Five years ago, Elaine Soley lost her home in Golden Meadow when Hurricane Ida barreled ashore along the south Lafourche coastline, the storm’s 150 mph winds destroying houses and devastating households like hers up and down Bayou Lafourche and Terrebonne’s five bayous. For nearly three years, this courageous and compassionate grandma and Golden Meadow native lived from pillar to post, unsure if or how she would ever afford to rebuild and regain her life close to her family and friends in this rural coastal community.
“I was living like a gypsy, moving from place to place, and everything I owned was in my car,” remembers Elaine. She had nearly lost all hope, until she heard of Bayou Community Foundation’s Rebuild the Bayou housing recovery program.
Since Ida’s landfall on August 29, 2021, our tiny but mighty Bayou Community Foundation has been blessed to fill a need that we never imagined existed until that fateful day – providing homes for those who lost everything. It was up to us to take care of our neighbors, and to shine a light on the needs of our our critical Bayou Region. That’s why the Foundation has been working tirelessly to provide housing repairs and new builds for under-resourced and asset-limited Hurricane Ida survivors in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Grand Isle since the storm– residents who have no other means to rebuild on their own.
Through the incredible power of philanthropy and volunteers from here and across the country, Rebuild the Bayou continues to rebuild homes, lives and our often-overlooked but very special bayou and island communities as we mark the five-year anniversary of the second-most damaging storm in Louisiana history.
To date, our program has completed 621 rebuild and repair projects for low-income homeowners like Elaine, including 58 new Fortified homes built for families from Thibodaux and Houma to Dulac and Grand Isle. Each house now also comes with furniture and household essentials, making each house a home the moment the family gets their keys.
Over 110,000 hours of construction labor have been graciously donated by our volunteer partners from around the country like Christian Aid Ministries, Mennonite Disaster Service, Storm Aid, CARE, Nomads Mission Volunteers and so many more, allowing us to use philanthropic gifts to purchase building supplies. In fact, hundreds of charitable donors have contributed over $10 million to fund supplies and program expenses and we are grateful for each and every contribution all of our partners have made!
In our little corner of the world, this collaborative effort fueled by philanthropy and volunteers has not only brought families home, but has strengthened the resilience of our bayou community and set up an effective model to follow when – not if – the next 100-year storm pays us a visit. In the meantime, the need – and our work – continues.
Without any public advertisement, our Rebuild the Bayou waiting list now sits at over 200 households, including new cases from Hurricane Francine in 2024 and survivors of Tropical Storm Arthur in June of this year, which spurred four tornadoes in Terrebonne Parish. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as you drive down Shrimpers Row in Dulac, the side streets off of LA 1 in Cut Off, Galliano and Golden Meadow, or the shaded lanes of Grand Isle. Too many of our most vulnerable residents here are still hurting, five years after Ida. Rebuild the Bayou offers the best hope for their recovery.
To address this growing need, I am excited to share that we have received a commitment from our volunteer building partners Christian Aid Ministries to return this November for a 6th season of Rebuild the Bayou. Our work begins now to raise up to $1 million for building supplies for this new season!
I remember a colleague telling me just a few weeks after Hurricane Ida that full recovery takes five years or more, and at the time, five years sounded way too long. Now, I can’t believe it’s already been five years since we started this recovery journey! Terrebonne, Lafourche and Grand Isle have come very far since August 29, 2021, and philanthropy and volunteers has proven to be a winning combination in our housing recovery efforts. But our work is not done yet. With the help of compassionate and generous donors like you, Bayou Community Foundation will continue to fill this critical need for safe and secure housing in our region and create a community where everyone can thrive.
As for Elaine, she is thriving in her new “Bayou Bungalow” in Golden Meadow built in 2024 through our Rebuild the Bayou program in South Lafourche. “I even have a dog now!” she says. Elaine and 600 other families like hers will remain close to our hearts forever.
As we mark the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida, Elaine, the 600 other families we have had the honor to serve, and the hundreds of volunteers from here and abroad who have blessed us with their gifts of time and talent are the bright and shining stars who symbolize the beauty of humanity and rebirth of our bayou communities.
Jennifer Armand, President & CEO
