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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.