Protecting Homes
In collaboration with The Lowlander Center, Mennonite and Amish volunteers, and the Live Oak Baptist Church, the Pointe au Chien Indian Tribe has, in the last four years, reconstructed eight homes destroyed by Hurricane Ida. Two of these homes were built in 2023-2024. We rebuilt six more houses throughout the fall and winter of 2024-2025! All eight of these homes are built to withstand wind speeds of at least 160 miles per hour, meet Fortified Gold Level Certification standards, and conserve energy efficiently.
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The tribe continues to raise money to meet the urgent need for housing. As we celebrate the six homes that we have rebuilt this year and the total eight families who have returned home, we look forward to the houses that we must continue working on. Hurricane Francine in 2024 reemphasized our need to safely house all our tribal members. Rebuilding Pointe au Chien Together resiliently fights on until every part of Pointe au Chien is safe and sustainable.​
Meet Brenda and Earl Billiot
Brenda and Earl were the first to have their home rebuilt after Hurricane Ida. Construction began on August 29, 2023, the two year anniversary of the storm.
Their home, and all subsequent homes, are built to withstand another Category 4 Hurricane. We built it with screws rather than nails, greatly adding to its tensile strength, so that wind has a much harder time pulling it apart. We strapped the pilings and sealed the roof, protecting the house from wind and water.
Brenda and Earl moved into their resilient home in June 2024, after almost three years in a FEMA camper. They are overjoyed, and excited for others in the tribe to move into their own homes.
Committed to Rebuilding
Pointe au Chien knows that our current homes are at risk of hurricanes, salt water intrusion, and slow erosion. We are, however, determined to stay and rebuild exactly for that reason. Southern Louisiana is the buffer for the rest of the state and the rest of the country; if it erodes, then the state is threatened by the same fate. Pointe au Chien is willing to stay and weather these storms. To do this, however, we need to rebuild our homes so that the physical structures can weather storms just as well as their inhabitants.
We invite you to join our team to protect this crucially valuable region.