Help Holy Cross

Lower 9 Homeowners Association Meeting This Saturday

The Lower 9th Ward Homeowners Association is having its monthly meeting on September 4, 1 p.m. at St. David Church, 5716 St. Claude Avenue. For more Information, contact Linda Jackson @ 504-355-6560-or 229-269-9078.

Celebrating – and Remembering – On Caffin Ave

It was a night for celebrations on Caffin Avenue this past Saturday, beginning with a block party and the launch of the new book One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds, featuring photographs by Dave Anderson and an essay by Chris Rose. Sponsored by Aperture Publishing, Oxford American Magazine, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Preservation Resource Center, the 500 Caffin block party offered lots of great food and great music from Little Freddie King and the Rebirth Brass Band.

Then at 6 p.m. the L9 Center for the Arts (539 Caffin Ave.) hosted the opening of "Right to Return" [left]. Featuring the photographs and video of Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick, this new exhibition documents the people of the city as they make their transitions back to New Orleans.

And finally, a mobile exhibition [below] parked outside the L9 Center commemorated Katrina and rebuilding efforts five years later through a dramatic series of color and black and white photographs.

Living on Earth: Green Living in New Orleans

Robert Lynn Green Sr. in front of his new house in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. (www.makeitrightnola.org)

The Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. Now, with the help of the Brad Pitt-backed organization Make It Right, some residents are trickling back into their old neighborhoods to live in newly built houses. Robert Greene shows host Jeff Young his new environmentally friendly house that was built right where his old house used to stand.

Read more and listen to the interview on line here >>

via www.loe.org

Sunday Photo 2: Bill at Home

PHOTO: Dave Macaulay

HCNA President Bill Waiters at his nearly-restored historic home on Dauphine Street – five years after Hurricane Katrina and one fire.

Sunday Photo 1: 2nd Line on Tennessee Street

PHOTO: Dave Macaulay

2nd line parade, during 5th Anniversary of Katrina, Lower Ninth Ward - @ Make It Right Project on Tennessee Street.

Celebrating Milestones at Global Green's Holy Cross Project

Global Green USA attracted a crowd of about 80 friends and neighbors last night (Wednesday) for a special dedication of the Visitors Center to Holy Cross Past President Pam Dashiell. All three of the two-story green homes were open, with plenty of food and music and the chance to browse the sustainably-designed interiors. With houses #4 and #5, both single-story residences, nearing completion, Global Green will soon begin construction on the new community center planned for the complex.
PHOTOS: Dave Macaulay
PHOTO: David Eber

On Thursday afternoon, Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao paid a visit to the Holy Cross Project in honor of the Visitor Center's dedication. From left to right: Warrenetta Banks, CSED; Congressman Cao; Matt Petersen and Beth Galante, Global Green.

CNN: Finding Fresh Food in the Lower 9?

Jenga Mwendo of Holy Cross talks to CNN.

Reminder: Lower 9 Community Crime Walk Tonight!

Recovery Tour: Be Sure to Visit the Bayou

We noticed from the tour map published in the Times Picayune that the tour makes it into the lower ninth ward by the levee breaches.

We want to make you aware of a significant recovery point just off the tour---- at the end of Caffin Av just past Florida Ave. It's the viewing platform built over the floodwall that looks out onto Bayou Bienvenue and the once cypress swamp destroyed by the MRGO but now subject of restoration efforts by the community with the help of several universities, agencies, non-profits, and the wetland restoration arm of the Corps of Engineers.  There is an information kiosk there with more details of interest.

You should check it out.  We think it would give people a real sense of the scope of protective wetlands recovery being worked on within eyeshot of the most vulnerable neighborhoods.  Thirty feet of storm surge came over that wall where we have begun to restore the cypress swamp now that salt water is diminishing.

This is a sign of hope as well as vulnerability.

We thought you would like to know about this.

Keep up the good work!

John Koeferl

You are Invited: Global Green's Holy Cross Neighborhood Celebration!

On behalf of Global Green USA and the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, we wanted to invite you to join us on Wednesday evening, August 25th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm for an intimate neighborhood celebration at our Holy Cross Project located at 409 Andry Street (Douglass & Andry) in the Lower 9th Ward.

Please join us as we mark the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by dedicating our Visitor Center to Pam Dashiell, Past President of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association. We will join the community in remembering Pam for her incredible vision and passion for the people of Holy Cross and New Orleans, and for sharing our vision of sustainably rebuilding the 9th ward.

We will also celebrate the 1st phase of construction completion of the Holy Cross Project and the progress we’ve made in spurring the green rebuilding of New Orleans.

We’ll have light refreshments at the event and invite you to tour the finished homes of the project. We hope to see you there!

via globalgreen.org

Still Cleaning Up the BP Oil Spill Disaster

Holy Cross friend Darryl Malek-Wiley of the Sierra Club spoke to NPR's "All Things Considered" about ongoing efforts to cleanup more than 45,000 tons of garbage from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - and its potential impact on local communities.

Spike Lee Returns to the Lower 9, Five Years Later

Spike Lee’s "If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise," a look at New Orleans – and the Lower Ninth Ward – five years after Katrina and Rita, premieres tonight on HBO at 8 p.m. Central, the first of two parts. Below is a preview, featuring Brad Pitt and the Make It Right Project; at the bottom is the film’s official HBO trailer.

Trailer

Hugging the Process of the Person Getting Home

Patricia Jones, a Holy Cross resident, is Executive Director of NENA (the Lower 9th Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association), a non-profit that has worked tirelessly since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to help the Lower 9 recover and rebuild through Outreach, Case Management, Economic Development, Volunteer Services, and more. Tricia recently contributed this post as part of a series, “In Their Own Words”, for the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

"My family and I moved back to New Orleans in February 2006. At that time I began attending meetings at the Sanchez Center with different organizers from around the country to help people with the right to return. We sat in circles and talked, and NENA grew out of that.

At one of the community meetings, we were discussing the Road Home policy. They suggested setting up a system so folks could call and get help over the phone. I disagreed with that and suggested instead that we set up centers around the state where people could actually come and deal with a human being. I had already gone through the Road Home process, and realized that their online system was problematic for a lot of elderly folks. So I gave out my cell phone number so I could sit with people and help them get it done. People kept giving my number out, and that was the beginning of NENA.

I knew that in order to begin the recovery process, we had to acknowledge our loss. So we put on a public memorial service standing at the levee wall. We got the list of everyone who passed away, and we asked the pastors to officiate the service. People came from all over, and to my surprise, CNN showed up. We finished the service, we read 1,500 names, and we did a walk from the levee to Flood Street, by King School. Folks asked me, “What are we going to do next?” I said, “Honestly, I don’t know, but I have a sign-in sheet. When we figure it out, I’ll call you.” And so that’s how word of mouth got out, and the organization continued to grow." READ MORE >>

via www.gnof.org

Heart of the City: Katrina Five Years Later on BET

BET presents “Heart of the City: Katrina Five Years Later.” This exclusive primetime special chronicles a year in the life of several men and women from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, one of the areas hardest hit by the storm. Hosted by actress and New Orleans native Jurnee Smollett, ("Eve's Bayou," "The Great Debaters"), the hour-long special examines how residents of the Ninth Ward have come together to rebuild five years after the levees broke and uncovers their hopes for the future. It also takes a look at the BP oil spill and the subsequent obstacles it potentially poses.

“Heart of the City: Katrina Five Years Later” debuts Sunday, August 22 at 10 p.m. EST/PST. For more information, visit Heart of the City: Katrina Five Years Later.

BET Videos

5th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Events, Lower 9th Ward

25th Wednesday: Global Green Events-Groundbreaking for new Community Center
Andry St. at Douglas St., 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Honoring the memory of Pam Dashiell
Contact: Global Green Office 504-525-2121

26th Thursday: Community Garden Education Center ownership transfer from Preservation Resource Center (PRC) to the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association
603 Forstall St., 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Contact: PRC 504-581-7035, Maryann Miller 504-312-9202

27th Friday: Preservation Resource Center (PRC) Workshops at 5200 Dauphine St.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Series of workshops and demonstrations projects highlighting green design elements incorporated into the building of 5200 Dauphine St., the new office of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and its Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development
Contact: PRC 504-581-7035, Maryann Miller 504-312-9202

27th Friday: Restore Trinity: An exhibit of Katrina images featuring the work of Mario Tama of Getty Images and other photographers-sponsored by Camp Restore
4 to 8 p.m., Trinity Lutheran, 5234 North Claiborne
Contact: Kurt Jostes (office) 504-242-2636 ext. 5015, 504-289-4497 (cell)

28th Saturday: Block Party in appreciation of residents
500 Caffin Ave., 4 to 7 p.m.
Sponsored by Aperture Publishing, Oxford American Magazine, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Preservation Resource Center
Contacts: PRC 504-581-7035 or Keith Calhoun 832-368-1679

28th Saturday: Party at the Lower 9th Ward Village
1001 Charbonnet Street, 7 to 10 p.m.
Contact: Mack McClendon 504-402-4284

29th Sunday: Mobile Art Exhibition: In the Lower 9th Ward at 1717 Deslonde Street, New Orleans-A Community Voice in partnership with ‘Make it Right’ in the commemoration five years after the storm
Contact: Andy Levin 504 701-0961

29th Sunday: Bravery, Strength, Resilience. This the Lower Ninth Ward Katrina Memorial Commission Invites everyone to the 5th Annual Hurricane Katrina Memorial Celebration
8:30 to 11:30 a.m., will begin at The Lower Nine Monument, Tennessee St. @ N. Claiborne
The Honorable Maxine Waters to serve as keynote speaker
Contact: Donna M. Dugue’ Office of Councilman Jon D. Johnson 504-658-1050 dmdugue@cityofno.com

29th Sunday: “Remembering Katrina: 5 Years Later”
10am, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School, corner of Caffin Ave. & Claiborne Ave.
Join the staff and students as we celebrate life, fortitude and the future
Music, Jazz band, Interpretive dance and Food
Contact: Sylvia Ellison, Project Director 504.940.2243

29th Sunday: 2nd line on Tennessee Ave.
1:00 p.m.
Contact: Robert Green 504-201-1207

29th Sunday: March from Levee Breach to Potters Field’s
Contacts: Darrell Warren 509-496-2668, Upenda Glover 504-940-5681

29th Sunday: Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu for Commemoration and Determination: Katrina V
6 p.m., Washington Artillery Park (located at Jackson Square & Decatur St.)
A special event to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina as the City commemorates the lives lost and celebrates the spirit of determination in all of us as we look to the future.

29th Sunday: Group Photographic Projection on the Levee Wall: Images of Katrina Stanley Greene, Andy Levin, Kadir Lohuizen, Alan Chin, Debby Fleming Caffery, Jake Price, Anthony Suau, Lee Celano, Jennifer Zdon and friends
9:00 p.m., N. Roman and Deslonde Street at the Industrial Canal Levee
Light refreshments/Burgers
Contact: Andy Levin 504 701-0961

St. Bernard Project: 50 hour building blitz-5 houses in 5 days with welcome home parties
Contact: Zack Rosenburg 504-208-7756

Friday: Family Night at the Movies

FAMILY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

ALL SOULS EPISCOPAL CHURCH & COMMUNITY CENTER, 5500 ST. CLAUDE AVENUE
SPONSORED BY ALL SOULS COMMUNITY CENTER AND TEKREMA CENTER FOR ART & CULTURE

MOVIE OF THE WEEK IS “PRECIOUS”

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2010
DOORS OPEN AT 6:00 P.M., MOVIE STARTS AT 7:00 P.M.

ADMISSION IS FREE
HOT DOGS NACHOS, POPCORN, DRINKS $1.00 EACH

DISCUSSION FOLLOWS

Please be advised: This movie is rated R - Restricted. This movie may contain some adult situations, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements and therefore not appropriate for young children.

The Reverend Lonell Wright, Vicar
 All Souls Episcopal Church and Community Center

 

Sunday Photo: New Sustainability Center Rising

PHOTO: Darryl Malek-Wiley

The reconstructed double-shotgun camelback at 5200 Dauphine (Dauphine & Lizardi) continues to make progress - and soon will be the new home for the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED). This new structure will feature many materials from the historic building that stood there (and once the site of the old Ruiz Sandwich Shop). Crews from Historic Green assisted with the deconstruction in March 2009; the completed center will be donated to the neighborhood, courtesy of the Preservation Resource Center.

City begins new era with approval of master plan

In a long-anticipated final step for a winding process that began shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the City Council unanimously approved a new citywide master plan Thursday

City officials hope the new plan will reduce conflict over development in neighborhoods and help attract new investment by setting clear and consistent rules for building.

“It tells investors that they can come back, that the rules won’t change in the middle of the game,” City Councilwoman-at-large Jackie Clarkson said.

But even as the council unanimously approved the legally binding land-use plan, questions remain about how the city will pay for implementing the reforms it lays out. The effort already has cost the city thousands of hours in manpower and millions of dollars in consulting fees.

In 2007, the city spent $2 million in recovery money to pay the Boston urban design company Goody Clancy to rewrite the city’s notoriously dysfunctional zoning law, redraft zoning maps and complete a master plan that promotes resident involvement in planning decisions and place-based development. While that upfront expense has already been swallowed, City Planning Director Yolanda Rodriguez told council members Thursday that she would be returning to the body with a request for money to carry out the demands made in the plan and “act more proactively and progressively” on neighborhood issues.

via thelensnola.org

News from Tekrema Center for Art and Culture

5640 Burgundy Strreet New Orleans Louisiana 70117 504- 943-9779 tekrema@cox.net

Tekrema Center for Art and Culture Announces

SoulSpeak

Saturday August 14, 2010 8:00 P.M.
HBO's When the Levees Broke/Def Poetry Jam Artist
Shelton "Shakespear" Alexander
and
New Orleans Slam Team

SoulSpeak Open Mic is for poets, artists, and stevedores.

$5 Admission Cash Bar Food by Chef EJ

Art and Lost Treasures

Saturday August 14 9:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.

Tekrema's Monthly Garage Sale offers art, lost treasures, delicious baked goods, and new and used items on the second Saturday of each month.

Family Night at the Movies
All Souls Episcopal Church- 5500 St. Claude Ave

Join us every third Friday of the month for a family night at the movies co-sponsored by All Souls Episcopal Church & Community Center and Tekrema Center for Art & Culture.

This month
Date: August 20 at 7:00 pm
Movie: Precious
Immediately followed by discussion.
Admission is free. Refreshments are available for purchase.

Thank You Tekrema's Haitian Children's Relief Effort
generously supported by
Amelie Prescott
Daimon Wilson
Karen and Jarvis Jones
Howard University Students
New Orleans Salsa Dancers
N'Kafu and Culu Traditional African Dance Companies

In September, Tekrema will present photographs of our 11 member team in Haiti and provide information about our continuing efforts to assist orphaned and homeless children in Haiti.

Weekly Classes

Please visit tekremacenter.com for the listing of weekly classes and fee schedule.

Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, writer and scholar, will offer a workshop for women and girls in an exploration of dance and creative writing on Saturday, August 21 at 10:00 A.M. Enrollment is limited. By workshop is offered by donation.

Kwame Azalius Ross and Christopher Williams, Lumbe International Productions, join Tekrema as artistic associates. Both Mr. Ross and Mr. William have extensive backgrounds in dance, theater, art education, and social justice through community engagement.

DaVonna Smith

Resident of the Month

Davonna Smith is a 9th grade student at Light City Christian Academy. Her favorite subject is math. Davonna's career goal is to become an actress. Without explanation, her pastime activities are acting, dance classes and enjoying time with her family and friends.

DaVonna is a beautiful, bright, kind and gracious young lady who always smiles and is willing to lend a hand.

DaVonna stands in her own light with grace and maturity beyond her years. She is an asset to her family and this community.

A Better Way: When the Levee Breaks from Bleak Design

An interesting look at how to improve life in the Crescent City so communities can live, and survive, more effectively with levees and floodwalls - from Good Magazine's "New Orleans Issue":

Living in a city bisected by the Mississippi River and abutting Lake Ponchartrain, New Orleanians have a complicated relationship with water. Where other cities might take advantage of these shorelines for recreation and community activities, prizing a natural access to water in a sweltering urban center, New Orleans is, instead, walled in—its residents’ interactions with nature is mediated by 104.8 miles of levees and floodwalls. These structures are, of course, necessary for the safety of the city (even if they have been far from perfect), but they create a visually forceful divide between the city and its surrounding wetlands. With pumping stations behind walls, even the infrastructure hides itself. It’s as if there is no water at all.

With that in mind, GOOD asked a few of New Orleans’s finest designers to re-imagine, improve upon, or replace these floodwalls and levee spaces. What we got were ideas that are at once community-enhancing, dynamic, and effective—a testament to the power of thoughtful design and public art, especially in blighted areas.

IMAGES: GOOD Magazine

via www.good.is

The New Orleans Index at Five > Brookings Institution

Five years following Hurricane Katrina—a tragedy compounded and made more complex by the Great Recession and the current Gulf oil spill—new evidence shows that greater New Orleans is emerging as a healthier, more resilient region.  Yet, this year’s New Orleans Index at Five, which combines comprehensive trends analyses with seven scholar essays on key post-Katrina reforms, reveals that much work lies ahead if this metropolis is to emerge with a stronger economy, better opportunities for its residents, and a more sustainable future.  The Gulf oil spill creates an opportunity for New Orleanians, and their government, philanthropic and private sector partners, to build on the progress made since Katrina.

READ MORE >>

via www.brookings.edu

Thanks for Listening, Mr. Mayor: Mitch Landrieu @ MLK School

ALL PHOTOS: Darryl Malek-Wiley

With more than 200 people in attendance, City Councilman John Johnson, Mayor 'Mitch' Landrieu and his entire management team (60+ people) paid a visit on Wednesday to the Lower 9's Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School – seeking input on the city's 2011 budget and the community's needs. Thanks for listening, Mr. Mayor!

From The Gambit's Blog of New Orleans.com:

Mayor Mitch Landrieu, First Deputy Mayor Judy Reese Morse, Councilman Jon Johnson and Chief Administrative Officer Andy Kopplin heard the concerns of Lower Ninth Ward residents at a community budget hearing at the Martin Luther King Elementary School on Caffin Avenue this evening.

Tonight’s forum followed on from Monday night’s community budget hearing in New Orleans East, where Landrieu raised the issue of race in the context of repossessing properties in the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East.

Residents tonight were frustrated by many issues. They wanted to know what has happened to all the money allocated to the district since Katrina. They were frustrated by blight in the district, closed schools, torn-up streets, flooding, lack of street lights, lack of police and fire presence, inadequate recreation facilities, lack of facilities for senior citizens, the limited scope of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation, lack of supermarkets and amenities, by long grass, rats, rabbits, nutria, out-of-control mosquitoes, and the growth of disaster tourism.

“My mother’s house is around the corner, it sits vacant,” said Sharon Lamberson, a 59-year-old lifelong resident of the Ninth Ward. “The Road Home [program] gave her $17,000. That’s not enough to build a decent carport.”

“How come the only buses that are coming out here are looking at Brad Pitt’s houses?” asked another resident, Patrick Shannon Spears.

“There’s an equity ordinance, and somebody’s going to go to jail for failing to spend the city’s recovery dollars on the black neighborhoods,” said Vanessa Gueringer.

via blogofneworleans.com

Night Out Against Crime - This Tuesday @ 6 p.m.

Mayor in Lower 9th Ward - next Wednesday, August 4

MAYOR LANDRIEU AND COUNCILMAN JOHNSON TO HOLD FIRST COMMUNITY MEETINGS

Next week, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Councilman Jon Johnson will hold the first round of community meetings in District E. They will be joined by Deputy Mayors, NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas, NOFD Superintendent Charles Parent and department heads. These are the first in a series of community meetings to be held in each councilmember’s district to discuss budget priorities.

Wednesday, August 4 – District E (Lower 9th Ward)
MLK Charter School=1617 Caffin Avenue
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

NOTE: Doors will open at 6:00pm for both meetings.

Tavis Smiley - New Orleans: Been in the Storm Too Long

As the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, Tavis Smiley Reports teams with Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme to revisit New Orleans in "New Orleans: Been in the Storm Too Long", which aired July 21.

At the Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School

Tavis Smiley of PBS begins his tour of New Orleans with several stops in the Lower Ninth Ward - at the MLK Charter School, the Make It Right Project and the Mississippi Levee - as he explains:

"There’s a spirit in this city that powers its refusal to give up five years after Katrina and inspires people from other regions to call New Orleans home."

9th Ward Health Fair/Block Party - Saturday, 4 to 7

Community Clean-Up in Holy Cross!

Hundreds of volunteers joined together with Holy Cross residents for a community-wide clean-up on July 16: cutting grass, cleaning abandoned lots and houses. Just one more big step forward in beautifying our neighborhood! Thanks to all who participated!

BEFORE: Abandoned house at Reynes and Burgundy.
AND AFTER: Thanks to volunteers from Our Savior Lutheran, Tacoma, Washington!

Special Thanks to Kathy Wendling at Camp Restore for sending 100 youth volunteers and 10 leaders. We were able to cut down the tall grass at 11 lots and mow the lawn of a resident. Residents Kathy Muse, John Koeferl and Simon Hand assisted the volunteers with deconstructing the vacant home at 607 Forstall. Jenga Mwendo came in and spoke to the leaders, residents and volunteers about volunteer safety.

• Father Wright of All Souls Episcopal Church donated his lawnmower and weedeater. Resident Joyce Mumford donated garbage bags.
• Resident Ms. Mable Howard led a crew with cleaning the vacant house next to her home. They also cleaned the back yard of contractor’s debris and cut the grass (in the 4700 block of Dauphine Street).
• Peter Mc Hugh led the crew with cutting grass at the corner of Bienvenue Street and Tupelo Street.
• Residents Lester Mornay and Amy Novak and her daughter led a crew with cleaning the abandoned house at the corner of Reynes Street and Burgundy Street.
• Resident Marna David and volunteer Che' Gilliland led a group with cutting the high grass at the corner of Andry Street and Douglass Street.
• Smitty led the crew at his home with cutting grass and then gave them a tour of the neighborhood before bringing them to help Mack at the Lower 9th Ward Village. Mack and Joe Mc Clendon also helped out with lending us tools.
• Resident Mary Jones (who has the only home in the 1900 block of Forstall) led the group along with her family members in cutting the high grass around her home and the empty lots.
• Resident Doreen Piano led a group with the clean up a cutting the grass at a vacant home in the 800 block of Deslonde.
• Resident Lois Lonzo and The Smith family led a crew with the cutting of the high grass in the 600 block of Egania.
• Ms. Ishem greeted the group of young volunteers and opened her home to them as they cleaned the lot next door to her on Delery Street.

Special thanks to Hands on New Orleans for allowing us to use many tools. All of the residents mentioned also supplied work tools and supplies for the volunteers.

CNN iReport: Hurricane Katrina, then and now

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina tore through a swath of the Gulf Coast, leaving towns flooded, buildings destroyed and thousands without homes. Today, the region looks dramatically different than it did in the aftermath of the storm.

To mark Katrina's five-year anniversary, CNN is embarking on an ambitious project with your help, specifically from iReporters who live in those places affected by the storm. Instead of compiling a simple before-and-after photo gallery, we're instead asking iReporters to visit the places devastated by Katrina and document the scene today. On this assignment page, users can access dozens of CNN photographs taken in the days and months following the hurricane. You can download and print those images, visit the original locations where they were shot, and take a new photo in that spot. Here's the interesting part: We want you to hold up the original photo and line it up with the present-day view.

via ireport.cnn.com

Clinic in Lower 9th Ward may shut down?

 

Biking for the Gulf: From the Lower 9 to D.C.

Please join Common Ground on Thursday, July 15 at 2 p.m. at 1800 Deslonde Street as Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Relief, departs on a 1,500 mile bike ride to Washington DC to discuss issues concerning the restoration of the Gulf Coast.

Please visit Malik’s website at www.bikeforthegulf.org  

Tomorrow! Community Design Charrette: Rebuilding Lower 9 Schools

The Lower Nine School Development Group: Community Design Charrette

Please join us and participate in the creation of a Specific Plan to rebuild a Pre-K through 12th grade school on the former Lawless Elementary and High School sites.

Agenda to include:

1. Project Update
2. Focused presentation and discussion of the Plan Components, including development of Conceptual Drawing, Strategy and Vision for the Schools.

WHERE: ALL SOULS EPICOPAL CHURCH, 5500 St Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117

WHEN: Saturday, July 10 from 12:PM to 4:PM

WHAT: For Lower 9th Ward Schools

Registration will begin at 10:45 a.m.
Light refreshments will be available

For more information, please contact Linda Jackson at (228) 269-9078 or Tom Pepper, at (504) 583-0742.

Lower 9th Ward NENA Community Meeting

Lower 9th Ward NENA is hosting its monthly community meeting scheduled for Saturday, July 10 from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon at 1120 Lamanche Street (just off St. Claude). Agenda includes:

• Hurricane and Neighborhood Preparedness: Jeff Kugler, Community Outreach Coordinator: Neighborhoods and Limited English Populations, American Red Cross, Southeast Louisiana Chapter
• Evacuteer: Clifford Washington, Project Manager, NENA Development Department
• Community Updates: Charlotte Jackson, Deputy Director, NENA

Please download flyer for additional details regarding the meeting. We are requesting your assistance in informing the community.

July Sankofa Marketplace This Saturday

The Sankofa Marketplace of the Lower 9th Ward is a free, open-air event, held every 2nd Saturday in the parking lot of the All Souls Episcopal Church at the intersection of St Claude and Caffin Avenues. This monthly community event was created to help spur restoration, development and economic growth in the Lower 9th Ward. The event features children's activities, a farmers market with fresh produce and wild caught Louisiana shrimp, local entertainment, community resources, health screenings, and health resources.

Fireworks Over Holy Cross

It was a spectacular annual Fourth of July Celebration on the levee in Holy Cross - with great food, great activities and great crowds, all gathered for the best view of New Orleans' fireworks display over the Mississippi River!

ALL PHOTOS: Darryl Malek-Wiley

Join Holy Cross for the 4th of July!

THE HOLY CROSS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION AND THE LOWER 9TH WARD C.S.E.D ARE HAVING A 4th of JULY POTLUCK PARTY!

Who: The Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, The Lower 9th Ward Center For Sustainable Engagement and Development, and YOU!!!

What: A potluck and BBQ with friends and neighbors, music, and fireworks by the Holy Cross LEVEE!

When: Sunday, July 4th, 5:30pm-9pm

Where: The foot of Reynes Street, by the levee and the former Holy Cross School campus

Why: To celebrate friendship, growth, freedom, food, and fireworks! (And because we’ve got the best place to see fireworks in the city)

Questions: Call Sarah DeBacher - 945-8133 or Andrew Robinson - 390-6732

Mark's Muffler Celebrates 26 Years in Business

1st business to re-open in the Lower 9th Ward after Katrina!

Party to Celebrate 26 years in business!

Place:
Mark’s Muffler Shop
5229 St. Claude Avenue
Lower 9th Ward

Date:
July 3, 2010
Saturday

Time:
11AM - 2PM

Food and Drinks:
Hot Dogs
Hamburgers
Chips
Soft Drinks
Water

Come celebrate with us!

Working Wonders in the Garden

The Unitarian Church of Harrisburg High School Youth Service Trip brought volunteers to our Ernst Community Garden on June 23rd.

We are very grateful for their hard-working bodies and joyous spirits. We will definitely enjoy the fruits of their labor! Thanks ever so much, y'all!

All Souls' Summer Program for Children

Come out to the Lower 9th Ward Homeowners Association meeting tomorrow @ St. David Church

Please join us: Lower 9th Ward Homeowners Association Meeting, Saturday, June 5 at St. David Church, 5716 St. Claude Ave., 1 p.m.

Jon Johnson will be talking about the plans for the Lower 9th Ward.

Linda Jackson, President
Lower 9th Ward Homeowners Association

From The Guardian (U.K.): Oil seeps into the delta

Workers clean up oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster as the oil impacts Redfish Bay in Louisiana's Birdfoot Delta, where the Mississippi river empties into the Gulf of Mexico

Photographer: Jeffrey Dubinsky/Reuters

via www.guardian.co.uk

CNN: Tracking the Gulf Oil Spill

via www.cnn.com

Saturday Arts Program for Youth and Adult Dance Party

Tekrema Center for Art and Culture offers two of the best programs in the city, here in the Lower 9, Holy Cross.

"Visions" A Saturday Arts Program for Youth

Saturdays 9 -12 Noon
Tekrema Center, 5640 Burgundy Street
Classes for Youth 8 - 16 yrs Dance, Theater, Media Arts, Literature, Music Appreciation, Field Trips
These classes are taught by academically trained and award winning professionals in their respective fields.

The Connection - An Afrobeat Party

The Connection – An Afrobeat Party is a monthly dance party that features some of the best and most exciting musicians in New Orleans, Seguenon Kone and Ivoire Spectacle. Doors open at 8PM, Seguenon performs at 9 P.M. The party continues DJ style with music from Africa and the African Diaspora, featuring R&B, Classic and Contemporary African, French Caribbean, Old School Rap, Reggae, Salsa, and more.

Free Admission, Cash Bar, Free Food.

Download The Teeth and Tongue Newsletter here.

Tekrema Center for Art and Culture, 5640 Burgundy Street, NOLA  504-9439779 tekrema@cox.net

An Experience You Will Not Forget!

Tonight! BP Oil Disaster Fundraiser for Gulf Coast Communities

REMINDER:  We really hope you can join us tonight at the House of Blues in New Orleans at 6:00 p.m.

After touring the coastal communities of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana for the last three days, we are even more touched by the long road ahead facing the people of the Gulf Coast. Please join us in solidarity as we lift our glass to these remarkable individuals and organizations. All proceeds from tonights event will go directly to  Emergency Response grantmaking.

Communities on the front lines need our support!

This fundraiser is dedicated to supporting advocates and activists who are protecting the health, environment, and livelihood of the communities across the Gulf Coast that have been affected by the BP Oil Drilling Disaster. This event is also a chance to honor and acknowledge 5 years of hard work rebuilding the Gulf South through the grass roots. The night will be a festive occasion with great food and good music to show our appreciation to those who have made it all possible... and that includes YOU!

Reservations

Pam Dashiell Honored Donor
($10,000)

Champion of GCF Donor
($5,000)

Premier GCF Donor
($2,500)

Friends of GCF Donor
Cost of Admission
($50)

Tickets can be purchased at the door. Cash or check only please, made payable to the Gulf Coast Fund.

RSVP NOW: Amber@gulfcoastfund.org

Emergency Response to the BP Oil Drilling Disaster

The BP Oil Drilling Disaster unfolding in the Gulf Coast is one of the most significant threats to the environment our country has faced in decades. Projections have this environmental atrocity quickly surpassing the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. Unlike Valdez, it is not an 'oil spill' as it has been referred to by the media. According to scientists at Tulane University, it is a river of oil flowing from the earth's crust at a rate of 240,000 gallons per day, with the potential to keep flowing for up to 3 more months.Action must be taken immediately to protect coastal communities and ecosystems. The Gulf Coast Fund is mobilizing to address this economic and environmental disaster, and the Gulf Coast Communities need your support!

For more information: www.gulfcoastfund.org

Katrina + 5: Documenting Disaster

The exhibition Katrina + 5: Documenting Disaster is a reminder of the history made since August 29, 2005, and The Historic New Orleans Collection’s ongoing efforts to record it.

May 12–September 12, 2010
Williams Gallery, 533 Royal Street

Lower Garden District Fire Scene
September 6, 2005; by Chris Mickal
courtesy of Chris Mickal

In the timeline of history, half a decade constitutes not even the blink of an eye, but for many residents of the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina, the past five years have seemed like a lifetime. Yet time has moved on. Five years after the storm, recovery efforts have produced a mixed bag of results across our region. The “history in the making” quality of Katrina’s landfall, the subsequent flooding of New Orleans, and five years of recovery and rebuilding efforts presented a dizzying array of documentation possibilities to an institution tasked with preserving our city’s history. Faced with the work of chronicling both unprecedented devastation and the city’s recovery, The Collection implemented two long-term institutional initiatives in early October 2005: an extensive oral history program focused on recording the experiences of first responders and a citywide photo documentary project intended to capture the scale of the chaos left in Katrina’s wake. Selections from these projects form the core of Katrina + 5.

via www.hnoc.org

Audio Slideshow: Fisheries Expert Daniel Pauly on the Gulf Spill's Impact

The Gulf of Mexico, which supplies as much as a third of America's domestically caught seafood, is at risk of becoming a giant "no fishing" zone after the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform disaster. Eminent marine biologist Daniel Pauly has long been a proponent of marine protected zones, which restrict fishing and other underwater activities so that sea life may grow large, breed, and regenerate from its current depleted condition.

The French-born fisheries expert and professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia spoke with OnEarth about the expected impacts of the BP oil spill, the damage it will likely cause to ocean life, and the hope that this disaster could provide an opportunity for rebirth.

via www.onearth.org

The Impact of the Oil Spill on Lives and Livelihood of Louisiana Fishermen

New video from Global Green: how the BP Gulf Coast oil spill has and will be affecting the fishermen of Shell Beach, Louisiana. Text "GREEN" to 85944 to make a $10 donation today.

Pamela Dashiell: Hub native became Katrina activist

Obituary for Pam Dashiell, which appeared in The Boston Globe on May 4, 2010:

Boston native Pamela J. Dashiell followed her love of Southern living to New Orleans more than 20 years ago and became an activist for the city’s Lower Ninth Ward when Hurricane Katrina deluged her neighborhood.

She rubbed shoulders with celebrities drawn to aid the city, and her work won kudos from the Louisiana governor’s office.

All the while, Pam remained “just Pam,’’ her family said.

“She was so low key, so positive,’’ said her cousin Denise C. Dabney of Boston. “She let you talk. She didn’t brag about any of the things she did. People in New Orleans took to her because she had no pretensions.’’

via www.boston.com

Louisiana Landmarks: Remembering Pam Dashiell This Sunday Join Us!

We've Not Forgotten New Orleans

RememberNOLA from Remember NOLA on Vimeo.

Sunday Photo: Jenga Mwendo, Our 'Cox Conserves' Hero!

At the Awards Ceremony (l to r): Darryl Durham (Backyard Gardener's Network board member), Pam Bryan (Preservation Resource Center), Daphne Derven (New Orleans Food and Farm Network), Charles Allen (Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development), Jenga Mwendo, Jenga's daugher, Azana Olusola, and Jacqui Vines (Cox Communications)