So. Laf. business comes to aid of private resident

A Cut Off business donated about $7,000 in materials to install a new roof on a Cut Off woman’s home after promised improvements to the dwelling through a parish government-administered grant program didn’t materialize.

Dufrene Building Materials owner Paul Dufrene III confirmed that his company undertook the refurbishment.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Dufrene said last week, adding that this wasn’t the first time the company has assisted a private resident. “We give back to the community that helps us. We try to help those that can’t help themselves.

“I guess that’s what separates family-owned businesses from the big-box stores.”

The Tri-Parish Times reported in August that Shelby Adams was one of at least six low-income parish homeowners for whom promised housing rehabilitation work through a Department of Housing and Urban Development grant was reneged.

Adams’ roof leaked in multiple locations, but that wasn’t the only proposed improvement to her home. The refurbishment would have totaled $23,000 including the additional work on her windows and flooring, according to parish documents.

Lafourche Parish Government ultimately lost $151,000 of the $500,000 grant after the Louisiana Housing Corporation pulled the plug on the program, citing continuing delays in getting the work done.

Tammy Adams, Shelby’s daughter-in-law and manager of her personal finances, said more than 70 percent of Shelby’s monthly Social Security income is absorbed by medical costs, even after Medicaid and Medicare assistance.

Shelby, who has survived two heart attacks, open-heart surgery and colon cancer, takes 32 pills each day and breathes oxygen through a tube 24 hours a day. The 70-year-old divorcee spends most of her life on her living room couch and is treated daily by a hired nurse.

The home needs further improvement, but Shelby is “really happy” about the new roof, Tammy said, particularly after it appeared she had missed out on free assistance through no fault of her own.

One of Shelby’s daughters is a former Dufrene employee, the owner added.

Lafourche originally had two years to rehabilitate roughly 20 homes. After failing to meet that deadline, the parish was granted a one-year extension through June 30. Program managers still failed to submit applicants’ names and required documentation in the timeframe the LHC desired, so the state denied a request for a second extension. In total, the parish rehabilitated 14 homes.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate whether crimes were committed during the parish’s management of the program, Deputy Brennan Matherne said Friday. LPSO is looking into the matter at the request of parish government.

“We are trying to make contact with individuals outside of the parish who we believe may have information related to the case,” Matherne said.

Joni Tuck, the parish’s director of Community Services, assumed control of housing rehabilitation in September 2012. She blamed her predecessor for disorganization and the lack of a matrix to determine which of the dozens of applicants were most deserving of the work. In order to submit applicants to the state, Tuck sought to build a comprehensive and fair process, she said.

The predecessor, Freddia Ruffin-Roberson, has said when she was fired, for unrelated reasons, the program was on pace to be completed. Lafourche failed to finish the program because Tuck was unfamiliar with social service programs at that time, Roberson alleged.

Paul Dufrene Jr. and his wife Rosaline opened Dufrene Lumber in 1955 with three employees. Over the past 58 years the company has grown to employ 75 people in three locations – Belle Chasse and Thibodaux, being the other two. It boasts 200,000 square feet of covered storage space and deploys a 24-vehicle fleet to deliver material from Texas to Alabama.

Cut Off native Shelby Adams got a gift from a business leader this week when Dufrene Building Materials funded her new roof. Adams was in line to get money from the parish for the repairs, but her funding fell through at no fault to her own. 

CASEY GISCLAIR | TRI-PARISH TIMES