Betty Brown gave Craig Jacomine a hug and told him that the upcoming Christmas was going to be a great one with her family over to visit her Luling home.
That meant plenty to Jacomine – and to many other community members as well who have stepped forward to help a couple that was very much in need.
Jacomine was recently attending Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church when he met Deacon Mike Fabre. Fabre shared with him that a couple in Luling was dealing with some very hard times. The couple’s home was damaged by Hurricane Ida and Brown had told Fabre they hired a contractor who took their money and disappeared, leaving them with a damaged, unfinished home.
“When I pulled up to her home, the front of the house, like the grass is manicured very well. The house is kept up very well,” said Jacomine, an electrical contractor who visited Brown’s home with Fabre to see if there was anything he could do to help. “But when we knocked on the door, she answered, and she was sweating – the heat just hit you as soon as she opened her front door.”
All of the home’s issues became apparent quickly. There was no central air conditioning. The outdoor air conditioning unit was gone – Jacomine said it appeared that the contractor who took the couple’s money had removed the unit and that it was likely scrapped.
There were no finished floors. A sliding glass door was gone and covered with plywood, allowing water to enter the house every time it rains. There were roof leaks, plumbing issues and possible termite damage.
Brown’s husband was battling prostate cancer during Hurricane Ida and its aftermath, making the situation even more difficult.
This was Brown’s second time dealing with a terrible fallout from a hurricane. She owned a paid-off home in New Orleans that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Jacomine said she did not receive the insurance money that she should have for that situation. Years later, another hurricane nightmare arose.
Jacomine, the owner of Parrain’s Heating and Air Conditioning, arranged for a new air conditioning unit to be installed.
“Her husband’s a cancer survivor … nobody should have to go through a Louisiana summer without air conditioning after everything they’ve already been through,” Jacomine said.
But that could only be step one for Brown’s home. More help was needed.
He took to Facebook and shared Brown’s story. He asked for help from anyone with the time, talent, skills, equipment, or materials to do so and made a list of what the house would need.
It did not take long to garner a response – and it was massive.
“Next thing you know, man, that post within probably 12 hours – it was shared a bunch, but I looked, Facebook has this little eye button, I clicked on it – it was seen over 33,000 times within like 12 hours,” Jacomine said. “And by the next day, it was over 50,000 times. I was getting messages from friends of mine who are contractors but also so many people that I didn’t know, messages every time I’d check from people asking ‘How can I help?’”
Jacomine’s Craig’s Electrical, Ron Matherne and Acadian Windows & Siding, Dufrene Building Materials, Kendall J. Washington / Safe Spot Pest Control, Sean Thornton, Kyle Martin / Martin Metals, Troy Matherne
and United Way of St. Charles were among the community members, businesses and organizations who stepped forward to repair the family’s home.
“It was hotter inside the house than outside,” said Ron Matherne. “Her husband was laying on the concrete floor – you know no floor material at all in the house, it was all just exposed concrete – and he was laying on the floor just to cool off. “They’ve been living in this condition since Ida. I just felt compelled to act. They had unfortunate circumstances, and it was nothing that they did that got them there.”
Matherne reached out to several of his contacts as well that volunteered to assist.
“They all stepped up, did not even question it,” said Matherne. “And it’s been an awesome sight to see so many people in our community come together like this to help somebody out.”
For Jacomine, the situation felt like something of a sign for him – and perhaps the start of something bigger.
He said that days before becoming aware of the couple’s plight, he had discussed the possibility of a community effort to help others in his Bible study group.
The collective effort to help Brown led to communication with United Way of St. Charles. Jacomine said her home is the pilot home for a program that would find people who need help before their problems become a crisis, then connect them with contractors, businesses, churches and volunteers willing to help. Some may be elderly or disabled. They may technically be able to afford their mortgage but lack the physical or financial resources to maintain their homes. The goal is to intervene before their situation deteriorates – facing foreclosure or living in unsafe conditions.
“What I’m hoping is that people have somebody that they know or know somebody and they can submit their name to this program,” Jacomine said. “And that’s where we can do our part and reach out to them and see what kind of help that we can offer them.
“For those people that feel like they don’t have a voice, we want them to realize that they do.”
