Star of the Voice is Coming Home!

If you watch the Voice, you'll probably remember Tonya Boyd Cannon. She rocked it! There are a lot of people who will tell you she should have remained in the game much longer.

What you may not have known is that she's from the Lower 9th Ward. Or that when you gave your support to the Lower 9th Ward Homeownership Association, you were helping her return home with her family. In addition to performing at Jazz Fest, Tonya is a teacher and a mother who's teaching her daughter to sing. Her husband John plays the tuba and is helping their son learn the trombone. They're keepers of New Orleans culture, but the home they bought as a young couple was washed away by the flood, and their dreams for their children have rested on the vacant lot where it once stood.

Well, the lot isn't vacant any more!! Thanks to your support, we were able to connect the Cannon family with $132,000 in federal funds to rebuild their home. You can see that construction is moving really quickly!! The exterior is essentially done, and the interior has already been closed in.

Before long, Tonya and John's children will be practicing their songs in their own home, absorbing the rhythms of New Orleans like generations of musicians before them. It won't be long until you see them on the Voice too!!