"When the Treme was being renovated, I was asked to be put on a waiting list for houses that were coming up for renovation. Four houses came up on Ursuline and I picked the one I wanted. After a few months, they started the renovations through NHS. NHS worked with the contractors and every couple of weeks, checked back with me to see about colors and other things I might want. I got to totally design the layout, colors and everything else.

Living in the Treme is like living in Paris, and I just love it!"

"I never thought that we would be able to find the money to fix this house up," says Leroy Vincent, a disabled veteran. "Now we are part of the neighborhood and can give back something to people who helped us."

"NHS helped us all the way through - from classes on homeownership to finding us a lender who would help us with the extensive renovations our house needed," Willien adds.