Housing Rehabilitation Story

Ms. Melvina inherited her home from her mother and father. She had been raised in this house along with her siblings. Ms. Melvina originally lived next door to her parents. That is up until Hurricane Katrina. Her home was destroyed by the hurricane and not rebuilt. She moved to another port of town until her parents passed. She then moved bock into her childhood home.

In February 2017, Ms. Melvina contacted Back Bay Mission for assistance with her home. During her interview she stated her concerns for the home were decoying exterior window trim, uneven floors, exterior point peeling, vinyl tiles in two bedrooms were incorrectly installed ofter Hurricane Katrina and were coming up. During Back Bay Missions assessment of the home we found other concerns to be added to the list; siding that was starting to rot, the roof needed replacing and piers at one corner of the house were foiling.

Back Bay Mission started work. A contractor was used to repair the piers around the house and replace the roof. Volunteers removed the old siding and replaced it with cement board siding and pointed the home. We rebuilt a bock deck that was not in compliance with building code. We then repaired the interior walls that had crocked when the portions of the house were jocked up to repair the support piers. Finally, we replaced the vinyl tile flooring with a product known as vinyl plank flooring. This flooring installs and looks like laminate flooring. It is ver y durable and carries a 25-yeor warranty. Replacement of the heating and cooling system completed our work for Ms. Melvina.

During our working on the home, Ms. Melvina was diagnosed with cancer. She made several trips to a cancer center in New Orleans. Her major concern was not about herself but being able to be home and healthy enough to entertain her extended family on Christmas Eve. Back Bay Mission mode it possible for Ms. Melvina to live in a safe and sustainable home. She was able to host her family for Christmas Eve.