From Cafe Rose Nicaud

Posted on January 31, 2007 by David

Today is my second day in New Orleans. Yesterday while I was able to see some of the damage that still exists here, this morning Pam and Ray took me on a tour of St. Bernard’s Parish. Light poles still stand at 45 degree angles. Cars are still sticking out of the earth like trees while trees lie flat on the ground. All of the houses still have the FEMA markings on them. Some of the buildings have other things written on them asking to not destroy the building. One home had written on the front “We are OK”. Traffic was sparse as if you were out in the country yet we were still in a once booming city. This morning we passed at least 3 empty schools.

There are numerous schools in the area that aren’t open or are open but still need work. A woman who works at the Cafe named Renee told me yesterday about her daughters school. Her daughter, Terralyn, is in first grade at the Internation School of Louisiana. They have all the materials needed to finish fixing up the school. They have already had 2 days in which the parents have all gotten together to work on the building. The bathrooms need work, there is basically no library, the walls need another coat of paint and many other small repairs. Their next clean-up day is on March 3rd and we are trying to work with them to get volunteers to help with the work and they are also trying to help us with our housing problem. However, I think that Terralyn is in a fairly good situation relative to other children in New Orleans.

Renee told me that there are many other public school that are very crowded. The news reports that hundreds of students have been turned away, though other sources have put that number higher. Last night at dinner we talked about the ramifications of turning away so many kids from school. These are children whose country was not there for them in what might be one of the greatest times of need in their lives. They are then told that they can’t go to school. These children are left powerless to their situation and this certainly could lead to a very dangerous situation for the children and citizens of New Orleans.

Marte

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Dallas News Thanksgiving Photo Essay

Posted on January 30, 2007 by David

In mid-November our RHINO gutting team was shadowed by a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer from the Dallas News with the assignment to capture the spirit of volunteering for a piece they wanted for their website over Thanksgiving. Melanie Burford is a very special person from down under in Kiwiland, and one helluva photographer.

Visit this link, dallasnews.com/shared content/dws/photography/2006/restoring. Be sure to turn up your volume before clicking on the featured pieces. Thanks to the Dallas News for letting us share this link.

The stained poster shot of the defiant Ali at the end of the piece was also captured by one of my volunteer high school friends, Paul Elmore. His shot is used on the Katrina Corps homepage. Thanks, Paul.

Keith

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Daily blogging

Posted on January 29, 2007 by David

Today Katrina Corps is adding a daily blogging feature to our website. While we will continue to update and improve our website, we will use this blog to help keep you updated. We have a full-time employee in New Orleans since mid-January who will be there at least through the end of the college Spring Break weeks — April 6th. I say “at least” because our vision for Katrina Corps extends well beyond Spring Break 07. The rebuilding process in New Orleans will take anywhere from 5-10 years.

I am a member of the management group for Katrina Corps and a vice-president of the board of the sponsoring organization, Pangaea Quest. I have been to New Orleans three times last year to gut homes. Each week I worked with the outreach program of the St. Charles Ave. Presbyterian Church called RHINO (Rebuilding Hope in New Orleans). I’ve participated in the gutting of eight homes and also worked several days with Habitat New Orleans. My first trip was in late January. After each trip I wrote a column for my hometown Indiana newspaper. (I’ve lived in Southern California since 1970.) Here are some snippets of that first column last February.

“I just returned from a week in a third world country. Which one? New Orleans.”

And this experience with my first house – -

“Inside, mold, unknown fluids and fumes assaulted the senses. Growing up in that old farmhouse in Indiana, I probably slept with mold. Regardless, my mask went on instantly. We opened as many warped windows as we could jimmy, breaking a few on purpose. Air circulation was essential. Next we removed everything, bolted down or otherwise, including toilets. Any kind of glass, metal or plastic container still sat with stagnated floodwater. ‘Yuk’, was a common exclamation.”

And –

“Our second house, framed by brick, had an adjoining street ironically named, “Camelot.” The 40-year old owner had cleared out the furniture and most of the dry wall, then suffered a heart attack and lay incapacitated in one of only two open hospitals.”

And this closing – -

“Each evening I sat on my host home’s expansive porch, watching life crawl back to normal, at least in the ’sliver by the river’. The St. Charles Church bell tolled hourly. With apologies to Papa Hemingway, I thought of his classic, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’. It tolls for these upscale neighborhood, and it tolls for New Orleans. Meanwhile, around the country the tolls grow fainter and fainter.”

On my second trip in late April, some friends I recruited joined me in gutting homes for two days and working with Habitat for two days at the Musician’s Village. On Thursday we were surprised by a visit from President Bush, and on Friday by the Dave Matthews Band, in town for Jazz Fest. Dave was very approachable and open to quick pics.

During the third gutting trip in November, a photo journalist from the Dallas News followed us around and created a two-minute photo essay on the Dallas News website for their Thanksgiving website feature about volunteering.

I’ve fallen in love with New Orleans. During my last visit there in early January to help launch Katrina Corps and orient our full-time person, Ray Thomas, Ray and I enjoyed an adult beverage in the French Quarter one night while watching a traditional New Orleans jazz combo. In the middle of one of their sets I turned to him while pointing to the combo and said, “That is why I’m here. We have to save that. It is part of our culture.”

As to the task at hand, this week’s most important objectives are to make the website work better for those interested in volunteering, and secure blocks of hotel rooms at least for the first week of Spring Break.

This blog is also meant to help us be more transparent to you. We’ll tell you as much as we know or think we know at any given time, recognizing that we are scrambling, only launching this dream in late December.

Join us, or minimally support us. We don’t have a sugar daddy.

“Impossible is Nothing”

Keith

Posted in Gutting Experiences, What's new in New Orleans | Leave a comment

Hard work, but we’re not alone

Posted on January 25, 2007 by David

It’s hard work to gut thousands of houses and prepare them for renovation. Luckily, we’re working with other organizations in New Orleans to help get things done!

Groups we’re working with

Remember: We still need your help, too. If you’re up for an alternative spring break that’s rewarding and challenging, why not Sign Up and join Katrina Corps?

Posted in What's new in New Orleans | Leave a comment

The Effect of Hurricane Katrina

Posted on January 25, 2007 by David

While everybody has seen news reports about the damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted on the Gulf Coast, it’s hard to get a real feel for the problem by seeing only blurry news photos and brief press conferences.

That’s why I’m glad Katrina Corps team-member Keith Frohreich sent me these facts about the damage he picked up when he was in New Orleans last November. 800,000 people forced to leav their homes–staggering.

Personal Impact

  • 80% of New Orleans flooded, an area equal to the size of several Manhattan Islands.
  • 1,464 people died; 500 remain missing (though this is probably less by now)
  • 204,000-plus homes severely damaged
  • 800,000 forced to live outside their homes
  • 81,688 FEMA trailors occupied
  • 1.2 million families received Red Cross assistance
  • 33,544 persons rescued by Coast Guard
  • 34 years worth of trash and debris in New Orleans alone
  • 900,000 insurance claims at a cost of $22.6 billion

Fiscal Impact

  • $1.2 billion initial impact on state revenue
  • 220,000 jobs lost initially
  • 100 square miles of marshland destroyed
  • 260 non-profit cultural institutions, art centers, performance halls and other non-profit cultural venues damaged
  • 81,000 businesses (41% of Louisiana’s total) severely affected
  • 310,938 unemployment claims filed
  • $1.6 billion impact on Louisiana agriculture
Posted in What's new in New Orleans | Leave a comment

Introducing Katrina Corps

Posted on January 24, 2007 by David

Imagine… 5000 homes gutted and ready to rebuild in 5 weeks

Imagine… A generation of youth demonstrating that “we the people” can rebuild the Katrina Frontier, because “IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!”

The Situation

At the current rate of volunteers, it will take at least six years to gut the wait-listed homes in New Orleans. Gutting is the first step in rebuilding this proud city and returning the families of Katrina-land to their homes.

Katrina displaced not only most of a major US city, but also a significant portion of our gulf coast geography. The path of destruction was broad, and the unfortunate handling of the relief and rebuilding efforts are well documented. The memory of Katrina has faded for much of the country, but the work toward recovery is just beginning. And in this recovery, lies the first frontier this great nation has seen in almost 200 years.

Displaced families want to come back to their homes. Each wait-listed home represents a family that longs to return, and needs to return, as they are the heart of Katrina-land. They are also fellow citizens of the U.S. who, through natural and man-made disasters have lost what is theirs. In the process, we have all lost a key piece of our geography, our history, our culture and our national soul!!

The city, frustrated by lack of progress due to dwindling numbers of volunteers, imposed an August 29 deadline for homeowners to start the process of rebuilding their home, or they would be demolished. That deadline was challenged by the very organizations in place to do the work. Fortunately, the city recanted…but for how long???

The Opportunity

Gut 50% of the wait-listed homes currently registered with existing Gutting Organizations in 5 weeks.

  • 5 weeks of Spring Breaks
  • 5,000 students per week to form 1000 teams of 25 people each
  • 5, 5-day work experiences (commitment: arrive Sunday, depart the following Saturday)
  • 1 gutted house/day/team = 5,000 gutted homes

Beckon a generation to demonstrate that “IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING” while experiencing citizenship through the hands-on rebuilding of the Katrina Frontier. Recognizing the Katrina Frontier – a place of extreme challenge, extreme reality, and extreme opportunity – as the potential epicenter for a new generation of hope through full participatory citizenship.

Katrina Corps Planning

  • When: Spring Break 2007 (March 5 – April 6, 2007)
  • What: A citizen-based project team committed to:
  • Create the infrastructure for Spring Break ’07 to accelerate the return of families to their homes (and lay the foundation for an ongoing effort)
  • Leverage and support existing New Orleans gutting organizations to prepare for an influx of large numbers of volunteers in a short period of time
  • Work with the team of internal catalysts – power players in the existing New Orleans and the Katrina-land infrastructure – to ensure their full support and participation
  • Build a team of external catalysts – artists, politicians, and influential individuals (athletes, celebrities, etc.) to magnetize the effort with their energy and focus
  • Invite contingents from Spring Break schools (between March 5 and April 6, 2007) to be Workers and Eyewitnesses
  • Who: Workers for Spring Break ‘07 are:
  • College students who volunteer their spring break to come to New Orleans and make the impossible happen (or high school students 16 and over with parental consent, and young adults with the ability to commit time and effort). They will serve one of two roles:
  • “Gutters” focused on providing the labor needed to gut currently wait-listed homes.
  • “Supporters” are Kitchen staff, medical staff, supply staff, administrative staff, etc. who will be critical in allowing Gutters to safely and efficiently focus on the task at hand.
    Eyewitnesses for Spring Break ’07 are:
  • Filmmakers, Artists, Photographers, Journalists and Writers, etc. who witness
  • The work, workers and creation of the Katrina Corps and the lessons learned by participants
  • The lives of those who lived through the Katrina Experience. This will involve locating displaced families to interview them, and visually recapture images of the homes, neighborhoods and families histories they lost (along with their belongings).
    Note: The compiled works of these eyewitnesses will go onto “Katrina Tube” to make the loss and work of Katrina centrally accessible by fellow citizens everywhere. They will also become the foundational works for a Katrina Survivors Museum.

The Katrina Corps Culture

“Of the people, by the people, for the people” means “okay, we’ll do it ourselves, then.” This grass-roots effort is born to transcend the pitfalls and barriers of bureaucracy with the energy of a generation waiting to create the world that is their future. It is a transparent, hands-on operation with a work ethic and passion model of acting on that which needs doing.

The reward for participation is based not on an economic model of incentive and compensation, but instead on a social model where “of the people, by the people and for the people” is our inalienable responsibility.

Katrina Corps volunteers are the stars of this effort. Any external catalysts are there to recognize and validate the role of each volunteer and their collective effort as the vital role models of the future. Their effort will be the embodiment of Muhammad Ali’s powerful insight that “Impossible is NOTHING.”

“Impossible is just a big word
thrown around by small men
who find it easier to live in the world
they’ve been given, than to explore
the power they have to change it.

Impossible is not a fact.
It’s an opinion.
Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare.
Impossible is potential.
Impossible is temporary.
IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING.”

Katrina Corps volunteers are self-selected, pre-registered participants, who will come to energize change and create momentum for a future that puts people first. Not all will come. Those who choose to, will bring energy to a groundbreaking collective effort to reclaim the territory, life and soul of Katrina-land for our fellow citizens, and perhaps the beginning of an ongoing Katrina Corps.

Call to Action:

Which role will you play? Volunteer, Catalyst, Citizen Sponsor, or Corporate Sponsor. Join us, please!

EXHIBIT ONE

The Process:

  • Website for pre-registration, $75 registration fee (following the model of existing organizations that ask volunteers to cover a portion of cost of the administration of their own volunteer efforts).
  • Names/Teams given to pre-existing organizations.
  • Accommodations (in order of priority)
  • Pre-existing gutting organizations
  • Host families (recruited through newspaper, blogs, talk radio, churches, etc.)
  • Negotiated groups rates at local hotels
  • Stipulated self-sufficiency (e.g., tents, foods, water, sanitation, etc.) at pre-planned camp sites if no other accommodations are available

Fund raising and/or donations of time, money or goods:

  • Being accepted for tools, water, supplies, food, housing for the workers
  • From Corporate and Citizen sponsors
  • From External catalysts who are willing to help raise awareness, be present when possible, and applaud and reward those students who are making this dream a reality!
  • 501(C)3 application filed December of 2006

Working Itinerary for the Effort

  • Registration, assignment of host families or camp sites, Welcome kit (Sunday all day)
  • Opening Ceremony (Sunday, 7 – 9PM)
  • Welcome/ Culture statement
  • Expectations for the week
  • Housekeeping (how to get around, where to seek help and information, etc.)
  • Torch Ceremony (1 torch lit/week, each remains lit through the following weeks)
  • External Catalysts volunteer appearances
  • The Work Week (Monday – Friday)
  • 7:00 Wake up, breakfast
  • 8:00 Teams convene
  • 9:00 – 4:00 Gutting/Supporting/Eye witnessing
  • 7:00 – 9:00 Performance Venue
Posted in FAQ, What's new in New Orleans | Leave a comment

We’re just getting warmed up!

Posted on January 24, 2007 by David

The new Katrina Corps website (including this blog) just went live. In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting more about how you can help rebuild New Orleans!

Stay tuned!

Posted in What's new in New Orleans | Leave a comment

Calling Film and Documentary Makers to the Katrina Challenge

Posted on January 24, 2007 by David

Hurricane Katrina almost blew New Orleans off the map. A year and a half later, history will be made again in New Orleans. You are invited to celebrate and document it in film so the rest of the country can also feel the winds of change rebuilding this American city.

Katrina Corps – Spring Break ‘07 is a by-the-people-for-the-people grass-roots effort issuing the Katrina Challenge, calling 25,000 college students to come to New Orleans to gut 5,000 houses in 5 weeks so that 5,000 families can return home. These 5,000 houses represent HALF of those waitlisted for gutting (and gutting is the required first step before rebuilding).

Gutting is dirty, back-breaking work. Operating in teams of 25, students will spend their Spring Break gutting one house per day. In the evenings there will be music and fun (because the next day there will be more houses to gut). We are asking you to be there with them, side by side, filming them as they work and as they relax afterwards, dancing to music provided by bands invited from all over the country. It’s Woodstock with a purpose. If you haven’t seen Bono’s music video “The Saints are Coming” — do it. We’re not waiting any longer to do what could have been done and still must be done.

This is a zero-budget effort. Until a major sponsoring partner steps up, we can’t promise more than we’ve promised ourselves—to do our utmost to support every single person who joins the Katrina Corps. Corporate America can’t move this fast. But you can, and so can we. Our motto comes from Muhammad Ali–IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING!

If you are a filmmaker, or have experience in any of the technical aspects of filmmaking, please consider joining the Katrina Corps this Spring (March 5 through April 6). You’ll be making history by filming it.

Consider The Rock, The Ripple, and The Shore:

Throw a rock into a lake, and it energizes change…the ripples move from the rock, carrying energy with them. The shore takes whatever comes its way. Katrina Corps — Spring Break ‘07, will bring enormous positive change to New Orleans, and energize more.

We’re issuing The Katrina Challenge to YOU as a filmmaker. Come to New Orleans and be a ROCK! The ripples from your film will be huge.

Contact the Katrina Corps Team at info@katrinacorps.org.

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Want to Make History? Be Part of the Katrina Corps

Posted on January 24, 2007 by David

Every generation gets the chance to be part of something magnificent. Some people sign up. Others sign off. The Katrina Corps hopes you’ll choose to spend one week of your Spring Break ‘07 working your butt off helping the people of New Orleans. And having the time of your life.

WHAT IT IS. The Katrina Corps is a grass-roots citizen-sponsored effort calling 25,000 college students to New Orleans this Spring to do the grunt work required before existing flooded homes can be rebuilt. Many houses were under 8 feet of water for almost a month. To fix them, you first have to strip them inside, right down to the frame of the house. This is called “Gutting.”

To gut ONE house requires a team of 25 volunteers, an average of 6 hours of seriously dirty and back breaking work with hammers and wrecking bars. What’s weird is it’s one of the most fun and rewarding things a person can do. That’s a promise.

WHAT YOU’LL DO. Right now in New Orleans there are 10,000 families who have signed up for their homes to be gutted. The Katrina Corps, with your help, will cut that waiting list in half during March 5 through April 6. 5,000 houses gutted, by 5,000 students a week, in teams of 25, for each of the 5 weeks of Spring Break. Weekends and evenings will be for celebrating life in the Crescent City with bands being recruited from across the nation to help with this effort.

WHY YOU’RE NEEDED. Have you seen Bono’s “The Saints are Coming?” It shows what could have happened in New Orleans, but didn’t. Until you’ve seen it with your own eyes, you can’t imagine how much work there is to do. FEMA has money for hauling trash, but getting the trash and debris from the flooded houses out onto the street is hands-on, volunteer work. It’s Gutting. It has to be done. The Katrina Corps is volunteering. When the people who own the wrecked houses come to thank you with tears in their eyes, after you’ve put just about everything they own on the street, you know this is history making work. If nobody else will do it, we will.

WHO’LL BE WITH YOU. Your peers, from all over. Faculty and parents are also welcome. Colleges and Universities stagger their Spring Breaks. That’s why this is a 5-week effort. You’ll be with students from your school and others. Go recruit your friends! You’ll be joined by volunteer team leaders who have been part of gutting thousands of homes in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. This is a project “by the people, for the people.”

WHERE YOU’LL STAY. We need you to pre-register ASAP so we can provide housing for everyone on a super-fast timeline. Almost all of you will stay in hotel rooms in the City (multiple occupancy, $10 to $20/night max). These rooms will be underwritten as donations are received and in the order in which you pre-register. So pre-register NOW. Corporate and individual sponsors are also being lined up to cover all the other costs except for your registration fee, transportation to New Orleans, and your food most evenings. It’s possible some of you will stay in church dorms (they’ve been putting people up since Katrina.) If housing were easy, you wouldn’t be needed in New Orleans.

WHAT YOUR WORK DAY WILL BE Up at 7, breakfast, teams convene by 8, leave for the job site by 8:30. Gut until Noon with your team. Lunch. More gutting ’til around 3 or 4. Return to your base, shower, dinner. Then you’re off on your own until the next morning. Sleep is recommended at some point. We’ll have a schedule of planned entertainment once we know which bands are coming.

WHAT YOU’LL EAT. Breakfast will be provided at 7 am although it may be bagels, juice and coffee most mornings. Lunch also will be provided, on the job site. Throughout the day there’ll be snacks and fruit and lots of water. Dinner most nights will be on you, in the Culinary Capital of the United States.

WHAT YOU BRING.

  • Work boots or thick-soled hiking boots. Nail proof.
  • Jeans. Long sleeve shirts. The older the better—probably won’t be taking them home
  • 10 Disposable air filtration masks, N-95 or better, with metal nose clips
  • Tool belt (optional)
  • 12-inch min. pry (”wrecking”) bar with nail claw
  • Full-sized hammer
  • Water bottle
  • Sleeping bag (optional)

HOW YOU GET THERE. That’s up to you. If you’re close by, we suggest car pooling with your friends. If you’re flying, we’ll have transportation round the clock (you may have to wait a bit) or you can cab it. Directions will be coming. The more of you who can drive, the better, since we’ll need to get 5,000 of you to the various job sites every morning.

WHAT’S REQUIRED NOW. First, decide if you really want to work, because that’s what this is, hard and dirty. Then think about who you’d like to do it with and talk to them. If you can get your whole team of 25 together, so much the better. Then pre-register at www.katrinacorps.org and send in your $75 registration fee. Your place in this great effort will be assured. QUESTIONS? info@katrinacorps.org

The Katrina Corps Team is working with citizen volunteers, individual sponsors, and corporate sponsors to provide things each team will need such as trucks for every work site to bring the larger equipment, medical/safety, and administration. We’re already working with existing New Orleans gutting operations so we’re not inventing the wheel. We’re just asking your help to make that wheel a whole lot bigger in just 3 months.

WE CAN FIX THIS!

The theme of this entire effort comes from Muhammad Ali:

“IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!”

SEE YOU IN NEW ORLEANS!

Posted in FAQ, What's new in New Orleans | Leave a comment