'A new chance at life': Group completes first two homes in Dulac for Ida victims

Two Dulac families who lost almost everything during Hurricane Ida were welcomed into their newly built homes Tuesday.

Linda Faye Pellegrin and Abraham and Robin Parfait and their families accepted the keys to their new homes that were built by Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Mennonite Disaster Service through an $850,000 grant from the Bayou Community Foundation’s Bayou Recovery Fund for Hurricane Ida Relief.

The dedication ceremony was attended by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Terrebonne Parish President Gordy Dove and several Parish Council members.

The Bayou Community Foundation has given nearly $5 million since September to nonprofits for critical relief and recovery services in Terrebonne, Lafourche and Grand Isle after Hurricane Ida made landfall Aug. 29.

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Mennonite Disaster Service is building 10 homes and repairing 40 more in the Dulac area as part of the endeavor, which will allow 50 needy families to return home, officials said.  The group has also completed 36 home demolitions.

“After Hurricane Ida made landfall here on Aug. 29, Bayou Community Foundation recognized that our community’s recovery depended on providing homes for the neediest who lost so much,” Bayou Community Foundation President Henry Lafont said. “We are grateful to MDS for sending volunteers to Dulac and working with us to fill this critical housing need. Today, thanks to an extraordinarily successful partnership between Bayou Community Foundation, MDS, Holy Family Catholic Church and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and the generosity of our Bayou Recovery Fund donors, we are excited to welcome the first two families to their new homes. This is just the beginning. Bayou Recovery Fund grants will continue to help residents repair, rebuild and return to our unique and precious Terrebonne, Lafourche and Grand Isle communities in the months ahead.”

The two- and three-bedroom homes in Dulac were designed and built for storm resiliency as part of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes “Strong Homes Initiative,” officials said. The measure provides donated services and products to upgrade homes to meet the hurricane wind requirements. The homes are rated for 160-mph winds and are elevated far above FEMA requirements, the group said.

Grant money from Bayou Community Foundation is used to buy building materials and construction labor is provided free by volunteers. Homeowners also contribute insurance or FEMA money received toward construction costs, and appliances are donated by the nonprofit group Rebuilding Together Bayou.

“MDS is grateful to join hands with so many wonderful partners as we put our faith into action with a hammer and paintbrush serving our neighbors in need,” said MDS Executive Director Kevin King. “From our offices in Pennsylvania, I keep hearing reports of the gracious hospitality of the Dulac community – that our volunteers keep wanting to go back and serve.”

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The Parfaits along with their two young sons lost their home and all belongings along Bayou Grand Caillou in Dulac during the Category 4 storm. They were left with no way to rebuild until they learned about the MDS project, officials said.

“Hurricane Ida took all of the ‘things’ in our life, but not what matters most – our family and friends,” Abraham Parfait said. “We grateful for our new friends from MDS, Bayou Community Foundation and other groups who have given us a new chance at life and a new, beautiful, strong home along the bayou. This is where the Parfait family belongs, and we thank God and all the generous donors and volunteers who have helped us rebuild a home here.”

The Parfaits and other Ida victims were identified and selected for the program through extensive case management efforts of Holy Family Catholic Church in Dulac and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, officials said.  In addition to the 50 homeowners initially selected for the program, over 100 remain on a waiting list.

Due to the enormous need for housing, the Ray & Key Eckstein Charitable Trust has committed $500,000 to support the building project and has challenged the Bayou Community Foundation to raise an additional $500,000 to provide $1 million to pay for another building season with MDS in October, officials said.

“The Eckstein family has been a very generous donor to the Bayou Recovery Fund since Hurricane Ida made landfall, and this new $500,000 challenge grant from the Ray & Kay Eckstein Charitable Trust is another significant, impactful investment in our bayou communities’ recovery,” said Bayou Community Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Armand. “We invite other donors to join us in meeting this challenge and raise at least $1 million to build many more homes over the next year for the neediest of our neighbors left homeless by Hurricane Ida.”

Contributions to Bayou Community Foundation’s Bayou Recovery Fund can be made at www.bayoucf.org/disaster-recovery/.

— Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp. 

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Pennsylvania nonprofit completes first two homes in Dulac for Ida victims