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Danny Bourque / The Times-Picayune
Dear lowernine.org friends;
Please take a moment to revisit the Lower Ninth Ward and catch up with us and our work here by reading this newsletter. You have helped make this possible!
We want to thank each of you for the time and energy you have committed to both lowernine.org and the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Our work here is far from finished, but it is thrilling and encouraging to see all that is getting accomplished through the dedication and hard work of our generous volunteers and donors.
Since we began our rebuilding work in November 2007, we have moved nine families into their homes, beautified hundreds of yards and public spaces, assisted in the renovation of a new community center, and established a community garden. We are now able to fund the installation of electric and plumbing in 50 Lower Ninth Ward homes through a generous donation from the Midler Family Foundation, and we have just welcomed our 700th volunteer, bringing the number of L9 volunteer hours worked on local rebuild projects to just over 26,000.
Please forward our message to friends and family members you think would be interested...the more people who hear about us and our work the easier it will be to do. Share your stories, your pictures, and your hopes with a friend, your family, a colleague...let them know how much remains to be done and how they can help.
We thank you for your efforts thus far and for your continued support. Please visit us soon - you know where to find us!
lowernine.org
6018 el dorado street
new orleans, la 70117
504.278.1240 |
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October marked the one year anniversary of lowernine.org's official arrival in the Lower Ninth Ward. Last October, lowernine.org was donated and began rebuilding the home on El Dorado Street that acts as our headquarters/volunteer housing facility. This fall, however, marks the second anniversary of founder and executive director Rick Prose's first trip to New Orleans post-Katrina - a trip that sparked the idea that unskilled volunteers could play an important role in the rebuilding of homes in the Lower Nine.
Starting with nothing but a will to help one family recover what was taken from them on August 29th, 2005, the organization was granted 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, has raised enough money to remain in operation for the past year, hosted over 700 volunteers from all parts of the country, and returned nine families to their homes to date.
In addition to rebuilding, our volunteers have performed a variety of jobs, including vacant lot maintenance, neighborhood cleanup, community gardening, surveying, organizing a neighborhood farmers' market, and offering volunteer assitance to other nonprofits in the community.
"This neighborhood has welcomed us with open arms," says lowernine.org's Director of Development Laura Paul. "Our ability to bring people together from all over the country and put them to work rebuilding this community is so meaningful. We are all lucky to be a part of the process, and we all feel that, whether we stay for a day or commit for the long haul. The residents feel that, and they respect and welcome it."
Executive Director Rick Prose adds, "This all started very much on a wing and a prayer. A year ago all we had was a commitment of financial support sufficient to keep the organization afloat for a few months. We had our house donated along with some basic tools and equipment, but we had no paid staff and no idea if we would be able to generate enough interest among volunteers to make this thing work."
"Well, it has worked. It is working. And we're getting folks back in their homes. Kind of amazing, eh?" |
| Families Return Home
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This summer saw the return of the Bradley family - the first of the families whose homes have been fully or partially rebuilt through the efforts of lowernine.org's staff and volunteers. What an exciting time!
In July, Roy Bradley, his wife Danielle, and their two daughters Nasjae and Daisjah moved back into their home on El Dorado Street after living in a FEMA trailer for almost two years. "I would like to say that [lowernine.org] has really made my life back whole again with all the help they have given me and my family here in the Lower Ninth Ward. Without the help...I just don't know where we would be right now." Bradley said.
The family are not only enjoying being back home after more than three years, they are giving back by allowing lowernine.org access to storage on their property for tools and equipment. All part of the spirit of cooperation and supprt that makes up a true neighborhood.
In addition to the Bradleys, lowernine.org has assisted eight other families in returning to their homes in the Lower Ninth Ward. It is our great honor to have helped them in their recovery, and we look forward to the opportunites that 2009 will afford us in our continued efforts in rebuilding not only homes, but the community in which they stand. |
| One Volunteer's Story
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"What a day. We spent today in the Lower 9th Ward. There are signs of life there, but so may desolate areas... The organization I...worked with today is lowernine.org, a grassroots group working out of a house they bought in the 9th Ward and rebuilding homes specifically in that neighborhood. Some of the volunteers there are staying for weeks or even months at a time.
"I was assigned to work on Eula's house...When the levees broke, Eula's home was completely underwater...Eula had insurance. Eula paid her mortgage a few months in advance to make sure she would never lose her home. She is devoted to her family, her neighborhood...now she is almost home and is anxious to move in.
"Eula seems to have no bitterness or anger. It may be there, but it doesn't show if it is. She speaks of how 'lucky' she is. She watched on TV and heard stories from friends of those who had to lay relatives aside in the Superdome with handwritten nametags on their dead bodies. There are those whose insurance has not paid... There are others who didn't evacuate or had nowhere to go or who didn't plan ahead. She tells her story with little emotion; she states it as fact, but those facts won't dampen her spirit...She has family, she will very soon be living in her home again. She had neighbors, she has a heart full of love.
"The master bath sink is off-center 3/8ths of an inch. It bugs the perfectionist streak in me and i mention it to her. She tells me it will "ruin her home." Then she laughs and says, 'Thanks for being here.'"
- these notes taken from writings by lowernine.org volunteer Herman Johansen
[Editor's note: Miss Eula and her daughter returned to their home this summer.]
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| Community Garden/Urban Farming |
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Based upon the work that lowernine.org began early this year to support the Laurentine Ernst Community Garden (the only community garden still surviving in the neighborhood) we have begun a large-scale community gardening/urban farming initiative, which we hope to buildinto a self-sustaining Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation by the summer of 2009.
Long-term volunteers Brennan Dougherty and husband Gustavo Chacon-Rojas arrived in the spring of 2008 with the idea that they would volunteer for a time, then buy land and start a farm. After discussions with lowernine.org's executive director, a lifelong proponent of alternative agricultural models, they decided that the time was right to conduct an intensive experiment right here in the Lower Ninth Ward.
By obtaining leases from owners of lots in the neighborhood upon which houses no longer stand, lowernine.org are establishing a network of community garden spaces and have identified one parcel large enough to make growing organic vegetables feasible on a larger scale.
In addition to providing residents with readily available healthy food choices (in a neighborhood which still does not have a grocery store) the gardens will educate about organic backyard agriculture and nutrition, and provide a series of green spaces within the urban environment. lowernine.org has joined with other community groups to form the Lower Ninth Ward Urban Farming Coalition and we are testing soils, building raised beds, hauling topsoil, making compost, planning upcoming classes for children and adults and looking forward to the harvest!
[The site, like the rest of the Lower Ninth Ward, is under construction! There's still some good information there, and if you need more, you can call our office at (504) 278-1240.] | |
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Happy Holidays
from executive director Rick Prose
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Let me begin by saying thank-you to all our generous donors and our hard-working volunteers. We would never have been able to go on rebuilding homes in the Lower Ninth Ward without them.
We still need your help. This holiday season, please consider giving or receiving the gift of a donation to lowernine.org. Click here for more information on how to help. We'll send a special holiday greeting to the recipient of your choice letting them know you've helped us in their name (or we'll send it straight to you!)
And stay tuned in the new year for information on our upcoming virtual volunteering program - you can volunteer from home in your spare time...we'll tell you how.
Happy Holidays!
Jolly Old St. Rick (Prose)
executive director
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| Our Sponsors |
Visit Our Sponsor
lowernine.org wishes to thank The United Way of Greater New Orleans, CHF International, The Denver Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, and the Midler Family Foundation for their generous support. |
| Our volunteers at work |
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Jaroslav Valuch, a volunteer from the Czech Republic, has been with lowernine.org for three months. Photograph by fellow volunteer Mary Schneider.
NY2NO students help build raised beds for lowernine.org's urban garden project.
Volunteer Craig Holland was with lowernine.org for five months. He worked primarily on Sheila Narcisse's property - she moved back into her home in August 2008 - three years after Hurricane Katrina struck, rendering 100% of the homes in the Lower Ninth Ward uninhabitable. |
| Homes |
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Jenga Mwendo's home, completed by lowernine.org in the summer of 2008.
Sheila Narcisse's home - completed in August 2008, three years after Hurricane Katrina rendered 100% of the homes in the Lower Ninth Ward uninhabitable.
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Thanks for taking the time to visit with us.
lowernine.org
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