Still broken
The most striking place I visited on tour was New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward. I knew there remained work to be done, but I was not prepared for block after block of gutted, lifeless houses, like this one:
Every couple blocks, you'll see a FEMA trailer sitting next to a house that's on-the-mend, but mostly it feels like a ghost town. "Why isn't this fixed nearly two years on?" I kept asking myself. It's just shameful.
We did come across one bright spot, a sign of recovery, a sign of grass-roots community rebuilding efforts:
It's a part of something called Blue House Project, and it's a kind of community center where you can get shade, lend and borrow tools, communicate with neighbors, etc. Down the street rebuilders can access the internet to try to sort out the insurance and FEMA craziness.
It's a humble effort, but it's impressive nonetheless. An enthusiastic (and tired) man told us about the projects, about the volunteers that have been coming, staying nearby at a school. He gave me a pamphlet, which featured contact and donation info, along with a long list of needed supplies. He thanked us for stopping and asked me to make photocopies and pass the flyer along. In that spirit:
bluehouseproject.org
commongroundrelief.org
If you can help in any way, please do. I assure you it's much needed.
Every couple blocks, you'll see a FEMA trailer sitting next to a house that's on-the-mend, but mostly it feels like a ghost town. "Why isn't this fixed nearly two years on?" I kept asking myself. It's just shameful.
We did come across one bright spot, a sign of recovery, a sign of grass-roots community rebuilding efforts:
It's a part of something called Blue House Project, and it's a kind of community center where you can get shade, lend and borrow tools, communicate with neighbors, etc. Down the street rebuilders can access the internet to try to sort out the insurance and FEMA craziness.
It's a humble effort, but it's impressive nonetheless. An enthusiastic (and tired) man told us about the projects, about the volunteers that have been coming, staying nearby at a school. He gave me a pamphlet, which featured contact and donation info, along with a long list of needed supplies. He thanked us for stopping and asked me to make photocopies and pass the flyer along. In that spirit:
bluehouseproject.org
commongroundrelief.org
If you can help in any way, please do. I assure you it's much needed.
posted by Stanley at 19:37
4 Comments:
You need to fix that first link--if memory of how blogger works serves, you didn't put the "http" into the url.
Whoops. Thanks for catching that. Should be working now.
wow, stan. good post.
I'm originally from North of New Orleans - I've gone home in December and again last March. I'll know that things have changed when I fly over New Orleans and don't see a single blue tarp on a roof. I have very little faith that that day will ever come - last March there were still hundreds. :(
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