20 Years after Katrina Stories of Strength and Resilience graphic

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina and the floods that followed devastated the Gulf Coast, displacing families, destroying homes, and disrupting communities. Since then, community leaders, residents, and local partners have worked tirelessly to rebuild homes, restore trust, and reimagine the region. Enterprise is honored to have stood alongside them—listening to their stories, supporting their resilience, and helping to restore a place so many proudly call home.

Back then nobody had a roadmap for recovery from this kind of disaster. Everybody was figuring it out as we went along...It's a story that continues, even 20 years later.
Michelle Whetten, Enterprise VP and Gulf Coast Market Leader
New Orleans skyline from a park in Lafitte

Championing a Region’s Comeback

When our VP and Gulf Coast Market Leader Michelle Whetten first arrived in New Orleans in March 2006, the region was still reeling from the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. 

Whetten, a Seattle native who was the former deputy director in Enterprise’s New York office, has made New Orleans her home and spent the past two decades focused on helping her adopted city and region build back.

Read Michelle's Story.

Building Together After Katrina

Together with our partners, Enterprise has created more than 20,000 affordable homes for families across the Gulf Coast region.

20,100

rental and for-sale homes supported

4,200

Enterprise Green Communities homes certified or in the pipeline

$80M

rental assistance funding in Mississippi resulting from Enterprise-led advocacy

$630M

grants, loans, equity invested in Louisiana and Mississippi

Karen Ladner and Janine Lee, former and current exec directors of the Bay Waveland Housing Authority

Caring for the People You Help

When Hurricane Katrina approached the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Karen Ladner was focused on protecting residents of the Bay Waveland Housing Authority, where she served as executive director.

Katrina’s eyewall struck Waveland directly, destroying all public housing in Hancock County and contributing to the loss of more than 60,000 homes across the state. Even in the face of staggering devastation, the survival and resilience of her community remained at the heart of Ladner’s story.

Read Karen's Story
Emelda Paul holds a black t-shirt with the words Remembering Hurricane Katrina bordered by two crosses in a room with framed pictures on the wall

Coming Home

Emelda Paul’s story reflects the heart of New Orleans—community, resilience, and strength. At just 23, she moved into Lafitte Place in Tremé with her three young daughters, where she built a home and lasting bonds with neighbors who became like family.

After Hurricane Katrina forced her to leave in 2005, Miss Paul returned to rebuild not only her own life but also the community, drawing on the determination and vitality that have defined the neighborhood for generations. As she reminds us, “We fall down, but we get up.” At 91, her journey is a powerful reminder of the resilience that continues to shape New Orleans and the people who call it home.

Read Emelda's Story
New Orleans isn’t what it was before Katrina. But cities change. And as long as we keep fighting for it — keeping culture, people, and community at the center — we will hold onto what makes this place home.
Kwamé Juakali, Program Manager, Gulf Coast
Kwame Juakali and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu

Rescuing Ourselves

Four days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, 15-year-old Kwamé Juakali walked with his family along the Interstate highway toward the Superdome, seeking shelter, food, and water.

Twenty years later, and now our Gulf Coast Program Manager, Juakali has dedicated his career to rebuilding and strengthening his native city, motivated by his conviction that “this kind of failed response should never happen again.”
 

Read Kwamé's Story
Five people rebuilding the interior of a home damaged by Katrina

Investing in Recovery

What began as a temporary stay at a KOA campground turned into months of displacement for George Dupuy and his family. Returning to a home flooded with two feet of water, Dupuy began the long process of rebuilding—not just for himself, but for his extended family, and the community he served. 

Then a senior vice president at Omni Bank, he helped direct critical capital and resources to families and small businesses across the Gulf Coast. Twenty years later, Dupuy continues his commitment to community-focused resilience as a senior commercial relationship manager at Home Bank.

Read George's Story
I didn’t grow up thinking about housing, and it wasn’t on my radar at all when I thought about my future career. But when you see that kind of devastation — 65,000 homes gone — it puts a sharp focus on the importance of having a home.
John Sullivan, Enterprise State and Local Policy Director, Gulf Coast
John Sullivan with GORR staff members and Gov Barbour

Rebuilding Mississippi

When Hurricane Katrina struck, John Sullivan had just graduated from law school and was still deciding what path to take. Though safe with his family in Brookhaven, Mississippi, he was close enough to feel the shockwaves of the storm’s devastation.

Within weeks, he joined Gov. Haley Barbour’s team to support recovery in the state’s hardest-hit communities. Today, as Enterprise’s Gulf Coast State and Local Policy Director, Sullivan brings that same commitment to building stronger, more resilient communities.
 

Read John's Story
Rachelle Delfillo speaks from a podium to graduating students wearing blue cap and gowns

Moving Forward

In August of 2005, Rachelle Defillo was a young mother who had recently opened a clothing store in New Orleans’ French Quarter. The destruction and chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina upended her family’s life and her entrepreneurial plans. 

In the 20 years that followed, Defillo has gone on to create new businesses, invest in real estate, and build the foundations for a new career chapter in community development and housing. Today, she draws on that extensive experience as the associate director of our Gulf Coast office.

Read Rachelle's Story
Ryan Brock with summer campers holding certificates

Supporting Each Resident 

Ryan Brock left for Houston with just a small bag, expecting to return in a few days after the storm. Two weeks later, he found his old neighborhood unrecognizable and his home “gray and covered in mud.” “That’s when it really hit me. The whole town — and our lives — had changed,” he said. Today as upward mobility fellow at Enterprise, Brock leads youth programs at the Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center at Faubourg Lafitte, helping young people grow through after-school activities and summer camp. 

Read Ryan's Story.

New Orleans skyline
Stories of Strength and Resilience
Over the past 20 years, community collaborations and dedicated investments have rebuilt homes, strengthened resilience, and inspired lasting change across the Gulf Coast. This timeline highlights the remarkable milestones of that journey.
View the Timeline