Serving Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington Parishes
On Sunday, September 23rd, Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, Malcolm Jenkins, Lance Moore, Jermon Bushrod, Courtney Roby, Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas of the New Orleans Saints, along with former Saint Darren Sharper, hosted a private dinner at Eiffel Society to announce to family, friends and teammates how they plan to give back this holiday season.
Last year, Harper, Sharper, Evans, Jenkins and Moore sponsored the rebuild of three families’ homes. This year, Bushrod, Roby, Sproles, Ingram and Thomas have joined them in the rebuilding efforts. With the help of St. Bernard Project, Rebuilding Together New Orleans, lowernine.org, the Epworth Project, IrvingMorris and United Way of Southeast Louisiana, they will rebuild six families’ homes, with the goal of completing the projects in time for the holidays.
“Because of their caring and generosity, six more families that have been displaced for over seven years will return to their homes in time to celebrate the holidays,” said Michael Williamson, Chief Operating Officer of United Way of Southeast Louisiana. “What an amazing gift, to give a family their home back. These guys really are Saints, on and off the field.”
There are hundreds of families in Southeast Louisiana that are still displaced from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and now Isaac – doubled or tripled up in family homes, or living in gutted or partially complete homes, trailers or apartments they cannot afford. Two years, Roman Harper and former teammate Darren Sharper started the project by sponsoring the rebuild of two families’ homes. This year, ten players are involved, and six deserving families will have their homes rebuilt this holiday season.
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 Elliot and Lorita Pellebon, both age 63, have lived in the Lower Ninth Ward for their entire lives. They have three daughters and two sons. Lorita has Lupus and Elliot suffered a heart attack after the storm. When he recovered, he moved back to their home and occupied the top floor without plumbing or electricity while gutting and reconstructing the bottom. He was able to bring Lorita home in 2007. The next year, their middle daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia and died a few months later, leaving behind two children and her husband. Their oldest daughter lives with partial kidney failure and receives dialysis three times a week. She has three daughters, and while she is very involved in her children’s lives, she is unable to care for them due to her health, so Lorita and Elliot care for them in their home. Elliot has been working on adding an addition so all the children will have a bedroom to stay in and his oldest daughter will be able to return home to her family. However, he survived a stroke last year, and construction has slowed. Thankfully, Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram have offered the funds to help the family get back home together. |
Cawanda and Christopher Lennox love the city of New Orleans because “everybody is a family”. Before the storm, Christopher was disabled and Cawanda supported her family working at Walgreens. Even 7 years after Katrina, they and their four children: Chrishell, 17, Cayla, 10, Caylan, 8, and Cameron, 8 months, wish to return more than anything. After the storm, the family stayed in Houston for 4 and a half years, but they knew it wasn’t home. Christopher traveled back and forth from Houston to New Orleans to oversee the rebuilding of the family home. He trusted a friend to complete the rebuilding, and gave him their Road Home money. The friend vanished, with the work incomplete, taking all of their money. After that, the family was plagued with break-ins and theft. Everything from their electrical wiring to the copper in their walls was stolen, making their dream of coming home seem further and further away. Now Malcolm Jenkins and Darren Sharper will help their dreams come true. |
Allan Francis, 26, was working as a graphic designer in a t-shirt shop before Katrina in order to support himself and his two sisters, Chevelle, 23, and Cherelle, 20, and their two daughters Jamiri, 1, and Ly’ri, 11 months. They evacuated to Lafayette, where they struggled to get in contact with their mother, who had stayed in New Orleans. Allan returned to New Orleans in 2006 to severe flooding and wind damage. He secured a FEMA trailer and was able to use his savings to purchase a lot next to his grandmother’s home, trying to keep the family close together. He has worked to fully gut the home, replace floorboards, and work on the exterior, but needs help to finish the job. Now Allan, his sisters and his young nieces are living with his grandmother. Soon, thanks to Jahri Evans and Jermon Bushrod, they'll be in their own home. |
 Linda and Loren Ebarb bought their house in Hollygrove in 2004. After 27 years of working for the Post Office, Loren is now retired. Linda is alsoretired after serving as a medical assistant at Charity and Ochsner hospitals as well as in the New Orleans Public School System. In March 2006, the Ebarbs were provided with a FEMA trailer, then later moved into the second floor of their home while the bottom floor remained gutted and uninhabitable. Rebuilding Together New Orleans helped finished rebuilding their home in 2009, and the Ebarbs to moved back in. Almost two years later, a test revealed that the house had been rebuilt with defective Chinese drywall. If left untreated, the drywall would create an unhealthy living environment for the couple, their two daughters, and three grandchildren. Lance Moore is committed to helping the family rebuild for a second time. |
 Harold Lumpkin is a 58-year-old resident of Hollygrove. He attended college in San Francisco and was instrumental in installing the phone system in the Superdome. His home has been in his family for three generations and has served as a daycare center and barber shop for the local community. The contractor they hired to rebuild to their home took their $139,000 and left the Lumpkins with an unfinished house. Due to the economy, Mr. Lumpkin has had a difficult time finding work as a field service technician and currently does landscaping on the side to make ends meet. He lives in the house, which has no electricity, water, or insulation, while his father, Percy, is in hospice and his 16 year-old son, Keith, lives with an aunt. “All I want,” Harold says, “is to bring my father and my son back home”. Roman Harper has generously donated the funds necessary to complete this project. |
Ms. Lillie Herrington is 75 year old woman with COPD, arthritis, a bad kidney, cellulitis, and recent blindness. Hurricane Katrina forced her out of her home briefly; however, she returned a couple weeks after the storm. The home is in deplorable conditions. The roof is leaking and floors are falling in. Her daughters and son-in-law have moved in with her, because the home is no longer safe enough for her to be alone. Ms. Lillie has lived in this home for the past 40 years, and is anxious for a day that the home will be safe. Pierre Thomas and Courtney Roby have teamed up to help complete the job.
