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rebuilding homes. restoring services. reviving hope. reaching out.

december 2010 

in this issue
:: rebuilding with recycled materials
:: volunteer bio: ry d'antonio
:: a message from our executive director
:: lamanche community farm
:: volunteer bio: fanny friadt
Please consider supporting the Lower Ninth Ward's recovery this holiday season by sponsoring a lowernine.org volunteer.  Visit our website at www.lowernine.org to donate online! Sponsorship can happen at different levels:

                        � One Day of Service $15
                     � One Week of Service $105
                     � One Month of Service $420

We have a chance to build a solid foundation upon which the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward can stand as they recover from the storm and remake their communities stronger than before.  You can help us today!
                            donate

Allstate day of service
       On January 3rd, lowernine.org will proudly host Allstate for a day of service in the Lower Ninth Ward. Between five and seven hundred volunteers visiting New Orleans to participate in 2011 Allstate� Sugar Bowl events will join our regular crew of volunteers, crew leaders, and neighborhood leaders and residents on projects all around the neighborhood - everything from street sweeping to painting to working on our Urban Farm. lowernine.org is honored to host this group, who will also be donating $10,000 to our organization in support of our rebuilding efforts.
                                                                                                                         Thanks, Allstate!
rebuilding with recycled materials

      "In my short time with this organization I have been involved in several projects. One rebuild project that stands out for me is the home of Dwayne Johnson. What makes this project special is that is has been undertaken using almost entirely recycled materials." - Ben Martin Humphries


As a former construction worker, Dwayne Johnson is passionate about restoring and re-using the materials taken from properties when they are renovated or demolished. Since Hurricane Katrina, residents like Mr. Johnson and organizations such as Rebuilding Together New Orleans have been  working tirelessly to keep salvageable materials within the community in order to rebuild in an ecologically responsible way. 


Mr. Johnson uses his contacts in the construction business to keep abreast of  where surplus materials are in the city. Once recovered, the materials are put back into use.  Approximately 90% of Mr. Johnson's back porch is constructed with salvaged wood. Built by crewleader Tim Carroll and his intrepid team of volunteers, the porch exhibits both creativity and ingenuity in the application of recycled materials.


Due to arthritis in his hands, Mr. Johnson can no longer undertake major construction projects. He is, however, a valuable resource on site and consistently passes on his knowledge, experience, and encouragement to volunteers.

 

Once his home is completed and he has moved back into it with his wife Kindal, Dwayne will continue to salvage and restore materials, passing the products on to nonprofits like lowernine.org and to Lower Ninth Ward residents who are also rebuilding. We look forward to getting him back into his house, and to working with him in the future helping his neighbors do the same!

volunteer bio
Ry D'Antonio
 

Ry is a 25 year-old accountant who hails from Baltimore, Maryland.  He came to lowernine.org in  October of 2010 in an attempt to escape a prestigious job with regular pay to do meaningful, exhilarating, and back-breaking work in the non-profit sector.

    

On the construction site, Ry has learned a lot about carpentry, and his favorite part of the home-building process is making wall frames. In the office he has worked tirelessly putting together and mailing out our year-end fundraising campaign.


Ry came to New Orleans partly because of his fascination with the city's unique culture, and to indulge his love of jazz. In his spare time, he plays the drums and reads classic literature. He also frequents the lively street parades that fill New Orleans with life and music, known as second-lines, which he says, "are the best way to spend a Sunday".


We are thrilled to have Ry as a volunteer and are constantly impressed and inspired by his work ethic and enthusiasm.



Our crew in front of our tool shed.
Happy Holidays!


group shot

a message from executive director
Rick Prose
     
merryxmas

     

Season's greetings from all of us here on El Dorado Street!  This month marks the fourth holiday season since lowernine.org began its work in the Fall of 2007, and, once again, we have had a productive and gratifying year.  As has been the case right from the very beginning, the support of our volunteers continues to warm the hearts of all of us involved in this important work. In fact, we welcomed our three thousandth volunteer in October - testimony to the urgency that the recovery of our neighborhood still has in the minds of so many people from across the country and the world.


      As important as our volunteers are, it is the relationships we continue to build with our residents and neighborhood organizations that keep the work satisfying to all of us.  Through our cooperation with community leaders and other organizations, we have been able to expand our work into other areas without compromising our core mission of helping residents return to their rebuilt homes.


       One of the issues we have been able to address through such cooperation is a comprehensive mapping effort in the Lower Ninth Ward to help the city identify and address the issue of blighted property.  Working with the Beacon of Hope Resource Center, Common Ground Relief and the Lower Ninth Ward Stakeholders Association and Homeoners' Associations, we hope to be able to act as a more forceful advocate for quality-of-life issues in the community, on this and the many other fronts that challenge the neighborhood as we move forward.

 

       None of this work would have been possible without the generous financial support of the hundreds of donors who continue to contribute to our success.  As we face the never-ending struggle to keep lowernine.org growing and providing the many services necessary to the community's resurgence, I would ask all of you, at this special time of year, to make a donation to help us do just that.

 

       On behalf of our residents, volunteers, staff and board of directors we thank you for your support and wish you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons!
lamanche community farm
lamanche
Our foray into urban farming has borne its first fruits
(well, vegetables) from the planting we began in August and September. Arugula, spinach, mustard greens, turnips and radishes have grown in abundance. The delicious veggies have been sold at the Sankofa Marketplace (the Lower Ninth Ward's up-and-coming farmer's  market) and are given away to anyone who stops by the farm.

lowernine.org's garden manager, J.P. Miller, has transformed what was once a stretch of vacant lots into a garden that produces some of the most nutritious food available in the neighborhood. There is no grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward and most homeowners get their groceries at the Wal-Mart in Saint Bernard Parish. This takes money out of the neighborhood and deprives the residents of homegrown nutritious produce!


In the future we hope to have a small irrigation system, chickens, and fruit trees. We will also be helping community members to tend their own plots in the garden. Expect more news of fruits, vegetables, and improved food access in the Lower Ninth Ward coming soon to a lowernine.org newsletter near you!

volunteer bio
Fanny Friadt

Fanny is a witty and vivacious 23 year-old Brussels native who came to lowernine.org in the spring of 2009 and returned in the fall of 2010. She recently graduated from the Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Louvain-la-Neuve with a master's degree in cinematography.
 

Her previous volunteering experience includes the restoration of historic buildings in  southern France and Italy. She has also been an environmental volunteer in the parks of Sicily and Lombardy.


Here at lowernine Fanny has become an expert in tiling and installing baseboards, and has worked closely with homeowners to help them in the final steps of moving back in to their homes. In addition to the rewarding work of being a lowernine.org volunteer, she also enjoys New Orleans' thriving music scene. This charming young lady enjoys playing Baroque violin and organ, and is also a master chess player.

 

We appreciate Fanny's service and contributions to the Lower Ninth Ward and the organization!


 
Thank you and happy holidays from all of us at lowernine!

lowernine.org
504-278-1240
6018 el dorado st
the lower ninth ward
new orleans, la 70117