Strangers help restore power to woman after she goes months without electricity

BOYCE, La. (KALB/Gray News) - A woman who spent weeks living without power or running water now has electricity again after her community came together to pay her overdue utility bill.

Caroline Deville, a former paramedic who spent 28 years serving others, said the support has made an immediate difference in her daily life.

“Excited about having power back on,” she said. “Extremely thankful and supremely blessed.”

Deville said donations started arriving after KALB shared her story in September, with community members and the CENLA Community Action Committee pitching in to cover her $2,247 balance.

“Donations started coming out of the woodwork,” she said.

After the bill was paid at Town Hall, Deville said she finally got to do the little things she missed most.

“Got in that afternoon and started cooking and got a nice hot shower,” she said. “I’ve been at peace. I’ve been extremely thankful.”

Deville told KALB that airing her story made the difference.

“So yeah, your [Jay McCully] interview, man, it knocked it out of the park,” she said. “It really touched people, and I can’t thank you enough.”

When asked how it felt to receive the donations, she didn’t hold back.

“Humbling. It was very, very humbling. It reminded me that there are people out there who do care,” she said. “You know, that puts a little bit of faith back in humanity.”

Despite the relief, Deville said the case exposed a larger problem in Boyce: the town’s policy of offering no payment plans for utility bills.

She warned that the policy leaves vulnerable residents, particularly older people, one emergency away from losing basic services.

“You either pay it all or you pay nothing,” she said. “I’m not mad about the policy; I just think there needs to be some help.”

Deville said she believes change is needed and plans to attend town-hall meetings and keep pushing for solutions.

“I think there needs to be a change, but I am not the one to enforce it,” she said. “All I can do is stand there and tell them.”

Looking ahead, Deville said she is appealing her Social Security claim and listing rooms for rent to create a steady income. More importantly, she wants to turn her historic home into a safe haven for women recovering from addiction, abuse or incarceration.

“So that way they can get themselves together and get their lives better and get their children back in their lives,” she said.

A former first responder who once helped people at their worst, Deville said she’s grateful to be in a position to rebuild and to one day help others do the same.