- Last month marked the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
and in my hometown in New Orleans,
parts of the city are still working to rebuild,
and some of the stories that come out of this tragedy
are simply inspiring. Take a look.
- Before Hurricane Katrina hit, believe it or not,
this was a two-story building.
A movie theater that was right here and a pharmacist.
They had a bunch of houses and businesses.
I mean, this was home.
My name is Burnell Cotlin. I'm 47.
I'm the proud owner of the first grocery store
in the Lower 9th Ward since Hurricane Katrina.
Pre-Katrina, you had 15,000 people that was here
in the Lower 9th Ward.
You had businesses everywhere.
It was like one big, huge family.
Everybody knew everybody.
Today, post-Katrina, there's no infrastructure.
There's thousands of people that want to come back home
and that can't come back home because there's nothing here
for them to come back to.
The rest of the city, you don't see no remnants
of Hurricane Katrina at all.
You see Mardi Gras, you see the Superdome,
you see the French Quarter, beads, everything is good to go.
Except when you come to the Lower 9th Ward.
And the people here are still suffering.
The big box stores, they're not coming back
because there's not enough people.
And the people that want to come back,
said they're not coming back because there's no stores.
So it's, like, it's a vicious cycle.
And somebody had to break the cycle and do something.
And the somebody was me.
What's going on, fellas? All right, all right, all right.
So I decided open up a store.
This is the only grocery store.
I've put in my entire life savings.
A lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and everything.
But the people that are here, they're appreciative.
They are grateful.
I've had people that come in here and cry.
I have people that come and take pictures.
I had total strangers give me hugs.
Generally, we stay open as long as there's a need.
Because that's why we did this.
We did this to help out the community.
Wow. Every time-- every time I think about it,
even though I live here,
it's--it's a mixture of feelings that I get.
I-I just--I just want-- I want--
I want the 9th Ward to come back.
And if I have to build the city back myself,
one business at a time, I'm gonna do it.
- Burnell, come on down.
You're amazing. Oh, that's amazing.
So--so there were no-- like you said,
it's a vicious cycle because no one wants to go back.
There's no businesses, and if there's no businesses,
they open up and no one's there,
why--why did you decide to do it?
- It started--first of all, I was the only person--
I was the first person back in my neighborhood.
I didn't have any neighbors at all.
And I finally had one neighbor, Mrs. Emmanuel,
a sweet, sweet lady.
I noticed she used to catch the bus a lot,
but one particular time, she came up with a cab,
and I was out cutting the grass,
and I-I noticed when she opened up the trunk of her car--
of the cab, she was bringing in groceries.
So I put my lawnmower up, and I went in and I talked to her.
And she said, "Burnell, you didn't know
they didn't have a grocery store in the 9th Ward?"
And it didn't dawn on me.
So I drove up and down the Lower 9th Ward,
and I talked to several people, and I found out
we didn't have any infrastructure at all
in the Lower 9th Ward.
A few people told me they have to catch three city buses
just to get a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk
to feed your family. That's an undue hardship.
This is 2015. - Yeah.
- Something had to change, and so I've been--
that's on me to make the change. - Well, you did it.
I'm sure everyone felt that, but no one was doing anything
about it, and then you used all of your money
to open up this store, but it's not just--
I think it's kinda like-- like what do you sell in there?
- It's--better question is what we don't sell.
- Yeah, yeah. - I have a little, bitty,
small sign in my store,
and that sign simply reads, "If you don't see it,
ask for it." - Uh-huh.
- And people ask for everything from a hair weave
to clothes to all kinds of issues.
- Are you giving hair weaves at your grocery store?
- I sell everything. [laughter]
- Fantastic.
Let's go to Jeannie who is there with some of your friends.
- Oh! [laughter]
- I got a question.
Hey, Jeannie. I have a--
- Yeah? - Ask--ask who there has gotten
a weave from the store so far.
- Who's gotten a weave from the store?
There we go.
- I don't need no weave, Ellen. - All right.
All right, so I understand there's something more
that you want to add to that.
- About two weeks ago, Ellen, a guy came to my store.
He had two big huge garbage bags,
and he put them at the front of the door.
He came and he bought two items.
He bought laundry detergent and a Coca-Cola.
And he picked those garbage bags up and walked across the street
to the bus stop, so I walked across the street,
and I introduced myself, and I asked him what he was doing.
He bent down, opened up the bags,
it was full of dirty clothes.
And he said he was in search for a laundry room.
So I started a Gofundme page and I told him,
I said, "Give me a little while. If I raise up enough money,
I'm gonna open up the first laundry room
in the Lower 9th Ward.
- You--I mean... [applause]
You're--you're amazing.
Okay, well we want to help you get that started,
so we are giving you three washers, three dryers.
You just have to find the place for it,
but there's three washers and three dryers
that will be going in to your store.
- Thank you. Thank you.
[cheers and applause]
Ellen, thank you so much. - All right. You're welcome.
All right.
I want to talk to you a little bit more.
We're gonna take a break and we'll be back
with Burnell after this.
We are back with Burnell Colton.
And he is the owner of the first grocery store
in the Lower 9th Ward since Hurricane Katrina.
And hopefully somebody watching in that area
joins in and helps Burnell with--with building
the area back up, and just quickly, Lily, happy birthday.
Your son is, like, "I can't be with her today,"
but happy birthday.
- Thank you, Ellen.
- You're welcome, Lily.
You have a--you raised a great son.
He's an amazing man.
So, you're also--you've started doing home deliveries
for people who can't make it to the store.
- There are quite a few people, Ellen, in the 9th Ward
that's elderly, or just can't get out
because of undue hardships.
So I have an older truck, it's in the hospital now,
that when I say I drove that truck back and forth...
- Uh-huh.
- Making deliveries, but I talked to the mechanic.
He said the radiator was busted.
The battery's--I told him to stop naming the stuff.
It was just-- - Yeah, yeah.
So you're not making deliveries right now?
- No, I'm saving my money. - Well, you're gonna
make deliveries real soon
because we're gonna give you a brand new Ford.
Look.
[cheers and applause]
- Oh, no!
Can I get in? - Yeah.
- Can I get in? [laughter]
Ellen. [horn honking]
- Yes.
So, let me tell you about the car.
With the C-Max energy, you'll be able to load groceries
in the back easily with the hands-free
foot-activated lift gate.
Ford has a whole line of plug-in hybrids
and electric cars, which make driving more affordable
and efficient. And this is your car.
And you're an amazing man. And hopefully, like I said,
anyone in the area that you can help out,
help build that area back up and help Burnell out,
'cause he--he can't do it alone, but he's doing a lot.
I want to thank Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet,
Ed Oxenbould, and a special thanks to Shutterfly
for giving Burnell the washers and dryers to the store.
I'll see you tomorrow. Be kind to one another. Bye.