There and back again... and again.
So I'm home from New Orleans, but only briefly. Drove back yesterday with the students but I'm flying back down Tuesday and staying until Saturday. I just wasn't done. I really feel like I'm really contributing to Historic Green and I wanted to spend as much time as I could.
I have so many stories to tell, but I'll start with Mack McClendon. Mack is my new adopted uncle that I just met (one of two, actually). He lives in the Holy Cross neighborhood portion of the Lower Ninth Ward and owns a towing company. He had just finished renovating the lower half of a house and moved all of his belongings downstairs when Katrina hit and he lost everything. Spent two months in Opelika, AL. Yeah, you've heard a million versions of this story, right? Sad but not special. Hang on, though. You see, he came back but hasn't done thing #1 on his own house, because he has a vision. He's building a community center called The Village, which is serving as the headquarters for Historic Green during these two weeks.
Here's what he has in mind:
* A restaurant (only one has reopened in the Ninth Ward since the storm) where residents will learn to be servers, chefs, and owners.
* A computer training program, both for applications and repair
* Movie night
* Basketball courts
* Going door to door to find out where people's neighbors are, and get in touch with them to try and convince them to come back to the Ninth.
And that's just for starters. I'm telling you, listening to him talk, I just want to sit at his feet and say, "What do you want me to do? I'm here." To have a such a visionary resident of the neighborhood is super special and rare. He deserves all the help he can get, and I intend to do all I can.
So, yeah. I'm going back, and more than once. You can read about some more of our experiences on the Historic Green blog. Pictures to come.
I'm definitely doing this in hellbent/heartfirst mode. With that in mind, I'm offering y'all the opportunity to help me out. If you'd like to help offset my travel expenses, I would hugely appreciate it. Anything over $300 (my plane ticket + $60) will get donated to Historic Green or The Village and I will report back the amount. Even $5 or $10 would be a huge help.
You can help me out by clicking the magic Paypal button below:
If you prefer to donate directly to Historic Green or one of the associated projects, you can do that here. If you take that option, please send me an email at smonsterbite[at]livejournal[dot]com and let me know.
Link if you like. Holla, y'all.
I have so many stories to tell, but I'll start with Mack McClendon. Mack is my new adopted uncle that I just met (one of two, actually). He lives in the Holy Cross neighborhood portion of the Lower Ninth Ward and owns a towing company. He had just finished renovating the lower half of a house and moved all of his belongings downstairs when Katrina hit and he lost everything. Spent two months in Opelika, AL. Yeah, you've heard a million versions of this story, right? Sad but not special. Hang on, though. You see, he came back but hasn't done thing #1 on his own house, because he has a vision. He's building a community center called The Village, which is serving as the headquarters for Historic Green during these two weeks.
Here's what he has in mind:
* A restaurant (only one has reopened in the Ninth Ward since the storm) where residents will learn to be servers, chefs, and owners.
* A computer training program, both for applications and repair
* Movie night
* Basketball courts
* Going door to door to find out where people's neighbors are, and get in touch with them to try and convince them to come back to the Ninth.
And that's just for starters. I'm telling you, listening to him talk, I just want to sit at his feet and say, "What do you want me to do? I'm here." To have a such a visionary resident of the neighborhood is super special and rare. He deserves all the help he can get, and I intend to do all I can.
So, yeah. I'm going back, and more than once. You can read about some more of our experiences on the Historic Green blog. Pictures to come.
I'm definitely doing this in hellbent/heartfirst mode. With that in mind, I'm offering y'all the opportunity to help me out. If you'd like to help offset my travel expenses, I would hugely appreciate it. Anything over $300 (my plane ticket + $60) will get donated to Historic Green or The Village and I will report back the amount. Even $5 or $10 would be a huge help.
You can help me out by clicking the magic Paypal button below:
If you prefer to donate directly to Historic Green or one of the associated projects, you can do that here. If you take that option, please send me an email at smonsterbite[at]livejournal[dot]com and let me know.
Link if you like. Holla, y'all.