Help Margaret VanWinkle Rebuild Her Home

Hurricane Laura devastated areas around Southwest Louisiana. While major towns like Lake Charles received a lot of attention, smaller towns like De Quincy did not, despite experiencing similar damages. As I was documenting the recovery effort, I met Ms. Margarett VanWinkle, 89 year old resident of De Quincy. Her Pastor introduced me to her. During our conversation I learnt she had lost her house in the hurricane. For 70 years she called this house home. Along with her husband she had moved here after they got married. As the hurricane swept past her small town, a tree fell on her roof, making the place uninhabitable. She is currently living with her granddaughter. She applied for FEMA assistance but was deemed ineligible as she had limited term home insurance. Due to the terms of her insurance, the company had provided a very very small lump sum amount and then cancelled her insurance. Her belongings right now are 3 sets of clothes, her bible and a pair of shoes. She may be able to get a few more sets of clothes when someone can access her house, which isn't possible due to safety risk.

For the past month, I spend one day a week with her, documenting her life. Despite losing her home she is in good spirits. She spends her time reading her bible, books, playing puzzles and going on a daily walk. Once a day she also walks back to her damaged house to feed the cats that adopted her. On Sundays she attends both the services at her church. She hasn't missed a service in 70 years.

I joined her when she fed the cats, walked to Church and just spoke to her while playing puzzle. Every now and then she would mention that she had lost her home and believe me when I say this, you can feel her pain as she utters those words. Her granddaughter is looking into helping her rebuild the place, but first her current place will need to be demolished. It is not cheap, and their resources are very limited. My goal is to raise some funds that can help her with the rebuilding process and get her, her home back.  Appreciate all your support in this effort. Every little bit counts, and please share this effort with everyone you think may be interested in helping out.

Regards,
Osman Sharif
Resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana