Frank Smart in New Orleans' Ninth Ward
Local man helps out in his home state
By Frank Smart
Hurricane Katrina delivered a potential knockout blow to New Orleans last year, but Katrina underestimated the resilient spirit of the people, their courage and their love for the home they call The Crescent City.
Forget what you hear about FEMA failures; dysfunctional and finger pointing governments; rioting and looting citizens; hunger, despair and the futility of rebuilding a city in which some neighborhoods are below sea level.
With the help of about 50,000 construction workers from around the world, a number of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and the people of New Orleans, the city is rising from the ashes like the fabled Phoenix. I recently spent two days working with the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity (NOAHH) on the Musicians’ Village being constructed in the Upper Ninth Ward which was severely damaged by rampaging waters released by the breaking of the levees. Habitat for Humanity is one of the NGOs I referred to earlier.
I arrived on the site the day before Thanksgiving and pitched in to help frame the flooring system of four houses being built on ground which had been heavily flooded. More than 30 very colorful, cookie cutter pattern Habitat houses have been built in this area and 11 of them are occupied and the rest are being readied for occupancy. The families for the other homes have already been selected and are awaiting completion before moving in. The neighborhood, a very depressed area by any standards for many years, is showing signs of coming back. Many homes had been repaired, repainted, and re-inhabited. There are signs proclaiming proudly, “We are home”, “Let’s Rebuild New Orleans”, “We are coming back” signaling that while the governments might still be squabbling, the people and the NGOs are at work.
The homes are brightly painted in colors including purple, burnt orange, lilac, lime green, turquoise, salmon, and lemon. On Alvar Street, there are 26 homes in a row within a two block area, each painted a different color. These bright colors are a custom in multi-cultural south Louisiana and brighten up an area that has been blighted for many decades.
I worked with a group of 45 Habitat volunteers from Charlottesville, North Carolina who had come to help. The group was sponsored in large part by rock musician Dave Matthews, who provided the volunteers with a bus, a driver and fuel. Earlier Matthews performed a special concert which raised $1.2 million for the project.
Musicians’ Village is the brainchild of two New Orleans natives: musicians Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis. NOAHH purchased 8.1 acres of blighted land and plans to build 73 single family homes, five elder-friendly duplexes, and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.
In the next two years, NOAHH plans to build up to 300 new homes in the Upper Ninth Ward. There are several floor plans for the homes, but most are three-bedroom, one-bath homes of approximately 1,000-1,200 square feet and built about four feet off the ground. NOAHH is selling the houses to the selected families for $75,000 to $80,000 on a 20-year, no-interest mortgage. The payments are around $500 a month which includes Homeowners and Flood Insurance, Termite Coverage and Property Taxes.
The first 40 homes in Musicians’ Village were sponsored by the Baptist Crossroads Project, although all 40 are not yet constructed. There are approximately 30 homes finished or nearly finished and will soon be occupied. In addition, infill building has begun on seven homes in the surrounding neighborhood. Also in response to the increased need for housing post-Katrina, NOAHH is beginning to build for the first time in St. Bernard, St. Charles, Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes. These areas were also hard-hit by Katrina and NOAHH plans to build 1,500 homes in the next five years in the Greater New Orleans area.
Most of my family were affected in one way or another with Katrina and Rita. Many ran for their lives. I felt helpless as we watched the drama unfold in my native state. I lived too far away in Sonora California for anyone to come and stay with me until the ordeal was over.
Since the storms passed, I have had a desire to help rebuild New Orleans, a town I spent some time in as a young man in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I was living on St. Charles Boulevard in September 1964 when I received my draft notice for induction into the Army. An illness in the family and a window of opportunity led me to the decision to go to my birth home in Shreveport and subsequently to New Orleans.
Of the approximately 80 people on the job site, about half were women who pitched in and did a great job in the actual construction. The Site Supervisor was a 25-year-old Vista worker named Annie. There were no ages or genders on this job site. There were many caring and dedicated people who \had a strong desire to help others less fortunate than themselves. They cared enough to travel halfway across the country to serve.
My experience on the Musicians’ Village job site was fun, exciting and very rewarding. I feel fortunate I was able to go and I plan to return in late April and would like to take a group of Tuolumne County residents with me. The expense is reasonable. Anyone wishing to discuss the trip can contact me at 533-4414, 559-1908 or at fsmart@mlode.com.