I know what it means to miss New Orleans, but I don't know what New Orleans means, or what to say about this still-beautiful city whose beauty is terrible.
See for yourself:
I don't claim to know New Orleans, but I do know that whatever New Orleans is, it's not the Disney-fied French Quarter and the Made in China beads, any more than New York is Times Square...
And I know that, as my friend Asia put it, "New Orleans needs superheroes."
Even back in the day, when I lived a couple of hours down the road in Lafayette, New Orleans was a decayed and dangerous city, but the keening's gotten a lot louder. The catastrophic failure of Main Line institutions--FEMA, the insurance companies, the utility companies, the NOPD, and the list goes on--continues to buffet the people of New Orleans more than the storm ever did, and the city's recent murders have sparked another exodus. Sometimes it seems that the city's 150-year jazz funeral for itself is all dirge, no way back.
But then again, the Saints won.
Along with Andreas and Robin, who are renovating an 1840's Creole cottage (the last half-dozen pictures in the slideshow are of their cottage), my perfect hosts in New Orleans were Abram Himelstein and Shana Sassoon, who both work for non-profits down there. Abram is a co-director of the Neighborhood Story Project, which is a documentary book-making project that makes terrific books like Coming Out the Door For the Ninth Ward by Nine Times Social and Pleasure Club. Shana is involved with the New Orleans Network and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.
If you want to change New Orleans, one Creole cottage or shotgun double at a time, please consider donating to one of these organizations, and tell them Apartment Therapy sent you.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
If you're in portland, oregon - come by an event that the dwr studio is hosting about green building in disaster situations - info below and in the link. this panel is prep for a larger event tomorrow night at the armory building.
EVENTS
Laying the Groundwork for Gulf Coast Relief
Sunday, January 14, 7-8:30pm
Please join us at DWR Portland as we welcome panelists and begin to stimulate discussion regarding the upcoming exhibit, Laying the Groundwork: Sustainable Efforts in Gulf Coast Relief and Recovery on January 15 at the Gerding Theater at the Armory (www.fromthebottomsup.org). The panel will discuss issues surrounding the rebuilding process in New Orleans, the application of green building techniques and how this relates to disaster preparedness in Portland. Refreshments will be served.
I've always had a passion for New Orleans that I've never really understood. I finally visited in April 2005. When Katrina hit, I gave what money I could, but I know my meager cash is not even a drop in the bucket.
Is there a way to donate our time and labor? Because that's the one thing I really want to do. I can throw money at organizations, sure, but I really kind of want to go down there and spend a week building and cleaning and doing whatever needs to be done. I'm pissed that it's over a year after Katrina and practically NOTHING has been done.
So...is there any way for someone like me, who's willing to get on a plane and get down there for a week or two, to make a difference?
Erin, yes, there are a ton of organizations who can use volunteers for a week or two. Most will provide somewhere to stay as well. It's mostly house gutting work.
I'd suggest looking into Common Ground and Habitat for Humanity, and if you're affiliated with a church, most of your major churches have some group down here volunteering. Some friends of mine do work with the Arabi Wrecking Krewe, but I don't think they have the funds to put up people from out of town, you'd have to pay your own.
(And go Saints!)
Check out emergencycommunities.org as well. I spent a couple of days there last year and they had all kinds of alternative spring break groups, americorps volunteers, etc. You could pitch a tent onsite if you were going to be there for a couple of weeks or longer. Great energy and super group of people.
I think I'm in a very cynical and contrary mood, but I just hope that something is actually done other than talking about the rebuilding. I work in city planning and right after the disaster, people in my field were almost orgasmic over the disaster and what it meant, to the point that I think some people found it to be a mere intellectual problem and were almost GLAD that it happened, though they'd never admit it. Most firms were down there working on some project or another, but it all made me rather sick, because these people weren't really about helping, they were about promoting their own agenda. This is fine if you acknowledge that, but it was all couched in the pretense that they were do-gooders making a difference. Blech. I think that they THOUGHT they were about helping, but you can do only so many "let's think about things" kind of sessions that focus on how to make the world safe for Starbucks again. My boss went to some major sponsored charette, and all I could think was "Why don't people put that money to doing what is really needed right now, like de-molding and demolition of peoples' housese." Anyway, that's immediately what I thought about when I saw the Portland DWR thing. Maybe it's different--like I said, I'm contrary and cynical right now and people have the right to raise awareness and to discuss issues. And,I'm not claiming superiority or anything--I've done nothing aside from throwing some money to the American Red Cross. Bravo to people who ARE actually doing something--I admire you.
I second Christine.
It's fantastic to talk about change... but do not forget the REALITY that there are people down there that need REAL, PRACTICAL help. There are so many homes that are still "untouched".... all of their belongings covered in mold, food rotting in the refigerator, etc... Many people can't do it themselves.... either they left town to make a living, or they're elderly, or just simply overwhelmed.
GO. It's not hard. If everyone could donate 1 week out of there life, what a difference it would make!! I mentioned here before: I went with www.mercyresponse.com. They have housing, food, everything for you... It was kind of like going away to camp! (which is a blast for a 31 yo stay-at-home-mom!) My group of 9 was able to touch the lives of 3 families by completely gutting their homes for them, for free, no strings attached. Please go. Not only is it a blessing for those you are serving, but it's so rewarding for you!
if new orleans was anything like detroit before the hurricane (and I'm betting parts of it were) you probably could have made a similar slideshow three years ago. you could very easily make a similar slideshow today covering detroit, a city untouched by tropical storms but completely blighted by a generation of racists and their descendants who abandoned the city for miserable, cookie-cutter suburbs.
True, dutch. But in the case of New Orleans--and perhaps Detroit as well, though I don't know enough about that city to speculate--it's not a single generation of racists that's caused all the trouble, but a whole history of racism. And a history not just of racism, but of neglect, mismanagement, and political shenanigans that makes the pluck and fortitude of the city's residents all the more worthy of admiration.
I live in Kenner nearby
i was just looking for a house to buy and remodel to live in.
there are still areas you can drive for an hour and barely see a soul.
terrible...
The road home program was supposed to give people money to help them,
but only about 500 people actually received $ so far.
at that rate, it will take a few hundred years to get $ to people.
yep,
it exposed a racism problem.
i am in the green party here.
there are at least a few great people trying to help though.
Malik Rahim
http://tinyurl.com/3xzjlb
http://tinyurl.com/32avdd
and
Bill Quiqly
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/667
have done a lot.
if you get a chance, read those tiny URLs
abut Malik, extrodinary what happened !
Before the storm, i was renovating (flipping) houses for a living.
i had bought a 3-plex and a double just before the storm hoping to renovate and sell them.
(i had just bought them, and didnt have tie to get insuracnce, i was waiting for a quote !)
i cant sell them now, i am still repairing them, and have received $0 from FEMA since they were not my primary residence.
I lost about $180,000
everything i had, PLUS some i didnt
(against my home that WAS paid off)
I cant begin to tell you how BAD FEMA screwed up here.
I have some reading on my page
Hurricane Katrina
and some photos i took...
Hurricane Katrina photos
cheers,
Brad
911review
oops...
didnt take the HTML
here are the links...
http://911review.org/Hurricane_Katrina/photos/
http://911review.org/Hurricane_Katrina/