In Houma, surviving Ida and helping others
Despite major damage to her home in Hurricane Ida, Tia took time to volunteer with her children at a food distribution in Houma, LA.
When Hurricane Ida slammed into the small southern Louisiana town of Houma, Tia Williams could have been scared. When the hurricane damaged the roof of her home, she could have been angry. But those weren’t options.
For Tia, positivity was the only option.
“We still have a lot to be grateful for,” the single mom of two said, less than two weeks after the hurricane. “We could be a lot worse off.”
Tia is remaining positive in the face of tremendous challenges. With no water or electricity and the roof damage to her home, she’s currently living out of her car with her 6-year-old son Logan and 5-year-old daughter, Londyn.
“I have an ice chest in my car,” Tia said. “We’re trying to get by right now.”
Despite Tia’s situation, she wanted to help her community in the wake of the storm. So, she and her kids volunteered at a recent food distribution in Houma.
“I still have time to give back,” she said. “That’s an important lesson for the kids, too.”
So, Tia helped distribute over 500 hot meals, fresh produce and other supplies to families driving up to the pantry. While Logan and Londyn diligently helped hand out bags of cold grapes.
Staying positive isn’t anything new for Tia. Hurricane Ida has been the most recent in a growing list of challenges that Tia has overcome. She’d been a bartender at a local restaurant for six years when the business closed because of the pandemic. Then, she started her own bartending business, working numerous events in the community. But since the hurricane, those events have been canceled and work has dried up.
But for Tia, positivity rules. And even though she knows she’s got a lot of challenges to overcome, she also knows she’s up to the task – and she’s already looking to the future.
“I’m looking forward to me and the kids getting a new house, maybe relocating, maybe going back to school. There are a lot of possibilities.”
