Ms. Gray needs our help! Hurricane Ida was a storm that our favorite teacher, Nadia Gray, will never forget.

As we all know, Nadia is one of the hardest working people on the planet. She goes from teaching 2nd grade at Trinity in New Orleans, by day, to nannying, organizing, mentoring students, helping with homework, housesitting, dogsitting, babysitting, leading after-school sports, leading Girls on the Run, and donating her time to various causes, by night and on weekends and holidays. She cares more about children and helping them learn and grow than anyone I know.

She’s also incredibly tenacious. She saved like a squirrel for years and finally fulfilled her dream of buying her own home in December 2019. For a year and a half after she bought it, she worked so hard on her house – repainting, buying furniture, redoing the kitchen, her bedroom, the bathrooms – perfecting every corner of her new house to make it her own. She would frequently show photos of her progress and was so proud of how beautifully it was coming along.

Unfortunately, in August 2021, Hurricane Ida changed everything. When she returned to her home after evacuating, she found that it had been ravaged by the storm. She was greeted by a strong smell of gasoline, and when she went around to the backyard, she found her garage no longer standing and her hot water heater lying on the ground spewing water and gasoline everywhere. Several trees had fallen, her fence had been knocked down, and it looked like a warzone. And that was just the damage outside. Inside she found warped floors, and her ceiling had fallen into her bedroom, among other terrible damage throughout the house. As no AC worked any longer, the mold began to grow in our super humid climate. She was devastated, to say the least.

She filed a claim with insurance and an adjuster met her within a week. He reassured her that they would take care of everything, but as time went on, she became schooled in insurance coverage, and the true meaning of the term “depreciated value.” As a first-time homeowner, unfortunately, she learned the hard way about proper insurance coverage. While her insurance company finally released a modest check in April 2021, she continues to haggle with her mortgage company for access to that money – a story many of us know well. In the meantime, she is STILL living on friends’ couches, in guest rooms, guest houses, and in Slidell with her parents. Her home is still unlivable a year and a half later.

With the small amount of insurance money she did receive early on, and an interest-free loan from the SBA, she rented a POD and filled it with those of her prized possessions that she was able to save from her home – her books, her photos, old letters and other keepsakes. Always an optimist, over time, Nadia began to fill the POD with new furniture, large kitchen appliances, TVs, and everything she would need to re-do her home (again). Whenever stores had big sales, she’d save up and make a purchase and saved it all in her locked POD outside her house. Things took a heartbreaking turn in June 2022 when a very heavy rainfall came to New Orleans, and the City failed to turn the pumps on in Nadia's area. The POD in front of her home took on 18 inches of water. Her heart sank as she opened the door and saw that everything she’d worked so hard to replace was a ruined, moldy mess (again). Her flood insurance will not cover any of the loss.

Ms. Gray needs a break! She has been through so much. Nadia is a selfless caretaker who spends so much time helping others. She loves our children dearly, and invests so much of herself in their lives. So let's invest in her right back! Please join me in helping Ms. Gray rebuild her home.