Here are photographs & videos of Lot 8, South Tranquility Rd., Lacombe, Louisiana. The property is 50 feet wide, by 237 feet deep. Our official address is now 60133 South Tranquility.
Survey crew- Early 2008.
Photograph from Google Maps- Street View.
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March 13, 2008: Carla Hagler watches, as Jonathan Stewart, of Jonathan Stewart’s Tractor & BobCat Service, Finishes up a culvert installation. It has been a long search to find someone to install this culvert, per St. Tammany Parish’s requirements. Since hurricane Katrina flooded their St. Bernard home, in late 2005, Carla & Shawn Hagler are finally inching toward building a wheelchair-accessable home in Lacombe, Louisiana. Mister Stewart has been a pleasure to deal with. Thank you, Jonathan!
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April 8, 9, and 10, 2008- Clearing our lot. One of several crews, including some longterm volunteers, helping Carla & Shawn. There was plenty of activity during these three days! Click a picture to open it in a new window.
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Video Posted on YouTube May 22, 2008
Sovereign Grace Fellowship’s pastor, Eddie Exposito, walks our lot.
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January 11, 2009- This is our floorplan. Due to lot size & position of the house, we had to make these changes:
(1.)- The ramp is going in the front of the house.
(2.)- The side door is going in the back of the house.
The floor plan.
The elevation.
Plans by:
Slidell, LA. 70460
985.641.7237
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January 13, 14, and 15, 2009- Crews from Canada, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma spread dirt, and dig a trench for our foundation. They begin puting in the wooden forms, and cutting & bending rebar, too. Carla chats with some of them.
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February 12, 2009- The South Dakotans are still at it!
Talk about raising a house!
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March 19, 2009- Here is the exterior of our house. The crew from Illinois was busy this week.
Front of house.
Back of House.
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APRIL 1, 2009- A volunteer crew, from Washington State, hoist up some 12′ sheetrock panels inside the Haglers’ new house in Lacombe, Louisiana. Teenagers & adults worked all week on the house. NDRI (Northshore Disaster Recovery, Incorporated) is in charge of this project. They are affiliated with Aldersgate United Methodist Church, in Slidell, Louisiana. Shawn & Carla are also being aided by Sovereign Grace Fellowship, which is part of NDRI. The Haglers are “survivors” of hurricane Katrina. Carla has Friedreich’s Ataxia. This house will be wheelchair-accessable, in order to meet her needs. Many Christians, from all over North America, have volunteered to help the Haglers in this endeavor. Hurricane Katrina damaged their house, in St. Bernard Parish, in August, 2005. Footage shot on April 1, 2009. Yes, we are now approaching the 4-year anniversary of Katrina.
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APRIL 8 & 9, 2009- Crews from California & Maryland work on backdoor stairs & sheetrock, respectively. Carla & Shawn chat with the California crew. Carla checks out the inside of her house. The well company sunk a pipe.
The front of the beautiful prayer quilt that was given to us by the California group. We will cherrish it.
The label on the quilt.
The back of the quilt
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APRIL 9, 2009- A volunteer crew, from California, builds the backdoor stairs on the Haglers’ new house in Lacombe, Louisiana. Teenagers & adults from Maryland & California worked all week on the house. Shown in this footage are Anton, Roger, Phillip, Dick, and others.
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April 14 & 16, 2009-
The crew taping joints & filling holes.
The front of the shirts that were worn by The Disciples of Christ.
The back of their shirts.
Handmade Red Oak cross pendants given to us by the Disciples of Christ.
A beautiful, handmade walnut cross given to us by the Disciples of Christ.
April 16, 2009- Ed from West Virginia applies joint compound to the sheetrock of our new house. Ed & his wife, Nancy, are with The Disciples of Christ. They, and members of their church, along with Presbyterian Tim, labored to finish the interior work during the week of April 13-thru-17, 2009. What a blessing! The “unseen voice” is that of Shawn Hagler, one of the homeowners, and Carla’s husband.
Nancy chats with Carla.
Tim closes the lid on a can of drywall mud.
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More sheetrock work.
Chatting with Carla.
Gathering around the van.
Carla meets the Pennsylvanians.
YOU'VE BEEN PLASTERED by FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH of HANOVER written on the subfloor, just inside our entryway.
The lovely Welcome Mat that they gave us.
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APRIL 30, 2009- Crew from Indiana- Still more sheetrock work!
I hope Shawn did not break the lens. LOL!
This is some dusty work!
Our contractor/ site manager, Glenn Hawthorne.
Time to clean up.
Cleaning up the tools.
Nearing the end of the day. A job well-done!
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May 29, 2009- Well pump & tank temporary installation.
We are waiting for the results of our water purity test.
The well pump & storage tank. Our backdoor can be seen in the distance.
She is holding pressure!
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June 10, 2009- Crew from Batavia, Illinois
Here we see the group texturing & painting our walls, and building the front entryway ramp on a sweltering, windless day. They also gave us a couple of very nice shirts to commemorate the occasion. Thank you, all!
Front of T-shirt given to us by the Batavians.
Back of T-shirt given to us by the Batavians.
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June 14, 2009- Carla gets to use the new ramp to easily get into her new house. She rolls around inside, surveying the progress. We are so close to being finished!
The view as you approach the ramp.
Carla chats with her mother, Marie-Jeanne Exposito. Carla's father, Francis, checks out the layout, and eyes the workmanship.
A corner in the PINK master bathroom.
A corner in the PURPLE front bedroom.
Carla rolling through the hallway, on her way to the back door, via the livingroom.
Standing in the kitchen, looking toward Carla in the living room.
Carla looks out of the back door.
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June 16, 2009-
Longtime friend Raymond Williams helps Shawn put a second coat of paint on the front bathroom.
Raymond Williams contemplates painting our house.
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June 19, 2009- James Urquidez from Grace Bible Church Moorpark, CA-
The young men from California, who were here for fellowship, and the Kirkpatrick brothers (John & Steven) finish the second interior coat of paint, and cut our grass (really weeds) in the sweltering heat (90+ degrees, high humidity, no wind). They also organized the scrap wood. They did an outstanidng job in one day. THANK YOU ALL!.
Mark takes a swing at our weeds.
The boys from California.
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June 22-thru-26- crew from Illinois-
Installing our wood & ceramic floors. Also, they put the finishing touches on the ramp.
June 24, 2009-
The Illinois gang made significant progress on the wood floors. Also, the “NDRI” electricians installed the ceiling fans, doorbell, smoke detectors, and swithcplates. Thank you, all!
NDRI electrician assembling a ceiling fan.
NDRI electrician installing the switch plates.
NDRI Electricians hanging ceiling fans.
NDRI- Charlie Leblanc and Breaker wiring.
Carla goes over some estimates and checks out grab bars.
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June 30, 2009- crew from Ginghamsburg Church, Ohio-
Some of the Ohio gang.
Our new friends presented Carla with a dog.
Here is the dog, complete with names and sentiments.
We are now hooked up to the Grid!
Our fans are up, and they spin!
The kitchen tile is almost done.
The beginnings of our well's pump house.
The Ginghamsburg Express Coach.
This footage shows part of the construction of our well pumphouse:
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Week of July 6, 2009- Crew from Conecticut
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7-31-2009-thru-9-24-2009- entering the HOME STRETCH-
Flower stencil in Master bedroom and Master bathroom, applied by Jean Schmidt.
Jean Schmidt stencils the guest bathroom.
Now, we can get mail!
Glenn Hawthorne and Smitty.
Front porch with shutters.
Raymond and Melody Williams visit.
Denise Drake visits.
Part of the guest bathroom.
The cooking half of the kitchen.
The cold-storage and washing-up half of the kitchen.
Carla tests the dishwasher.
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November 20, 2009-House Dedication Party
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April 7, 2010- Forming our Driveway-
Excavating to make room for the wooden forms.
The guys cool off, and chow-down on homemade Red Beans & Rice. Yum!:
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April 13, 2010- Pouring our Driveway-
Menonite men, from all over the Country, pour our driveway. This will allow Carla mud-free access to the street, and to our backyard. Thank you, all!
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CLICK THE SIGN, BELOW, TO E-MAIL US:
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Hi Carla and Shawn,
Your home is looking great. Wow what a difference since we were down in January. Looks like you should be in sometime in July. I’m sure you can’t wait. Our prayers are with you.
Our group from Indiana worked on your house at the end of April and beginning of May.
The progress since looks great and you should be close to having your prayers answered soon. It’s looking great and I’m happy for you.
Dear Carla and Shawn,
Thank you so much for the pictures and videos. It was exciting to see Carla in her new home, sitting at her kitchen sink. The home is lovely. May you enjoy many years of happiness in your new home. I am excited to share this with the members of our April 2009 team. A group from our church just returned from a week in the Dominican Republic where they worked on constructing a water purification facility. God is good!
Marianne (First UMC, Hanover, PA)
P.S. Last week, we received about two feet of snow, and today, we are expecting another 18 inches.