More Than A Year After Katrina, Eco-Friendly New Orleans House Stands Firm

Before the storm hit, we knew at least 100,000 New Orleans residents lacked transportation to evacuate. Like many people, we tried to contact friends we knew who may be in harm’s way. In particular, we were concerned about Shylia Lewis and her family in the St. Roch neighborhood where Greenpeace, the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity and the Healthy Building Network built a PVC-free home with Shylia and her four children in April 2004.

For months all we had was a photo of their flood-damaged home. After some time went by, our volunteer architect, Bruce Hampton, got a call from Shylia. He was thrilled to hear she and her kids were safe. The family finally moved back to New Orleans on Labor Day weekend 2006, after a year of being away.

The Storm Hits

Shylia and her children managed to get out of New Orleans just before Katrina hit in late August 2005. Although she didn't drive at the time, the family managed to hitch a ride on a neighbor’s U-Haul to Hot Springs, Arkansas. From there, Shylia and her children made their way to New Braunfels, Texas where they were taken in by strangers, Leanne and Jeff Dees. The Dees generously took them into their home, bought them much needed belongings and then helped her find her extended family using the Internet. They also helped her with a temporary apartment in Monroe, Louisiana, where she was able to locate twenty-two family members. From there she went to Houston, Texas to be with her mother. Shylia spent almost every other weekend throughout the next nine months traveling by greyhound bus between Houston and New Orleans to clean up and rebuild the damage her house had sustained. 12 months after leaving, Shylia and her family finally moved back home to New Orleans.

Starting Over

Renee Blanchard from the Washington DC office of Greenpeace visited Shylia and her family November 18, 2006 to see the neighborhood and find out how Shylia and her house had weather the storm. Though everyone on her block has moved back, Shylia explained how her neighborhood is not the same. Mail delivery and utilities have been restored, but there are few stores open within walking distance. Her children attend a charter school together, but bus routes still do not include her neighborhood. While structurally sound, Shylia’s home needed repainting, new carpeting and furniture. Although we predicted PVC-free cement fiber board siding would last decades longer than vinyl siding no one knew what Katrina might do. Shylia’s house was built to exceed standards set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and New Orleans Area Habitat Director Jim Pate predicted the home’s pilings would keep the house intact even in the event of “the big one.” To learn more see our report on the building of Shylia’s PVC-free home.

Witnessing The Devasting Effects

While Shylia gets back on her feet, others in St. Roch are not as lucky. While traveling through the neighborhood Renee first noticed the spray painted symbols of the search and rescue teams from the immediate days following the storm. Noting that, "these glaring reminders of what New Orleans experienced exist on practically every doorway. Water lines are still seen throughout the neighborhood as well as missing street signs and downed tress. Some of the homes may even have to be demolished. FEMA trailers are also seen all over the neighborhood. By the hundreds in a local park and individually parked in front of homes where people are just beginning to rebuild their homes. But overall, Shylia is hopeful and full of joy about returning to New Orleans. She is planning on going back to school in January to study management and small business in order to pursue a career in real estate."

Before the Katrina disaster, the New Orleans Area Habitat averaged about a dozen new home builds a year. Just before Katrina hit, the Baptist Crossroads Project announced a plan to sponsor 40 new Habitat homes in New Orleans in 2005-06. In response to the Katrina disaster the Crossroads Project plans to help Habitat build at least 100 new homes over the next two years and all will use PVC-free cement fiber board siding. On top of this a $1.5 million grant from the Dave Matthews Band to New Orleans Area Habitat will be used to build 300 new homes in the Lower 9th Ward. However, with over 90,000 homes ruined in the 9th Ward alone, the need is immense. Though the sights and sounds of the city today seem overwhelming, progress is underway.

The Healthy Building Network has just launched a non-profit modular home building business called Unity Homes, dedicated to making and installing affordable, nontoxic, energy efficient homes in the storm-ravaged Gulf of Mexico.

Greenpeace also has a Healthy Homes Health Communities DVD that is available to all Habitat for Humanity affiliates or any other groups committed to building low cost non-toxic housing. The DVD shows the entire building process from this project and includes a detailed report.

Read the report about the building of Shylia's home here.
View photos of the home as it was built and after the storm here.

To help others like Shylia, you can get involved with the New Orleans
Area Habitat for Humanity or the Healthy Building Network at:
www.habitat-nola.org
www.unityhomes.net
www.healthybuilding.net/index.html