KATRINA AND THE FRENCHMAN:
A JOURNAL FROM THE STREET

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The ending.

 

March 15, 2011 - Common Ground Relief

The continental breakfast spread was very nice, several cereal dispensers, donuts and breads for toast, yogurt on ice... all the stuff I can't have as a gluten and dairy free person. Oh well. I grabbed a coffee and an apple. I asked the girl at the front counter if Chester or Vasonda still worked there. She looked at me funny. I told her our story. She said that about six months after the storm all of the staff moved on, there's nobody left from that time. I felt an instant separation. It felt less like coming home. It was just a hotel again.

G went for supplies (like toothpaste) and when he came back he told me that there was a fistfight between some of the homeless people across the street, and then one of them tried to get into the corner bar (yes, it was open) and the guy was kicked out. The neighbourhood had changed.

When we last left New Orleans we felt like locals. We were treated like locals and felt pain with the locals. But the more I was made to feel like a tourist, the better.

The balcony where the upcoming storm was discussed in KATF. (Pages 27-28)

G's coffee on the roof before we left.

A view from the rooftop, much different from what we saw before on page 51.

We decided to get ourselves in gear and call Thom Pepper at Common Ground Relief. Not only did he offer to pick us up, but he gave us a WHOLE TOUR of where their work has touched people’s lives. He showed us where there was ten, twelve, or eighteen feet of water when Katrina hit. Looking around, that was higher than all the houses we were passing. He showed us the school where they set up emergency food and services after the storm. We slowed in front of the house they are presently building for Mrs. Sanchez. They knew who they were building for, I'm not sure why that stunned me so much. Maybe because it was so... personal.

CGR is close to being done building and fixing houses for people who returned to the Lower Ninth Ward. There are still a lot of abandoned, boarded up homes. He said that a lot of them were rented out, not necessarily well kept, and the owners had cut their losses. Now they’re going to go through the legal process of moving towards demolition so that they can build new homes for more families.

They’re fixing it. My heart swelled with the thought. They’re doing everything they can to fix it.

“We run a diverse range of projects, from New Home Construction, to a Free Legal Clinic, to Wetlands Restoration, Community Gardening and the education of school children about Food Security and Environmental Science with our Garden of Eatin' Program.”

Thom Pepper took us to the CGR headquarters:

The model home beside their main building is full of bunk beds where the volunteers stay. It's a very nice, modern house. He showed us where they have meetings, how some of the landscaping is shaped like ponds, and he brought us across the street to explain the garden. They have partnered up with all kinds of experts to make sure what they do will have maximum benefit. So, the trees and long grasses originate from a marsh area and absorb a lot of water. This will help during heavy rains so their yards won’t flood. I asked him how he knew all of this, and what he did for a living.

He’s a real estate guy from Florida. He came to help with land ownership and never left. He started with emergency supplies and stayed for the duration. The needs keep changing, and he’s partnered up with some of the most knowledgeable people around. So, he’s learned about Wetlands Restoration, construction codes, job training, etc. It is incredibly impressive. My admiration kept growing.

G and Thom Pepper.

Thom and me.

Thom explaining how the trees and grasses can help with heavy rains.

Marsh grass. But wait... what is THAT in the background?

Brad Pitt is building homes in the Lower Ninth. The Make it Right Foundation is:

“Beyond building new homes for residents who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, Make It Right is a unique laboratory for testing and implementing new construction techniques, technologies and materials that will make green, storm resistant homes affordable and broadly available to working families in communities across America.”

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw these houses.

Brad Pitt house beside a "regular" house. It's very... slanty.

And it's very narrow... but on stilts!

A few in a row, we might have seen as much as eight in this area.

All very slanty.

Brad Pitt’s houses have also forced water, electrical and other lines to be reconstructed and put into place, and that benefits the whole area. I’m sure they’re gorgeous inside.

Thom explained that although there is some great work being done, if you’re not local you might miss some things. In New Orleans you need high ceilings, especially in the summer, and large windows that stay open for the rest of the year. Sometimes there are multiple generations living in a house, so expandability is often a necessity. In most cases, a rebuild cannot extend square footage. So what Common Ground Relief is doing with some houses, is moving the living space up above a garage. That way the house can be expanded if needed in the future, square footage is the same but it’s still about ten feet higher. Very smart.

He also explained that some of the building codes are different from other states (or cities) and sometimes when a contractor came down and offered to help, they had done a few things that were not up to code. It actually cost more to fix. He also said that some volunteers who spent three days training and one day building before leaving again, took up a lot of resources. If you’re going to volunteer, please be smart about it. Ask what would be best, find out what they need. That’s something I’d never thought about before.

I reached into my gigantic purse and pulled out a copy of KATF for Thom, and signed it. It was the least I could do.

I know there have been a lot of tragedies around the world, and people can only give so much. But if you could please consider helping out Common Ground Relief, they are doing some truly amazing work. If you can’t send money, check out their WISH LIST for truly helpful items.

When Thom brought us back to the hotel I gave him a big hug before we got out of the truck. We returned to our room and I cried. I cried hard for what happened in the past, and I cried tears of joy for being able to see such awesome work. Many thanks to Thom Pepper and Common Ground Relief.

We called home to find out that Kaden was feeling better, another relief. We got ready to set out on foot to do our very hard tour of the French Quarter.

More March 15th...