elevated porch. “We’ve been patient, to wait.”
It’s been almost three years of patience since she and her husband lost their home of more than 50 years. It was one of dozens destroyed in their Pointe-aux-Chenes indigenous community when Hurricane Ida hit in August of 2021.
“From the front it looked like it wouldn’t have been that bad, but when you walked in, the whole back end was gone,” said Billiot.
Like many people in their community, the Billiots couldn’t afford insurance. They spent months living with a relative and more than two years in a FEMA trailer.
“It was hard not knowing if we were going to have a home or not,” said Billiot. “We weren’t sure if we were going to get the help we needed, but then finally we did.”
Thanks to the kindness of strangers, especially through various religious ministries, construction started last August on their new home. On the same foundation as their old one, they moved in about two months ago.
“We were so blessed to finally be in a home again, to have a home that we can say is ours,” said Billiot.
From her porch Billiot can see another blessing.
“That’s the one that they’re working on right not,” said Billiot as she pointed to an adjoining property.
Next door, another new home is almost complete. It’ll be going to her husband’s aunt who’s also in need of a home.
“It fills my heart to see that we’ve come so far. Even though it’s just two homes, I feel like we’ve made progress,” said Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe member Theresa Dardar.
Feeling like her community had been forgotten, Dardar refused to let it fall apart after the storm.
“We’re in it for the long haul,” said Dardar.
She and other community members have been working non-stop trying to find money and volunteers to build at least a dozen fortified homes for people still in need.
“It’s a waiting process but I have more hope now than I did two and a half years ago,” said Dardar. “We’ll keep on pushing ‘till we get everyone a new home.”
More than grateful for theirs, the Billiot’s are praying for blessings for everyone else. They hope their community can get back to where it was before the storm.
“I hope so. I hope so for everybody. I hope they can all get their homes back,” said Billiot.
They also hope folks can get back to the lives they knew before Hurricane Ida questioned views for a future in a place they call home.
A blessing ceremony for the Billiots’ new home is set for this Saturday. Workers are set to be back in November to start construction on five new homes.
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