ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <title>The Color Purple  Meet the Families  Creative Team</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css" type="text/css" charset="utf-8" /> <!--[if IE 6]><link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style_ie6.css" type="text/css" /><![endif]--> <!--[if IE 7]><link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style_ie7.css" type="text/css" /><![endif]--> </head> <body id="families"> <div id="wrapper"> <div id="header2"> <div id="title_city"> <img src="images/title_producer.gif" alt="MEET THE FAMILIES WHOSE HOMES ARE BEING REBUILT WITH DONATIONS RECEIVED FROM THE PRODUCING TEAM, ALICE WALKER AND CREATIVE TEAM OF THE COLOR PURPLE." /></div> <div id="cont"> <!-- Odelean --> <div class="title_story"> <img src="images/title_odelean.gif" alt="Odelean" /></div> <div class="divider_top"></div> <p><img class="famPic" src="images/pic_odelean.jpg" alt="Picture of Odelean" />Before the storm hit, Odelean was working at the Child Support Office in New Orleans and her husband Alvin had retired after 30 years as a Greyhound bus driver. Though they were not planning a string of vacations to follow his retirement &ndash; "We didn't have enough money for that," she laughed&ndash;Katrina was certainly not in their plans. When they heard that the storm was coming, the family, joined by their daughter and grandson, packed up and stayed with family in Tyler Town, Miss. From there, they received news that their home was destroyed. <br /><br />The family relocated and ended up aboard a cruise ship docked in New Orleans. They stayed on the ship from November 2005 to Mardi Gras 2006, which Odelean admits was great. "All your laundry was done, the meals were cooked&ndash;It was wonderful!" Odelean said. <br /><br />Following the cruise ship, the family checked into a hotel and continued to wait for electricity to return in the Upper Ninth Ward. <br /><br />Odelean took the next step toward moving home and settled in a FEMA trailer while the rest of the family stayed in Mississippi. <br /><br />"I had to go back to work,"' she said. "But it was strange living all alone in a deserted neighborhood." <br /><br />Two years later, the family continues to live in a FEMA trailer. Paycheck-by-paycheck, they continue to purchase rebuilding supplies as their budget allows. <br /><br />Alvin is handy and has done most of the work to this point himself. The family is doing all they can, but the rebuilding process is slow. The family fears the formaldehyde emitted from the trailer, which has served as their home for the past two years, may have caused damage to their lungs. <br /><br />Their journey home is far from complete and leaves the family feeling hopeless at times. <br /><br />"It feels like it's going to be 15 or 20 years before they get back into their homes, especially in St. Bernard and Orleans [Parishes], which were the hardest hit," Odelean said. "A lot of people want to come home, but they just can't." </p> <div class="clear">&nbsp;</div> <div id="btn_donate"> <a href="http://www.stbernardproject.org/v158/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=221&Itemid=38"><img src="images/btn_donate.gif" alt="Donate" /></a> </div> <div id="footer"> <a href="http://colorpurple.com"><img src="images/footer_url.gif" alt="Visit The Color Purple's official website" /></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>