PressNew home built by volunteers helps 80-year-old retired carpenter In three weeks a New Orleans woman will return to the city from hurricane evacuation and move into her new home, a new home built by people she never met. This group of people banded together following an Action Report, showing her 80-year-old husband trying to rebuild the home himself. As the construction crews work hard on his new home, Isadore Ancar is the center of attention, making decisions about furniture, appliances and dozens of other things. But most of all, he can't wait to show his wife Marie their new home. WWL-TV Isadore Ancar works on his home as he tries to get it ready for his wife Marie to come home. "She's never had a brand new house," Ancar said. "I don't know, I don't know what she going to do, be too much excitement with her." Action Report first profiled Isadore Ancar last month, the 80-year-old retired carpenter, who was singing the Cajun French songs of his youth as he worked often by himself to repair his flood-damaged home in Gentilly. Developer Jim Ravannack saw that first Action report and was inspired to put together a team to help Isadore finish the project. "You know, it just makes me feel good every time I come here; somebody new, somebody else is chipping in." Ravannack said. The progress they made on the house in just four weeks left Isadore stunned. "Man, that man come in here, in one day's time, and hang all that rock," Ancar said. "That was amazing. It's quite a crew, isn't it? Oh yeah, boy, them guys work." The building team was also impressed by the quality of Isadore's carpentry, especially when city inspectors arrived. "He passed inspection, and it was actually the older way that they did things in the past, so it was quite interesting to us to get the inspector in here, and he said this is done correctly," said Maurice Hurst of Olympic Repairs. But Isadore doesn't want to sit back and relax. The workers say he pitches in to help. "Every time I come out he's under the house, so we got to get him out from under, and back to the top, because he's down there insulating the wires, insulating the pipes. He's 80 years old; he's something," Ravannack said. That never-give-up attitude impressed the members of the Rummel High School wrestling team, who got some extra exercise helping prepare the property for concrete to be poured. "I thought it was amazing how he still has the drive to work on his house and he wants to get it done so he is going to do whatever it takes," Bernie Dupuy, a Rummel wrestler, said. "And so to be able to help him with this, it's great." There's been a sense of urgency throughout this entire project. The idea is to bring Isadore's wife Marie home from the hurricane evacuation as soon as possible. Marie has been diagnosed with cancer, so they've been working to finish this home as fast as possible. "We looking right after the fourth of July," Ravannack said. For Isadore Ancar, the best day ever will be when his Marie comes home to her new home. "I'm excited to see her, you know," Ancar said. "I'll be going to the Olympic Games in August, this is more exciting than the Olympic Games to me," Ravannack said. |
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