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Mr. Charlie Taylor: Homeowner of the Month

Neighborhood: Holy Cross
Architecture Style: Shotgun

By Jessica Perrault & Robert Haynes

Mr. Charlie Taylor, 81, has always lived by the philosophy of walking by faith, and not by sight alone. His guiding principle has continually been his faith in the Lord, saying, “You must always adjust yourself to where you are now and try to live that through. And, thank the Lord for your blessings.” This philosophy would be truly tested throughout the course of his life.

Growing up in Lower St. Bernard Parish in the 1930s, Mr. Taylor’s upbringing can be simply described as “rough times.” The second oldest of six children, Mr. Taylor took on numerous jobs, learning early on the concept of hard work and “making a couple of nickels.” During his teenage years, his daily routine consisted of working his family’s land, running off to school, and then making local bread and milk deliveries. Even when Mr. Taylor was on break from school, he still continued to support his family financially. When he was tasked with clearing a snake-infested field, Mr. Taylor experienced an unfortunate accident with dynamite, and began to lose his sight at the age of 14. Although Mr. Taylor is legally blind, he was still able to perform daily tasks with minimal difficulty. Despite this setback, Mr. Taylor did not allow the slow loss of his sight to deter him from living a productive life and accomplishing his goals.

Even with his eye-sight fading, Mr. Taylor was excited at the opportunity to become a longshoreman: “This was a good start for my life. I did other little jobs here and there, but nothing was like my longshoreman days.” For the next 29 years, Mr. Taylor was part of a dedicated team of longshoremen at the Industrial Canal in New Orleans. Unfortunately, Mr. Taylor would incur yet another job-related injury when he disrupted a disc in his back in 1975, forcing him into an early retirement.

Although Mr. Taylor took pride in his work, one of his proudest moments was the purchase of his historic Holy Cross home in 1991: “I am very fortunate and lucky to have this home. The Lord helped me out.” Due to his admiration for his home, Mr. Taylor vowed “to stay in his home for the rest of his life.”

As a lifelong resident of New Orleans, Mr. Taylor has experienced many catastrophic storms, saying, “I know about Hurricane Katrina, but Betsy and other storms during the 30s were actually worse in comparison—high waters and no transportation.” When the eye of Katrina was looming towards New Orleans, Mr. Taylor had no idea how deadly and destructive this storm would be. He reluctantly fled his home and sought refuge in the Superdome. Like many other New Orleanians, Mr. Taylor was forced to stay in the Superdome and the Louis Armstrong Airport without any access to food and water. Even with all the chaos surrounding him, Mr. Taylor kept a level-head: “I had a tough time, but other people had it worse than me. All I did was sit down and pray for those who were suffering.”

For the next few years, Mr. Taylor moved from North Carolina to Dallas until he finally settled in Baker, Louisiana. Even though many of Mr. Taylor’s loved ones urged him to stay, he yearned to return to his Holy Cross home and neighborhood saying, “The people were very nice in Baker, but I didn’t want to give up on my house. And, I missed the people.”

Upon returning to the Lower Ninth Ward, Mr. Taylor was amazed by how unfamiliar the area had become since the devastation of the storm. With vision in only one eye, Mr. Taylor immediately began repairing his home, specifically gutting the interior and repairing the roof, with his hands and most of his personal funds.

Once his funds were nearly depleted, Mr. Taylor sought help from Rebuilding Together New Orleans in 2007 for additional funding to complete the rehabilitation of his craftsman-style double shotgun home. With the help of dozens of volunteers, RTNO was able to repair and finally return Mr. Taylor home in September 2009. To his surprise, Mr. Taylor’s home was plagued with the Chinese Drywall epidemic, and had to be gutted to the studs and rebuilt for the second time. In celebration of his return to his home in 2012, he will resume his monthly dinner parties with his neighbors and “thank the Lord for his many blessings.”

One of the last residents to evacuate the city, but one of the first to return, Mr. Taylor’s story is one of perseverance and dedication to the revitalization and rebuilding of the City of New Orleans.

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