Community comes together to start new home build
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – When Darla Haro stood across the street from the home, she and her husband Arthur lived in for many years, watching an extra-large steam shovel start the work to demolish the two-story house, there were tears of sadness for the “dream home” the two enjoyed together for so long.
But slowly, those emotions turned into tears of joy for the 78-year-old thanks to a community behind her, leading to her anticipation of something soon to come—a new home.
Darla made the front page of The Slidell Independent last August 2024, with a headline stating, “An Uncertain Future.”
That was because Arthur had passed away over 30 years earlier, and with no children to help, plus the fact she never qualified for Social Security because she only worked as a hairdresser, Darla was almost completely on her own to survive on only $600 a month from a small rental house Arthur had purchased years before.
Things took a terrible turn in 2005 for Darla when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, damaging her roof so badly that water began to leak in. Things got worse in 2021 when Hurricane Ida added to the roof damage, now allowing water to pour into her living room, kitchen and bedroom every time it rained. With both storms, FEMA denied her efforts for assistance to get the roof fixed.
For years Darla did all she could, deciding to glue plastic Walmart bags to her inside ceiling and outside on the roof. She would frequently be seen outside, high up on an extension ladder.
“I was just trying to do the best I could for my house,” she said.
But the plastic bags did very little, and Darla found herself living in a soaked house on the inside almost all the time.
However, her fortunes began to change last summer when a longtime Slidell resident, Norman Chappetta, saw her outside one day and left a letter in her mailbox, offering to help. It took months before Darla decided to trust him, since she had been scammed already by roofers who ran off with her money.
Chappetta contacted this newspaper, the story was published, and City Councilman Trey Brownfield was among the first to offer his help. Since then, with Brownfield leading the effort and Chappetta setting up a GoFundMe account, enough donations of supplies and labor got the new home closer. Then, DSLD Builders closed the deal a month ago when they announced they would get the home built.
The work began last week when BJ’s Service Group, owned by Cortney Bower, provided an offer to demolish the house at her own expense—estimated close to $20,000. By the end of the day, a beautifully cleared lot was all that remained, and DSLD Supervisor Andrew Cahanin said they expect to have the home finished in two months.
As if the huge crowd of support that showed up that morning wasn’t enough, developer Jeff Vallee, who had contacted DSLD about taking on the job, handed Darla the keys to a low-mileage 2012 Buick LaCrosse.
“What?” Darla screamed through more tears as she was surprised by the car. “Mine? Are you kidding?”
Vallee, who had become involved in the project with Cahanin, knew that Darla only owned one aging car that was not in great shape.
“I knew this would be a difficult day for her so I thought the car might make things better,” he said.
Brownfield, who said early on that he was determined to get all the needed donations for the home to ensure Darla would not be living with others in the rental next door for too long, said the demolition was a great site to see.
“I said early on that one day a story would be told about how a community came together and a new home would be built for Mrs. Darla,” he said.
“Watching the old home go down actually felt like a relief. A lot of people said it was the beginning of all this, but to me it brought closure. The biggest hurdle is over, and we know this house is going to be built for her,” he added.
The GoFundMe account, plus other donations that were greatly assisted by Good Sam’s Ministry at St. Luke Catholic Church, is now near the $45,000 level, which will provide some of the things not covered after Brownfield has steadily found suppliers and sub-contractors who have offered the things needed for the home to be built.
Cahanin said that if they are short of anything, his company would make sure to fill in the missing parts. “This house will be finished, and we hope it will be quickly,” he said.
He expects dirt to be brought in and a slab to be poured within two or three weeks, then the complete construction will continue to go up.
The day began with a prayer led by Darla’s sister, Donna, followed by Journey Fellowship Pastor Doug McAllister praying for the project and all in the community who have helped.
“The Bible says that pure and undefiled religion is to help the widows. I love living in a city where these things happen, and then God gets all the glory,” he said.
Donna added, “bless all the wonderful people who helped my sister. This is the beginning of a new life for her.”
Darla said the donation of the car was especially appreciated because she was slowly watching her home get demolished and was very upset as the dozer got closer to the two-story structure and tall chimney, which would bring it completely down.
“Then they told me there was a surprise they had, so I turned around to see the car. It all distracted me from seeing the house go completely down,” she said. “I keep saying that all these people helping me are my angels. And I’m glad now that people see me for who I really am. I know some people didn’t think much of me with the house looking so bad here.”
However, the common response to meeting Darla and hearing how she tried to manage for so many years continually brings comments like the one from Adam Bower with BJ’s Service Group.
“When we heard about this all I can say is that must be a strong woman,” he said.
Vallee added, “Darla is a strong woman, and to see what a positive attitude she had after going through all this for years, we are happy to do something nice for her.”