Nice little shack for a $100 bucks. I should have bought a ticket while evacuated in Lafayette.
Posted on 11/13/2005 12:59:52 PM PST by CajunConservative
Nearly three months after being forced from her home in New Orleans, a hurricane evacuee finally heard some good news.
In a drawing Saturday televised live, Betty Wiltumer-Zenon's name was announced as the winner of the Acadian Home Builders Association's first "Home for Thanksgiving" drawing, an event that raffles off a new home and donates the proceeds to area charities, such as Habitat for Humanity, Faith House and the Acadiana Children's Shelter.
Wiltumer-Zenon could not be reached for comment, but has been living in Lafayette since leaving New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, said Adrienne Breaux, public relations coordinator for AHBA.
Wiltumer-Zenon will have 30 days to take residence in the more than 3,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bathroom home valued at $420,000 in Lafayette's Boulder Creek subdivision, said Arlene LeBlanc, AHBA events coordinator.
"We actually had a lot of evacuees buy tickets, and sales from all over the nation really, of people wanting to come to Lafayette," LeBlanc said. "We are so blessed to have this opportunity to help out a family and help charity at the same time."
Wiltumer-Zenon wasn't the only one excited about the fund-raiser.
Monica Bartie and her daughter, Martine, were also helped by the raffle, as they are first on the list to receive a home through Habitat for Humanity.
"It's taken a while because we've all been waiting on the funding," said Bartie, who's been renting a home in Acadiana for years. "Now, we're going to get it. We're just so excited."
More than 3,800 raffle tickets were sold for $100 each.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the Cajundome and the Hurricane Relief Fund also will receive money from the raffle's proceeds.
*Louisiana Ping List
Nice little shack for a $100 bucks. I should have bought a ticket while evacuated in Lafayette.
Nice to hear something good out of Louisiana for a change. We can only hope that this will turn at least one family's life around.
Doesn't this mean that someone is gonna need to make some bucks, to pay some property taxes?
Doesn't this mean, that the first damned time the potty pipes get clogged, that someone is either gonna be smart enough to fix it, or rich enough to hire a plumber.
"Poor" ain't a problem, if someone is independent, and resourceful.
It will be interesting to see what all these "free" homes look like 10 years from now!
You're generous .. I'd give them 5 years.
But .. a lot can depend on the family. With a larger house, a couple of children could move in and help take care of the place. Of course, that assumes they have jobs, etc.
That's why I posted it. I do hope that this helps. I guess we will see.
Yes they will have to pay the taxes. We will see if the burdern is more than the winner can pay. It may very well be a burden or it may not. Contrary to what you have seen flashed all over the news, a good lot of the residents were home owners and tax paying citizens, IOW they did work. Many of the areas that were flooded were nice homes. They just didn't get any news coverage. It would not fit the MSM's agenda.
Lafayette is a booming area right now and offers many opportunities for those who want to take them. This is a nice story for a community approach to charity. People donated their time and resources to help out. I posted the article because it highlights the good that is happening despite all of the negative press. I kind of like finding the good out of bad situations, but that's me.
If the owner doesn't keep up the property I can guarantee you that the zoning nazi's will not let it go for long there. I know the area.
"You're generous .. I'd give them 5 years.
But .. a lot can depend on the family. With a larger house, a couple of children could move in and help take care of the place. Of course, that assumes they have jobs, etc".
I hope she doesn't have to sell it because of property taxes.
I hope so too. Although if she can't afford to keep the house the housing market there is doing very well. A lot of the oil industry moved their businesses there and there is at lot of new people. Right after Katrina there were 150 houses sold on one day. There are no rental properties in town.
Either that or sell the thing, pay the taxes and keep the remainder as profit. That's what I'd do.
What is that? about 10000 a year?
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