The Story

On a fresh late-summer’s afternoon of the 22nd of September, 2007, Miracle Joseph 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-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.

If would like to contribute to their rebuilding fund:

  • Please note that the donations system has been disabled.  If the family asks it to be re-enabled, we will do so.  Thank you so much for your support!
    • This donation system is run by Click and Pledge (http://www.clickandpledge.com)
      • Click and Pledge offers donation pages to non-profit organizations without a monthly fee.  Their site is secure.  Please visit their site for details.  They subtract 4.5% from each donation.
  • Record of past donations:
    • Donors: 246
    • Amount raised: $11,095.00

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 tpark1 - at - tulane - dot - edu