Lloyd and Rose Griffin

Life-long neighbors, Lloyd and Rose Griffin were born and raised in the Lower 9th Ward.  They eventually were married and moved into their home on Tennessee Street in 1964, after Hurricane Betsy devastated the area. Although they never had children of their own, they were close to their neighbors and knew everyone. They remember the Lower 9th Ward as a “good neighborhood” and long to return home. 

The Griffins did not evacuate for Hurricane Katrina. Instead, they braved the storm and eventually joined a neighboring family on a nearby rooftop as the floodwaters covered their home. Rose Griffin cannot swim, so her husband used electrical wires to buoy her as he swam to safety on the roof of the house. After being rescued, they too went to the Superdome and ended up in Houston, Texas before traveling to an army base in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, the Griffins befriended a psychologist who helped them to get an apartment in Talaquoi, where they stayed for nearly two years before returning to New Orleans in May 2007. They are living with their niece who is helping them with the rebuilding process. The Griffins look forward to returning to the Lower 9th Ward, the neighborhood they love. 

The Griffins were contacted by Make It Right, and didn’t know much about the program initially. After several months of contact and information sessions, they are excited about the prospect of being able to live in their own home again, and are pleased with all that Make It Right is doing for their neighborhood. The Griffins say they lost everything but each other during Hurricane Katrina. The couple looks forward to returning to the neighborhood they loved and lived in their entire lives, the Lower 9th Ward. 

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