Gloria Guy

A retired professional baker, Gloria Guy was born and raised in the Lower 9th Ward. She loved her peaceful neighborhood and her quiet neighbors prior to Hurricane Katrina. Ms. Guy knew most of them and fondly recalls going to the local church. She especially loved Friday services when the children participated in programs.

She was one of many Lower 9th Ward residents who did not evacuate for Hurricane Katrina. Ms. Guy literally witnessed the levees break right outside of her Lower 9th Ward home. She and her family looked on as a barge came through the breach and dislodged their home from its foundation. Ms. Guy’s sons had to put a hole in the attic to save them from the water that flooded their home. As their home floated in the current, Ms. Guy and her family had to go from one roof to the next to survive. They were on the third roof for nine and a half hours before they were rescued by boat and brought to the Superdome. 

Ms. Guy and her family eventually ended up in Laverne, Georgia, where the cost of living is much higher than in New Orleans, in a home provided by Catholic Charities. She is raising eight of her grandchildren; her daughter died in 2002, and her eldest son died in 2006, as did one of her grandsons. Ms. Guy and her family have been through so much. She longs to return to the quiet neighborhood Katrina forced her to leave behind. 

Ms. Guy said she “thanks God for Make It Right” and loves that they are helping to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward and bring her neighborhood back. 

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