The simple Gentilly Terrace shotgun that Linda Blunt owns with her husband had for decades been a source of stability for the family. But after Hurricane Ida’s winds tore shingles off her roof and sent her insurance bill skyrocketing, the home became a source of uncertainty instead.
Bright and early on a May morning, around 250 volunteers descended on Blunt’s quiet neighborhood to make repairs at the nearby park and on ten homes belonging to low-income homeowners — including Blunt’s — in hopes of offsetting the rising costs of insurance, renovations, and taxes that are making it ever more difficult for New Orleans families to stay in their homes.
“It’s like waking up in something brand new,” said Blunt as the volunteers, organized by local nonprofit Rebuilding Together New Orleans and The Home Depot Foundation, raced against hovering storm clouds to replace rotting wood on her back deck. “I see all the work they’re doing and it just motivates me more to say, ‘I need to come alongside them and add to it.'”
Rebuilding Together New Orleans, the local chapter of a national nonprofit, launched in 1988 with the goal of supporting elderly and disabled homeowners struggling to maintain their homes. After Hurricane Katrina, the organization turned its focus to renovating and rebuilding storm-damaged homes…