The Story

On a fresh late-summer's afternoon of the 22nd of September, 2007, Miracle Lewis came down to New Orleans to see her newly restored room. Miracle's family was rebuilding the home after the house had been filled with ten feet of water and damaged by a massive tree. After being forced out by the storm to Port Allen, LA, and on to Houston, TX, her family had made it a little closer to their goal of returning to their roots by finding temporary-stay housing in Baton Rouge. The gleeful approval in Miracle's eyes after seeing her room on this day, however, was truly a milestone on the soon-to-be-realized path of bringing the family back home.

Early the next morning, however, a cruel turn of events quickly devastated their dreams. Some time during those early morning hours someone had parked a stolen vehicle their backyard, removed the tires, and set the car on fire to presumably destroy any evidence linking the perpetrator to the vehicle. The resulting inferno engulfed the the home, and burned it entirely to the ground. A firefighter was quoted as saying that "the flames were seen from a mile away, that's how intense it was." Hours before, the house was 80 percent complete, and the electricity was scheduled to be turned on the coming Monday. All that remained now was ash.

Miracle, her mother Kellie, and six brothers and sisters have all called the historic Holy Cross neighborhood in New Orleans home for nearly ten years. Her mother had worked their way out of the St. Bernard Housing Project that the family had moved into following the loss of her husband in a motor cycle accident, to become a homeowner in this neighborhood. Determined to give her children the best possible options, she kept them out of trouble, in school and church-related activities, and close to home. After the storm, her children were having a hard time integrating into their new schools, and Kellie quickly realized the need to return her family to the place that defined their being, to New Orleans. This unsettling tragedy severely jeopardized this noble hope.

All is not lost, however. A concerned group of family, friends, and public officials are determined not to let this family's self-evident courage and determination to return to their home base to be irreparably devastated, and plea for you to help them realize their dream of bringing Miracle home.

Miracle's lost home on Dauphine in the Holy Cross District of the Ninth Ward

How you can help

After losing their home originally in Hurricane Katrina, the Joseph family put $138,000 of the money they received from a Road Home grant of approximately $150,000 towards rebuilding their home and life. This investment was tragically lost in the fire, and unfortunately the maximum they can receive from their insurance (after it would go to pay off the mortgage of the burned home) to rebuild their home a second time is a balance of $12,000. As a consequence, the Joseph family will not have the means to rebuild their house.

A rebuilding fund has been established by State Representative Charmaine Marchand at Capital One that is specifically restricted for use only in reconstruction. If you are interested in contributing to this fund you can make a credit card donation via the ClickandPledge form below, or you can stop by your local Capital One branch and give directly to the Kellie Joseph Rebuilding Fund (account number: 2045630008).

If you would like to make a direct donation of building materials, a ministorage unit provided generously by Mini's Portable Storage is available for such donations in the parking lot adjacent to Representative Charmaine Marchand's Office on weekdays between 10am and 2pm at:

4030 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70117
Google Maps

If you would like to reach a family member directly, both Kellie and Kellie's brother (Dennis Joseph) are available to receive your inquiries at and respectively. Dennis Joseph can also be reached directly at (504) 228-1177. For general questions regarding the project and this website you can reach their student advocates at .

Update #9

It has been a long time since I have posted an update, and I just wanted to offer a quick note on the progress of Kellie's rebuilding. Overall, I would say that we are very much behind where we thought we might be at this date, but the process seems to be progressing. The building plans are basically finished, and Kellie is currently trying to get the relevant permits and such.

One unforeseen hurdle that has cropped up in the past month has to do with the foundation of the house. The house is registered as a historical building, but because the structure burnt totally to the ground it is no longer seen as such. Consequently, Kellie now has to destroy the existing foundation, and raise her house a certain number of feet. This is certainly ideal in terms of preparing for another storm, but it also presents a significant out-of-pocket expense that the family isn't able to meet at the moment.

Even so, Reverend Jordan (a wonderful woman put in charge of organizing the rebuilding effort) is busily trying to put all the pieces together. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers. The setbacks have been sizeable, but the hope and will most certainly remains. If you have any input regarding this project, please don't hesitate to email us @ (forgive the way the email address looks; we had to use an image to spoof spamming bots).

-memor21

Update #8

Thank you Brusly High School of the Baton Rouge, LA school system! Students at this high school came together to adopt the Joseph family, and stopped by today to drop of Christmas presents for the family. Thank you once again, your actions are truly inspirational to us all.

Also, I just wanted to pass on a brief note that the rebuilding process has officially begun! Members of the family and community, the Tulane University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, and Mr. Irvin Robbins came together yesterday to start clearing the lot of the fire debris. Photos from the effort have been added to the photo page; please check it out! Thank you to all for your continued prayers, support, and dedication to this needy and deserving family.

-memor21

Update #7

We've just passed the Thanksgiving season, and it has left us much to be thankful for regarding the Joseph family. Individuals from the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC), Mercy Corps, Zion City Community Development Corporation, Mid-City Neighborhood Organization, and T-CARE have come together to help realize the Joseph family's dream of returning to their home in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. This partnership is fully committed to the rebuilding process from start to finish.

Irvin Robbins of the National Association of Minority Contractors is a dedicated local citizen of New Orleans who is spearheading this effort by providing the planning and coordination of all the various aspects of this initiative; Rev. Jordan of the Zion City CDC is helping to coordinate community resources for this project; Mercy Corps is providing the bulk of the building materials through the donation of two abandoned houses which will be deconstructed; and the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization has committed a warehouse to store and centralize all the materials to be used in building the new home.

As a final comment, it seems worth noting that while it is unknown how much funding the project is going to require, there is certainly going to be much to be paid for in terms of both building supplies and skilled labor. Consequently, there is still a very real need for the family to continue to raise funds to ensure the project is able to finish as planned. Please continue to help spread the word about both the tragedy and hope that underpin this project. Thank you, and - as always - please feel free to drop a line at:

-memor21

Update #6

Sorry for the long hiatus everyone, but the past couple of weeks have amounted to a rather intense spree of studying for us first years. In any case, in a bit of wonderful news the benefit Halloween costume event held by the Rosey Baby restaurant in Sunrise, FL was a success. The event went without a hitch, and was reportedly a wonderful time for all involved. The benefit managed to raise $300, and it is with most sincere hearts that we thank Jules of the Rosey Baby for taking the time, energy, and resources necessary to host such an event. Have a wonderful week everyone.

The running total for online donations including the Rosey Baby event is $11,120 before the Click and Pledge credit card processor transaction fees (around 4.8%).

-memor21

Update #5

I hope that all of you have had a productive week. School is really gearing up on our end with exams coming along next week, so hopefully we'll be able to devote enough time to helping out the family. In any case, we had a group meeting this past week, and I have a couple of updates/specifics. Before I get into that, however, it is with great pleasure that I report that the online donations have surpassed a $10,000 dollar milestone. Specifically, $10,570 have been raised via this online donations website to date. This is no small feat, and when I informed Kellie this afternoon she was very thankful to all of you! As I was pouring through the report for the donations I was startled to find that we have people concerned with this issue from every reach of the United States, Canada, and even the beautiful little country of Luxembourg. Incredible.

An exciting development that I am happy to report on is that of kind citizen by the name of Jules contacted me the other day, and informed me that she is planning on throwing a benefit for the Joseph family! The venue is a crawfish and cajun house called the Rosey Baby in Sunrise, Florida. I'll post the details of the events as they are known; if you live the area please pay them a visit!

Another wonderful initiative by another concerned individual is the creation of a YouTube video encouraging people to come to this site to learn about the Joseph family's circumstance. Buena Sera to you, El Gato Negro, of www.blogintegrity.net! You can view the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ehjW4C5Ok

At our group meeting this past Wednesday, each of the key players discussed the initiatives they have been working on. The three rebuilding-type organizations we are currently targeting the hardest are the Brad Pitt-connected Make It Right foundation, the Emerging Green Builders (of which the Kansas-based group we mentioned previously are a part), and Habitat for Humanity. Trying to find a way we can connect the family with any of these organizations is an ongoing process, but looking hopeful thus far.

On the "spreading-the-word" front, we are continuing to work with gracious bloggers around the country/world, working on having local "Katrina tour" companies include Kellie's story as they drive through her neighborhood, working on media outlets (we had an article published in our own school's newspaper to encourage other students to help out), and are trying to start a flyering campaign. We are also planning on connecting with local religious organizations such as Catholic Charities, and the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans.

As always, if reading any of this gives you any ideas/suggestions/desire to help out please email us at @ ! Thank you all, and please continue to help spread the word about this family's hope.

-memor21

Update #4

As a student advocate for the Joseph family, and the one responsible for updating this website, I wanted to express personal thanks to scoutprime from the blog First-Draft. Without the hard work and sacrifice that she has made over the past week, the online donations initiative would most likely be where it had been at that time (at $545). The result of her hard work has been the posting of the story at numerous high-profile blogs, and the raising of approximately $7600 over the course of the past week. This result truly goes to show the power had in the care of many.

While I have been focused on maintaining this website, my colleagues have been out and about within the Holy Cross district of the Ninth Ward in New Orleans trying to feel out the community, and have gotten the chance to meet many an interesting individual. We have all been startled by how lively and vibrant the constituents of this community are. Every Thursday a quaint little church is filled to the brim with residents of the area as they discuss the issues of their community in a neighborhood meeting. There also seems to always be someone in the audience that is from another region of the country visiting to see how they might help this underserved area.

This past week, an architect with group from Kansas that I believe was termed the "Green House Project" offered a little hope to the Joseph family's cause. He stated that they were looking for a house to use in their design project, and there is somewhat of a possibilty that their house could be chosen. It's probably a long shot, but it is encouraging just the same. I mention this with the hope that perhaps someone reading this will have an idea along these lines that could help connect the family to an organization that might be able to assist in the rebuild of their home.

On a somewhat related note, the Brad Pitt-related organization has been picking up a lot of steam lately as could be seen by the area being visited by former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev. We've been trying to help connect the family to this organization as it seems to be an ideal balance of understanding the financial circumstance of the residents of the Ninth Ward, and helping them to help themselves. We haven't been able initiate a dialogue with them yet, so please keep this in your thoughts.

Until next time, take care of yourselves; and don't hesitate to drop a line at .

Also, if you are a blog that is partcipating or has partcipated in raising awareness to the Joseph family's tragedy, please email us; we'd love the opportunity to "link back" to all of you.

- memor21

Update #3

This note is to express sincere thanks, and to show what the work of one concerned individual can produce. A few days ago I got in touch with a concerned blogger (scoutprime at www.first-draft.com) who left a note for us at bringmiraclehome@hopeingrace.com. I told her that, quite frankly, things could be better concerning both the donation effort, as well as with the family themselves. She jumped at the prospect, and over the course of the next few hours composed a message that she sent out to other bloggers that she was connected to. The result was that in one day (today) we have raised approximately $1000. This amount is nearly double the $545 that was raised in the two weeks prior. Thank you scoutprime, your service has had an immeasurably positive impact.

Also, a note from Ms. Joseph herself, and copied from the "Leave a personal note" section:

"I personally would like to thank everyone that has been with us every step of the way, during our storm, including my family and perfect strangers. I appreciate every token of love, whether monetary or just a prayer. I ask you to continue to pray for my family and a safe return home. Again, THANKS A MILLION."

-Kellie Joseph

Until the next update, keep on smilin', hopin', and carin'.

-memor21

Update #2

This report brings a bit of hope, and a bit heartache. The good news is that in concert with the money the family had left from the Road Home funds, and the combination of direct and online donations the family has a base of about $18,000 to start with. This is still far away from the $150,000 needed to rebuild the home, but it is definitely a positive beginning.

The more unfortunate news is that the family itself hasn't been doing as well lately. According to Kellie's brother, Dennis, the children really feel as if there is no hope in returning home, and have started to get into trouble. One of Kellie's daughters even ran away for a few days to visit some of her close friends in New Orleans, and caused the whole family much angst in the process.

The other pieces of unfortunate news are financial. The first being that the insurance company that was to pay off the mortgage of the house is fighting with Kellie, asking her to prove that her house was truly burned down by a third party. The process seems to be moving along, but the red tape is certainly frustrating. If this process is indeed successful this would potentially add $12,000 to funds remaining from the Road home grant and the donations. The second dilemma is the fact that donations have also come to a standstill (both in person, and online). If you have any thoughts on how to renew public interest/increase exposure please contact us @ bringmiraclehome@hopeingrace.com

Have a great week everyone, and please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.

-memor21

Update #1

Maya Rodriguez, an Eyewitness News Reporter with WWLTV, graciously agreed to cover the Kellie's story in hopes of helping to spread the word to the public. The report can be seen at: www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl092907khfiredestoryed.1213b8bf2.html

Also, the first donation came in this evening offered by a woman named Sharon. Thank you Sharon for your support, and for your kind heart.

-memor21

Blogs involved:

First-Draft
Bill's Big Diamond Blog
Crooks and Liars
FireDogLake
Atrios
The American Street
The Next Hurrah
Your Right Hand Thief
A Spork in the Drawer
No Fish, No Nuts
Rising Hegemon
Echidne of the Snakes
2Millionth Web Log
Suburban Guerilla
The Rude Pundit
The Left Coaster
Online Blogintegrity
The Cluttered Eclectic Mind