In the Wake of Katrina — Gwendolyn Gray

A Coalition of Caring Hammers Away at the Destruction

Gwendolyn Gray, 65, moved into her home in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans in 1976. While there, she worked for AARP and had two daughters. She had to leave her home in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina came ashore, creating havoc and devastation in its wake.

Like so many others in New Orleans, Gwendolyn left for Houston, where she lived two years. She came back every so often to check out her house.

"I always thought I would come back. It's my house," she declares with matter-of-fact directness.

She also states flatly that New Orleans, the city she has lived in her whole life, "has a ways to go" to recover fully from what the hurricane did. She says most of her friends in her neighborhood are back. However, one of her daughters who recently returned with her family to New Orleans isn't satisfied and may move out soon.

"Yeah, she isn't feeling New Orleans right now," says Gwendolyn.

But Gwendolyn is of a different mind. She wants to stay in what she calls her "old house." That is one of the reasons she raised her hand for Entergy's weatherization program, which she figures she heard about through word of mouth.

"About eight workers came to my house," Gwendolyn says. "They were changing the light bulbs. There were guys doing insulation up in my attic. They sealed it up as much as they could." Gwendolyn says she can tell the difference since the army of Entergy employees and volunteers made the improvements. For Gwendolyn this is important because, as she says, "I don't have any idea about going anywhere else."

For people like Gwendolyn who have set down roots and want to stay where they consider home, stormy weather alone won't keep them from it.