BATON ROUGE - Julia Thomas' home was destroyed by Hurricane Ida in 2021, but thanks to the support of her community she's one step closer to rebuilding. 

Hurricane Ida knocked a huge tree onto Thomas' home on 72nd Avenue, where she lived for more than 50 years. Julia’s daughter Wanda said that she's ready for her mother to be back in her house.

"We're just ready for it to be built, ready for my mom to get in her home. it's been a long long time," said Julia’s daughter Wanda.

In October, the mother-daughter duo sold plate lunches trying to reach their goal of making $10,000 by Nov. 1. With the help of the community, they got that money.  

Monday, demolition of the storm-damaged home began.

"These are happy tears. Thank God someone was there to help me and reached out to me," Thomas said.

The brand new three-bedroom, three-bath home is predicted to be finished by June of this year.

"It's going to be everything that she could dream of. They're gonna make sure she is comfortable," Wanda said.

Thomas says she looks forward to creating new memories with her family in her new home. She thanks God and her community. 

"I've been truly blessed by the Lord. If the Lord wasn't on my side, restore wouldn't have helped me the way the day and everybody else because nobody knew. I tried to keep it to myself but thank God that there are people willing to help from all over, they really helped," Thomas said.

The Thomas' said once they get the keys to their home, they're having a big block party to celebrate.