Oprah’s Angel Network

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the extended Carter family including Denise (second from left) moved as a group from New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi.

© 2008 Oprah’s Angel Network

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, many families in New Orleans found themselves unexpectedly moving to new cities. Families who had spent their whole lives living just a few miles from parents and siblings were spreading out across the country, sometimes splitting up to make it easier to find a place to stay.

Things were a little different for the Carter family, though. Denise Carter Polly recalls that in the days leading up to the storm, she and a few of her siblings decided they would evacuate from their homes in the 9th Ward to Jackson, Mississippi, where their brother Stanley lived. As they were making their plans, some family members and friends still didn’t know where to go—so, Denise says, “We told them to come with us.”

All told, 29 people including Denise’s parents caravaned to Jackson to take shelter from the storm. For one month, everyone stayed together in the same house. “Definitely, it was cramped, and there was always something going on in the kitchen,” Denise says.

The whole Carter family isn’t living under the same roof anymore, but they’re still close by. Of the eight siblings in the Carter family, seven now live in Jackson, with Denise and four of her sisters and her parents all living just a few doors away in the same Habitat for Humanity® community funded by the Angel Network. Denise says that she was close to her siblings and parents before, when they were all living in New Orleans, but things are definitely different now. Now, they see each other nearly every day. “We’re always stopping in on each other,” Denise says.

Taking Care of Everyone

In the days and months after the storm, Denise says she was grateful for having her family so close, but that it still took some time for her to adjust. “I really had some uncertain nights,” Denise says of losing everything to the storm and having to leave the city she’d lived in her whole life. But Denise worked hard at keeping things together for her family. As everyone started finding jobs in their new city, Denise took on the important role of caretaker, cooking dinners for the whole family and tending to her parents, who were dealing with health problems and were in and out of hospitals after the move to Jackson.

These days, Denise is taking care of more than just her family. She recently started working as a substitute teacher and plans to teach full-time next year. She also tutors elementary students after school with their reading, math and other homework, as well as volunteers at her church. Denise says she knows she’s fortunate for having a large support system literally just steps away—and because of that, she’ll keep on giving back to her family, her neighbors and her community.