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  Schenectady</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <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_schenectady.gif" alt="Meet the Families WHOSE HOMES ARE BEING REBUILT WITH DONATIONS RECEIVED FROM THE SCHENECTADY ENGAGEMENT OF THE COLOR PURPLE." /></div> <div id="cont"> <div class="title_story"> <img src="images/title_joycelyn.gif" alt="Joycelyn" /></div> <div class="divider_top"></div> <p><img class="famPic" src="images/schenectady_joycelyn.jpg" alt="Picture of Rickey" />August 29, 2005 was an unlucky day for many along the Gulf Coast.  Joycelyn was no exception. <br /><br />Joycelyn and her husband, Lawrence, spent 34 years building their family and home in St. Bernard Parish.  With one small turn of the sea, it was all washed away in a matter of hours.  Katrina destroyed the home where they raised their two sons (Mark, 42 and Troy, 37) and watched their granddaughter, Beth, become a mother. <br /><br />Their unlucky streak continued.  Joycelyn, Lawrence, and their 4 Chihuahuas (Bandit, Simba, Callie, Ashley) bounced from place to place for the next three years.  They moved from friend s houses, to church shelters, and eventually ended up in a trailer park in Slidell, where they spent a majority of the past three years. <br /><br />After their three-year absence from the parish, the couple decided it was time to go home.  They were able to find affordable rental housing and have resided there for the past year.  Although the family has returned to their community, they have not been able to go home. Four years after the storm, Joycelyn s home sits neglected.  The family hasn t had much luck in their fight to return home. <br /><br />Upon returning to the parish, their clan of Chihuahuas expanded.  Ashley became pregnant and soon Joycelyn had four more Chihuahuas in her charge.  However, one of them became very ill.  One day, he just laid there on the ground, not breathing. <br /><br /> I just rubbed his chest like you see on T.V. she said.   So you gave your Chihuahua CPR? we asked astonishingly.  She jests,  Well, I didn t know how much air you were supposed to put in a Chihuahuas lungs& but I had God with me.   Joycelyn saved the puppies life. <br /><br />When asked what the puppy's name is, she laughs,  Well& it s Lucky. <br /><br />Joycelyn is now one of the lucky ones herself.  Her house is on its way to being rebuilt and she wants all the volunteers to know she thinks,  these people are the coolest people in the world.  They make it their concern to help others. I can t believe it s four years down the road and these people are still helping. </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>