But the Topeka native didn’t realize he would be returning to Kansas from the hurricane-ravaged area with a greater understanding of how valuable it is to do “something greater than yourself.”
Iliff was among seven members of KU’s Engineers Without Borders chapter who worked with the Historic Green organization to help rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward in a way to preserve its history while creating a sustainable future.
“It was an eye-opening experience,” said Iliff, an 18-year-old architectural engineering major. “I was learning how to work on a work site and learning about sustainability and having a volunteer attitude.”
During the Historic Green event, hundreds of students and young professionals in the construction industry merged on the Holy Cross Historic District in the Lower Ninth Ward to help people revitalize the community.
The district became submerged in 10 feet of water after a levee broke during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, displacing nearly 6,000 residents and heavily damaging or destroying many homes, schools, churches and businesses.
“We’re leading a unique grass-roots effort to go the next step to rebuild this historic landmark — this time green,” Pam Dashiell, director of the Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development in New Orleans, said in a news release from KU.
On their first day as volunteers, Iliff said his team removed nails from boards in a house that was being deconstructed so the wood could be reused to build other structures.
Throughout the rest of the week, the students custom-cut and installed new “green” insulation in a single-family home.
“I don’t know who lived there or if they’re coming back,” he said.
Engineers Without Borders also has projects in Guatemala and Bolivia. Iliff said he would like to travel to those countries to work on sustainable projects.
Jodi Gentry, president of the EWB chapter, said the team-building experience in New Orleans is “a good way to get a lot of field training without having to make the more expensive trip to Bolivia.”
“The students work with simple technologies, so it’s a way to grasp the classroom-based concepts and apply them to a real-world problem,” Gentry said before the trip. “You can go from this and do internships, but being able to work on all phases of the project really provides a fulfilling experience for the students.”
The team members, Iliff said, paid about $300 to work with Historic Green during the spring break week. A small grant from KU’s Engineering Student Council helped assist with expenses.
“In reality, I was paying for the experience of doing something greater than yourself,” Iliff said. “It’s not just about sustainability, and it’s not just about being green. It’s also about virtue.”
Jan Biles can be reached at (785) 295-1292 or jan.biles@cjonline.com.
It is so difficult to care so much about a place and only be able to see or affect such a small portion of it at a time. Today as Sarah and I drove around to check on the final state of our project sites she pointed out a teenager walking towards the Delery playground, and told me that he had come to the Village almost every day asking if we had any food. "He seemed so sad everytime we didn't" – how can I not be moved by that... Just one person's story in this amazing community: an American kid who could be easily trained for a lifelong building, culinary, computer or other professional trade. Idle and hungry today. It is really difficult to keep focused in this environment, when the need is so great and multifaceted...multi-faced. Is 11 days of work enough? Hardly. How can this and other efforts grow and network to create the comprehensive transformation that many are dying, or at least resigning, without?
I can't believe the event is complete! We spent yesterday finishing up jobs, inventorying tools, cleaning up behind us. Driving around to the project sites, it is so rewarding to see mothers with their kids playing on the now repaired playground, residents out working in their new rain gardens, people enjoying the newly created library at the Village, permanent benches on the Bayou viewing platform, and so much more.
There were certainly frustrations in dealing with strong personalities of volunteers and residents alike, but the result of working through these issues is clearly tangible as completed work, and lessons learned. I believe we are set now for rapid growth in new and exciting directions, and have the support of so many wonderful people! I am anxious to see what the future holds, but will need to tend to my own life and paying work in the immediate future, now that the all-consuming event is complete. I couldn't have hoped for a more jaw-droppingly amazing 2nd event!
Great story in yesterday’s Times-Picayune about this year’s keynote speaker, Majora Carter:
Read all of “Environmentalism can produce jobs, social uplift, expert says” here.
PHOTO: Amy King
Historic Green’s Keynote Speaker, Majora Carter, drew a crowd of more than 200 yesterday to hear her message of green collar jobs and hope for rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward as a vital, thriving New Orleans community. Definitely a highlight of this year’s event, she packed the house at All Souls Episcopal Church & Community Church, formerly a Walgreens store. Majora’s become nationally known as an advocate for environmental justice since founding Sustainable South Bronx (where she pioneered green-collar job training ) and is now head of the Majora Carter Group, LLC, a green-economic development consulting firm. Major is also a part of our Historic Green Advisory Krewe.
We’re extremely proud and honored to host Majora Carter as our lead voice this year!
Historic Green's organizing "steering" krewe have a unique opportunity to regularly meet and talk with some of America's leading minds on the subjects of traditional preservation philosophy, sustainable building techniques/strategies, and social equity and outreach.
As a young architect, exposure to Rudy Christian and Bob Berkebile is exciting in itself, but to have them both strategizing on an effort I am personally undertaking, and offering valuable insights based on their experiences here, is an unparallelled experience for me. After hearing Majora Carter provide a keynote address at Greenbuild, it was clear to us that she had experience with another piece of the Lower 9 puzzle, community building and social outreach... Not to mention a great mind for marketing.
Majora arives today at 9am, and leaves for her next project after 6 tonight, so needless to say we've got her on a very tight schedule, but plan to maximize her exposure to the emerging L9 community leaders throughout the day.
Whew! 5 days down on this great adventure of working between volunteers, community, and so many partner organizations! We had a gung-ho group from USGBC put in a soggy but useful afternoon of work, hosted a talk by Kimberly Lewis (the Greenbuild Guru), and got invited by the President of US/ICOMOS to present on the philosophy and strategies of Historic Green at the international conference in Malta Italy! We also said goodbye to a great round of week 1 volunteers, and hello to week 2.
Props to Valerie and Nikki for an amazing week of keeping volunteers moving to job sites, and working out processes that will be easy to transfer to their week 2 replacements, Sarah (my wife) and Summer (Ryan's wife). Heather, Christina, and Pete stay thru next week, and have made this come together so beautifully on the go, as we've started to adjust and improve daily.
Okay, after this long few days, I need beer and a nap!
PHOTO: Amy King
Jeremy Knoll, Amy King and Captain Frizzel of the Salvation Army
PHOTO: Amy King
Entrance to the Bayou, March 11, 2009
I feel like we have the hardest grouping work of volunteers in the world!! And residents! This is the Delery St Playground - the wonderful group of men taking their first break of the day (lunch!)
Wow! Today ran so smoothly! John Williams and Smitty gave volunteers a great overview and tour of the L9, and we got people badged, oriented, and I created assignments for everyone. The "base" Krewe at the Village did such an amazing job getting the processes and logistics figured out, which left me free to concentrate on projects, tools, and materials.
My favorite moment today was turning the corner to see a brand new tire swing being hung at the Dellery Street playground! It will be great to see it covered in kids next Tuesday, as we try to bring together local and visiting 5th grade groups to build rain gardens by the playground.
Waking up this morning to a cup of dark coffee, which I'm enjoying on our balcony on Frenchman Street. Rich jazz horns echo from our kitchen, while talkative crews sweep the street, wet from rain last night. The sun is ducking in and out of the clouds over New Orleans.
How can a place be so rich and so poor? This is truly a great American City, with a heartbeat that you can play a piano to, and a relaxed pace not unlike an island community. I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to visit a place which is trying to both find and preserve itself, after being gutted by the storm. Thank you New Orleans.
Curt Rohner and I have been on the road from Kansas City to New Orleans since 6am this morning! We stopped at the Clinton Library in Little Rock Arkansas, got a bite to eat at the Flying Fish in the River Market, and are now back on the road.
We are both excited to find what the next couple of weeks have in store for us, as we work with over 250 registered volunteers on about 20 separate project sites, to say nothing of the volunteers who have not registered and will just show up ready to work!
I'm not sure which project to be the most excited by, as we are expecting some wonderful and serendipitous meetings between the different groups of volunteers coming from around the us to work with resident on our projects. It will be satisfying to return to, and finish, a few of the projects we started last year, such as the home at 5115 Dauphine street or the Dellery Street Playground.
So, I just got the list of our lunches, and my mouth is totally watering:
Date Menu
March 10 Jambalaya Pasta, Mixed
greens, Salad, Dinner Roll, Pecan pie
March 11 Chicken/Sausage
Gumbo, Pudding Cups, Potato Salad Pistolettes
March 12
Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, Garlic Bread, Cake
March 13
Shrimp Ettoufee,Green Beans,Dinner Roll,Salad Strawberry shortcake
March 14 Chicken w/rice & gravy, corn, Salad, Dinner Roll, Lemon
Pie
March 16 Beans with Smoked Sausage, Salad, Cornbread,
Cookies
March 17 Dirty Rice, Peas, Salad, Dinner Roll,
Pie
March 18 Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, Garlic Bread,
Cake
March 19 Chicken Noodle Casserole, Salad, Pistoletts,
Cookies
March 20 Catfish Po-Boys, Salad, Chips Strawberry
Shortcake
With each meal, Water, Tea, Lemonade
VEGAN ALTERNATIVE WILL BE PROVIDED FOR ALL MEALS UTILIZING SOY PRODUCTS
When I get home tonight, I'm going to start the lengthy process of organizing what it is I've got to bring so that I can try to fit it all in one suitcase. I'm working from this awesome list that Michele Markovits put together for the Historic Green Volunteers:
Suggested NOLA Pack List
Clothing and Items for
Volunteering
·
Comfortable, close-toed shoes or boots required
·
Long Pants or jeans (preferred)
·
Belt
·
Tee shirts or similar
·
Undergarments
·
Socks
·
Sunscreen
·
Chap stick
·
Sun hat
·
Sunglasses
·
Work gloves (preferred)
·
Water bottle (optional)
·
Kleenex(optional)
·
Anti bacterial hand lotion (optional)
Additional Clothing
for Leisure
·
Pants
·
Belt
·
Shirts
·
Shorts
·
Shoes
·
Undergarments
·
Socks
·
pajamas
·
swimsuit
Toiletries
·
Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss
·
deodorant
·
Shampoo and conditioner
·
Body and face soap
·
Moisturizers and face lotions
·
Body lotions
·
Razor, shaving lotions
·
Brush, comb
·
Hair care products
·
Hair dryer
·
Nail clippers, nail file
·
Feminine products
·
Hair binders
·
Make up
Additional and/or
Optional
·
Prescription medications including OTC headache and minor pain relief
medicines
·
Vitamins
·
Extra pair of glasses or contacts, lens solution
·
First Aid (Band-Aids, ointment, and tweezers)
·
Safety pins
·
Camera,
batteries, and chargers
·
Hand towel/sweat towel
·
Bandanas or handkerchiefs
·
Backpack/canvas tote
·
Handbag
·
Reusable shopping bag
·
Laundry bag
·
Notepad/pen
for collecting names and addresses
·
Books
·
Business cards
·
Umbrella or rain jacket
·
Cell phone and charger
·
Music, iPod, MP3 player, headphones, and
chargers, etc.
·
Laptop, charger, and memory stick
·
Personal ID and spending money, ATM and credit
cards, etc
·
watch
·
Plane tickets
·
Maps
·
Lodging Info
After nearly a year of planning, today was one of the most thrilling days so far for Historic Green's Spring Greening event: we received positive word on not 1 but 2 GRANTS! Amy King and so many other great people put together a great fundraiser yesterday evening, which has us now shown as a direct partner organization to the "Trouble the Water" group (this is a documentary about a Katrina family if you haven't seen it - up for several awards). The Kansas City fundraiser featuring Bob Berkebile was a huge success last week, with dozens more volunteers committing to the trip. After hearing that one of the Historic Green Advisors, Majora Carter, will be joining us in New Orleans to give a presentation, we have quickly begun thinking about hosting a huge crawfish cookoff in celebration of all that is going right in the Lower 9th Ward. We also have several trade organizations talking with us about donating time and labor: solar panel installers, green collar job trainers, energy raters, carpenters, masons, and much more! This event is finally gaining the steam I had hoped to see - energy that could easily spill over into more frequent action happening to reconstruct this great neighborhood sustainably! There is SO MUCH work left to do, but there is SO MUCH organizing behind us (not to mention some of the most inspired and hard-working people in the nation!) that we cannot help but succeed.
Check out these images of some of the PRC homes we worked on last year before and after:
5am wake up
510am walk the dog
545am coffee, check email, respond re: Historic Green and Insurance questions
6am get ready for work
640am walk to bus stop
700am get off bus, walk to campus
730am class starts
930am class ends
930am meeting with the dean
11am meeting over
11am phone call re: Historic Green grants and moving forward
1130am get to office
*email friends coming to NOLA for Historic Green*
1150am check registration for Historic Green
1200pm work meeting
1230pm lunch
*look at NOLA weather*
1pm check Historic Green calendar, send update
2pm work stuff
3pm email reminder for Historic Green
315pm work stuff
*dream about March trip*
430pm prep for Historic Green call
5pm Historic Green call
530pm finish call, type notes
6pm catch bus
630pm dinner
730pm watch dvd
830pm walk dog
9pm bed
About 8 months ago, Christina Heinrichs said she was going to have her 40th birthday party in New Orleans. Having only just met Christina and Pete, her husband, because of Historic Green, I was at first not sure if I would go. But then, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to combine a "landing trip" to New Orleans to meet with our friends and partners related to Historic Green, have fun with Christina's friends and family, and see my mom, who lives in Denver. Susannah Tuttle, Jeremy Knoll, Brad Wood, Pete Heinrichs, Christina Heinrichs, and Jodi Wilson, have all been committed to Historic Green for well over a year now, and we all got to reconnect in December! Jodi and I met in Minnesota - she was an architecture student at the U of M, and after she graduated, she moved to Biloxi to work for an
architecture firm. I asked my mom to join us because, let's face it, she's a lot of fun.
So we made our travel arrangements, packed our bags, and off we were! Anisa Baldwin Metzger, of the USGBC, was instrumental in arranging meetings for us, and our big meeting at Greater Little Zion that she arranged, was a huge success. We had various meetings throughout our trip - Susannah and I were in town the longest, and Brad was in town for the least amount of time, but I think we all made the best use of our opportunities. I had not met so many of our friends and partners, so getting to see some of them face to face for the first time was great.
I look at the pictures from our trip in December, and I just keep thinking how we're getting closer and closer to our big event in March. It's exciting and daunting at the same time.
Here's Mom and I at Voodoo BBQ
Last February, Dave asked the Planning Krewe for Historic Green to come up with a top ten list for interested volunteers. This is what we came up with:
I love all the items on that list, but I wanted to share MY top ten list for being involved in Historic Green:
When Jeremy, Susannah, and I were in NOLA in December, we had the wonderful opportunity to be taken on a tour by the Make it Right folks. Here we are on the country's first digital playground - all solar powered! This picture is all of us on the super cool spinning thing (which is not an official term) but it was still a total blast! On the spinning thing, there are green lines where you're supposed to stand, and there's one orange line where apparently, people who are natural leaders, stand on. Jeremy, even though he's color blind, is smack dab in the middle of the orange line! Who knew?
I just came across this terrific short video, featuring the Village’s Mack McClendon on a tour through the still-recovering neighborhoods of the Lower Ninth Ward.
This piece was made by filmmakers Bill Bowles and Max Livingstone, both originally from California, who documented their travels “From Minneapolis to New Orleans in 80 Days” as part of their special film project, the Big River Show, last summer.
Last year we worked on three houses at 5200, 5116 and 5115 Dauphine Street. The work continued well after Historic Green was over so here are photo updates from Pam Bryan at the Preservation Resource Center (PRC) in New Orleans. PRC was our partner in the projects. 5200 Dauphine is slated to be the new home for the CSED, while 5115 Dauphine and 5116 Dauphine will be up for sale in the near future.
Above left is an interior of 5115, taken from the front shop looking towards the rear of the house. Above right is a view of the house from the corner of Dauphine and Lizardi streets. Below is a view of the rear of the house.
Above is the front of 5116. Below left is a picture of the interior looking through the front window. And below right is a picture of the new bracket common to this style of shotgun.
Below is the 5200 Dauphine site, which will feature the new home of the Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development (CSED).
Thanks to Sheryl Davis for finding this workshop on shotgun house restoration, to be sponsored by the Heritage Conservation Network:
SAVING "SHOTGUNS" - AIMING FOR A BETTER FUTURE
CAIRO, ILLINOIS USA
Dates: June 7-20, 2009
For more on the workshop, fees, etc. go here.
Interesting piece from Building Design & Construction (BDC) magazine earlier this month – about why and how historic preservationists and green builders should team up. This is a recap of Dick Moe’s speech at Greenbuild last month and his six principles that would unite the advocates of sustainability and adaptive reuse:
Read all of “Green builders, preservationists need to team up” here.
New Orleanian and Lower Ninth native Lisa Jackson, has been picked by President-elect Barack Obama to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
If confirmed she'll be the first African American to serve as EPA Administrator. The announcement was made today as a part of the incoming administrations energy and environmental team. Steven Chu has been selected for Secretary of Energy and Carol Browner to lead White House council on energy and climate.
To read more on the pick click here.
IMAGE: National Trust
Dick Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, sets the stage for why preserving historic buildings and communities is a key element in combating climate change.Dick Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, sets the stage for why preserving historic buildings and communities is a key element in combating climate change:
"Because historic preservation essentially involves the conservation of energy and natural resources it is really the greenest of the building arts. And in this day and age, preserving and recycling buildings can play a vital role overcoming what may be the greatest crisis and challenge of our time: climate change.
...
We must realize that any solution to climate change must include the continued use and retrofit of our existing buildings. That’s where historic preservation can play a significant role.
Retention and reuse of older buildings is an effective tool for responsible, sustainable stewardship of natural resources, including those that have already been expended. Consider the idea of 'embodied energy.'"
Read his full essay, “Preserving Buildings Helps Preserve
the Planet”, appearing at Planetizen.com here.
Dear All,
What an amazing day, where so much came together for the Lower 9th Ward! Leaders of Historic Green brought together Rick Fedrizzi, Bob Berkebile, USGBC staff, Charles Allen III, Pam Dashiell, leaders of Make It Right, John Williams, and many others for an hour-long meeting. Conversation flowed comfortably from pressing needs expressed by the Neighborhood Association, to experienced recommendations for how to best serve the economy, to lessons learned from on-the-ground construction services and recommendations of specific project types which build on the core competencies of the volunteers and Advisors.
What emerged was a concensus for a powerfully focused plan, which will maximize volunteered labor and expertise for lasting effect.
I can't believe it's already time to head out to the 30,000 person conference in Boston and meet with so many people who are excited Historic Green! Bob Berkebile, Emily Wadhams, Majora Carter, Rick Fedrizzi, Van Jones, and so many others. The work we did earlier this year has set a high bar for the USGBC, who have made social equity a key value of the new Strategic Plan. We are ahead of most in the scale of our actions, and it's thrilling to have the organization look to us as key players in this mobilization effort, though a bit intimidating.
It will be an exciting reunion as well, as I'll see many people who were project organizers, leaders, and volunteers - only they won't be all sweaty and dirty from volunteer work - it'll be a wonder if any of us recognize each other all cleaned up!
We all seemed to have missed this excellent article in the PRC's Preservation In Print magazine about the deconstruction of the house at 5200 Dauphine Street during Historic Green last March. Thanks to Curt Rohner for finding this.
To read the full article, "A Lesson in Deconstruction", go here.
350.org is a great new youth-based organization working to raise awareness about global warming and climate change. Along with Bill McKibben, the U.S.-based team organized the Step It Up 2007 campaign events across the country, including the very first right on the levee in Holy Cross.
So why the name "350"? According to the group, it was inspired by the work of James Hansen of NASA, one of the earliest experts warning about climate change. 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide – measured in "Parts Per Million" in our atmosphere. 350 ppm is the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.
After discovering 350.org and their mission, it seems Historic Green would be perfect grassroots partner to create the kind of change that's needed – in the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, the Gulf Coast - everywhere.
See the video below for more information. And check out their cool Web site.
“Three years after Katrina, the nation's most expensive hurricane, which cost insurers an estimated $44 billion, came Gustav. As if New Orleans needed its rebuilding project to get any harder. And yet, there’s hope.
To underscore how far the city has come since 2005, alldaybuffet, a group of creative professionals focused on social innovation, created the New Orleans 100, a list of projects that are bringing new creative energy, attracting tourism, rebuilding homes, overhauling the educational system, and stimulating economic activity. Here are 10 of the most innovative ventures.”
Great piece in Fast Company Magazine. Highlights some of the amazing innovations coming out of New Orleans, post-Katrina: The Neighborhood Story Project, The Idea Village, Prospect 1 art project and more.
Read the rest of “Rebuilding New Orleans: Ten Coolest
Innovators”.
The greenest of construction options is..."adaptive re-use and preservation". That’s the response from The Landmark Society of Western New York to Cathleen McGuigan’s September 15, 2008 article in Newsweek, entitled "The Bad News About Green Architecture".
Their blog, "Confessions of a Preservationist", states:
“Although preservation doesn’t get a lot of attention as a sustainable design or "green" building technique, there are connections everywhere. Preservation has always been a green activity. New construction, no matter how green it is, uses valuable resources and energy and also creates waste. Furthermore, while the value of newer, greener construction can’t be overlooked, it is crucial to understand that many of these technologies are able to be applied to existing buildings.”
Continue reading “The sense of using what we have...” here.
Cole Judge is this week's 'New Orleans cultural rock star' on the 504Ward.com Web site! Cole was one of our super volunteers during Historic Green last March. As an AmeriCorps volunteer, she came to us through the Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR) at Tulane University and assisted both CSED and Historic Green in organizing the event.
504Ward.com is a new initiative designed to help young talent in New Orleans meet, learn, explore, connect and grow. Put simply: 504Ward's mission is to keep twenty and thirty-somethings living, working and helping to improve New Orleans. That includes the waves of students and young professionals who came to the city after Katrina to help her rebuild. Like the Web site says:
"For the first time in its storied history, New Orleans is saturated with talented networks of young people, who have followed the road less traveled all the way to the Crescent City. In what has become an incubator for innovation and intellectualism, New Orleans is watching the development of a generation of leaders, who will pay dividends to their country for generations to come."
There, you can also check out 504ward’s $100,000 Business Competition launched with The Idea Village to support entrepreneurs with business ideas that retain and engage the 23 – 35 year old demographic in New Orleans.
Curt Rohner, our fearless man-on-the-street for Historic Green last March, is featured briefly in a new documentary about rebuilding and recovery in NOLA that’s set to debut later this month. In “The New Orleans Tea Party”, filmmakers Marline Otte and Laszlo Fulop interviewed a priest, a cook, homeowners, neighborhood activists, student volunteers and many others over the course of a year and half. Also featured are Jimmy Carter on a Habitat for Humanity build, Wynton Marsalis, Pam Dashiell of Holy Cross, Tom Darden of the Make It Right Foundation – and our own Curt Rohner: “We may win the war on terrorism, but if we destroy the planet while we’re doing that...it’s a war lost, no matter what.”
Otte is associate professor of History with Tulane University and Fulop an assistant professor in the University of New Orleans' Film Department. They describe their documentary as chronicling:
“...the achievements of both the local residents and the millions of volunteers streaming to the region from all over the nation, while exploring the limitations and fragility of a recovery process built upon the shoulders of individuals operating almost entirely without government support. Throughout, the film thus examines larger themes relevant to American society today, culminating in a final discussion of American citizens' vision of and trust in democratic processes.”
One interviewee sums it up best, the reason for the film’s title: “I think that we’re back in Boston Harbor. I think this is the Boston Tea Party.”
A screening of "The New Orleans Tea Party" will be held Tuesday, October 28, 7 p.m. at the Freeman Auditorium in the Woldenberg Art Center at Tulane University. A reception follows. For more on this project and the filmmakers, go to The New Orleans Tea Party.
I have my flight booked for a December NOLA trip, and I'm looking forward to meetings and touring, and relaxation, and anything else that we can possibly do. Susannah, are you doing karaoke again? I'll be your cheerleader!
I'm about to get on a call to talk about our outreach for the March Spring Greening event, and as I wait, I started to pull up documents for our planning for 2009. It's so exciting to think that I was on my first conference call for Historic Green almost exactly one year ago, and now I'm looking at what we did and what we can do for this upcoming year (and for the years to come) and I see such purpose and world changing in the work that we're doing.
For those of you that are thinking about volunteering for Historic Green 2009, mark your calendars: we're on for March 10-20, 2009. Same place. New faces. New projects. Same outcome.
Long months have passed since the thrill of March. A long summer of finding our new vision and self-organizing; sharing words that will result in action. The organizing group for Historic Green 2009 has easily doubled in size from as large as it ever was for planning Historic Green 2008. The new group of organizers is well represented coast to coast, and includes people from all kinds of backgrounds: small business owners, architects, engineers, writers, urban planners, contractors, med students and scientists, preservationists, economists, and so on. Needless to say it has been somewhat overwhelming getting our heads around organizing such a sprawling group in a way that will lead to meaningful action...but we're doing it! This will be the year of the 9th Ward!
If you're reading this, YOU CAN HELP TOO! Please contact us at info@historicgreen.org to find out where we need help, and how with a little bit of consistant effort, you can make a lasting difference to your long-distance neighbors in the 9th Ward and be a part of creating the first carbon & climate neutral neighborhood in the USA!
LinkedIn is a great professional networking tool, especially for connecting with those around the U.S. and abroad who have similar interests. So it only made sense to start up a LinkedIn Historic Green Group. There's not really a lot to the group, no splash page or special online tools. It simply allows you to advertise your participation in Historic Green by displaying the HG logo, creates a directory of members so others can view us as a group, and provides a handy link to the HG Web site.
So if you're interested in joining, just click here. It's free and easy. And if you know of others who are interested, please forward them to this link: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/92909/05F13C4C3D2B
Text and Photos by John Hanson
The Greek root of the name Katrina is Katharos, meaning “pure”. A new friend from New Orleans, Hal Collums told me this the morning I left after my week working with Historic Green. His family lost every material possession they owned on August 29, 2005, and he talks about the aftereffects in an oddly reverential tone. The immediate impact of the hurricane on the city was the flood of polluted black water that fouled the city grid for weeks afterwards. The longer term effect has been a catharsis, weirdly foretold in the storm’s name. The water itself had a purgative effect, wiping whole neighborhoods clean of possessions, homes, and infrastructure. An even greater power has come from the emotional context of the word, first used by Aristotle to describe the effect of Greek tragedies and acutely felt by many of the residents of the city who have returned. For these individuals, adversity and loss has morphed into something much larger, creating an abiding sense of place and purpose. (I am still here and what does not kill me can only make me stronger.)
Heading to New Orleans to meet my daughter Morgan for a week of working together, I had some of the iconic images in my head; the swirling vortex in the satellite images from before the storm and the broken levees and rooftop rescues of thousands in its aftermath. What I did not have was the proper sense of scale. It’s not until you drive through the neighborhoods and see block after block of empty houses, each with its own special FEMA graffiti, and piles of two and a half year old trash, and most importantly, until you meet the people, that you get a sense of the sheer magnitude and unrelenting toll. When you meet the people and hear their stories, you become a witness to an unwanted life altering event, whose effects will be felt by generations of residents. As the water receded and the rainwater eventually removed the scum below the high water marks, what was left was a place effectively scoured (like the levees themselves) of much of its past, a black chalkboard freshly sponged, still waiting for a diagram of its future. The few people who have returned are determined to create a picture of a better place, despite being hampered by the enormity and complexity of the possible solutions.
Mack McClendon is the first resident I met in the Holy Cross neighborhood where we were working:
He bought a dilapidated industrial building after the storm, named it The Village and has poured all his resources into creating a community center there, because in his mind “it will only make sense to fix up my house after I have a neighborhood.” His vision for the space includes everything from a commercial kitchen and musician’s studio, to a computer lab and a basketball court. Meanwhile he returns to his FEMA trailer every day, and its only two redeeming features (“you get up early, and you work late”). He said it took him about five months to shed his bitterness after the storm and now he just wants to build his dreams.
John Smith (Smitty) talks without prompting about Greek tragedy:
A scholar and philosopher who grew up in the lower ninth, he returned to his roots in NOLA after leaving for much of his adult life to be an accountant and community activist in Chicago. He purchased a house in June 2005, three months before the storm, and has yet to move back in. Now he does a daily regime of yoga, and with prompting from Mack, serves up oral history of the Lower Ninth for visitors. History that for many families has been wiped and scattered to parts unknown.
John Taylor also grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward:
He left just hours before the storm ravaged his entire neighborhood, after his brother came for him and said “it’s time to go”. He talks wistfully about his childhood, and the now dead bayou that was his playground, and yet is one of the ten percent who has returned to that area. He will never leave there because of his deep ties to the land, but he understands the issues which are that the vast majority of his former neighbors never will return, and with good reason.
And lastly Hal and Paula Collums:
Hal commandeered a motor boat after the storm and drove through the city over the cars and street signs, hauling it over two levees and various other obstacles, only to discover his house under eight feet of water. He left empty handed then, and again after returning in denial days later, groping for some scrap of his former life. Shortly after that, while trying to get his company back in business, a volunteer from Illinois arrived at the door of his trailer, replying to a help wanted ad on Craig’s List. A former corporate exec, he now lives in NOLA and has been instrumental in helping to transform Hal’s business. After losing everything they had, Collums Construction has grown to four times the size it was before the storm, Hal and Paula have a new house, a new office and cabinet shop, and a sense of urgency, measured by just the right amount of calmness and presence.
Two and a half years later, New Orleans is still processing the impact of this catastrophe, hampered by a shocking depletion of leadership and resources. Despite heavy reliance on the FEMA trailers and the National Guard, both are scheduled for removal by the end of Summer. Blame that on the poisonous formaldehyde in the trailers, and the depletion of military resources caused by war. A recent city program offering free hauling of household and construction debris added a bloom of new trash piles throughout various neighborhoods that were still waiting to be cleared when I left. It’s a city that has been let down by every imaginable institution: federal, state and local government, insurance companies and banks, and perhaps worst of all, profiteers masquerading as reputable businesses, whose sole purpose was to steal money from those in desperate need.
All of which made the time we spent there so compelling. An event like Katrina exposes the frailty of the human condition, but it also unleashes new expression and potential within some of the greatest sufferers. Add to that the spirit of volunteerism and you get a powerful cocktail. Many volunteers felt like I did that we were able to accomplish very little. And yet any feeling of inadequacy is muted by the gratitude and passion coming from those in need. The efforts of volunteers, more than any other aid, has provided the greatest source of hope for a meaningful recovery in New Orleans. Hal’s wife, Paula, told Morgan and I that during the first months after the storm, there was an unrepressible sadness in the city’s residents as they lived through the enormity of events. Whenever she and other friends encountered a volunteer pitching in somewhere, they would involuntarily break into tears, as if to just say thanks for witnessing our struggle. Two and a half years later, the roots of their emotion is very clear.
See you next time.
Footnote:
A tremendous effort went into the preparation for this event. Emerging Green Builders of Kansas City along with the rest of the group of loosely connected individuals deserves a heaping crawfish boil of credit. Jeremy Curt and Ryan continue to show amazing devotion to the ongoing efforts to revitalize Holy Cross. Mo and I were proud to be a part of it.
As part of a thank you for the USGBC Mississippi Headwaters Chapter (MN) www.usgbcmn.org for helping to fund the U of M students' trip to NOLA, Jodi Wilson gave a presentation on the experiences the students had working in Holy Cross. I introduced Jodi and talked about why we felt it was important to help fund the students' trip. We did our presentation a couple weeks ago, but I thought it would be nice to share, and I've been thinking a lot, especially after Jeremy gave us his "by the numbers" list! Download historic_green_new_orleans_u_of_m.pdf
At the end, one of the professors read some of the students' writings on their trip, and I found it to be so encouraging and inspiring. One of the things that stuck out to me was the comment that in NOLA, people ask you how you are, and they really want to know. And twenty minutes later, you're still talking!
The first day I was in Louisiana was October 8, 2005. I had spent 10 days in Washington, DC, for training, and then I landed in Baton Rouge. I had no idea where anything was, and I was trying to pick up the keys for the apartment I was going to be living in for the next four months. I was tired, hot, and lost, and close to tears. In the parking lot at the Super Target, this woman came up to me and asked me if she could help with anything. I said I was lost, and we started talking. She gave me directions, and I was actually able to just walk over to where I needed to go. When I got back to my car, she had left me a note with her phone number and address, and had invited me to dinner. This would not have happened in Minnesota or Nevada or Utah - the other states where I've lived. This experience really helped shape my whole experience living in post Katrina/Rita Baton Rouge, and part of why I feel like I need to keep giving back to Louisiana.
And I can't wait for 2009 Historic Green!
In my opinion, Historic Green 2008 has provided the right "shot in the arm" in helping our residents realize that they can have a historic home that is properly weatherized and "greened up" in every sense of what that means. And ultimately, living in such a home can be healthy, affordable and energy efficient. Historic Green also provided the catalyst necessary to help us establish an EGB presence in New Orleans. And, I want to help make that presence a very lasting and successful one. To all the EGBers from around the country and all the numerous volunteers that came to our community last month, thanks a billion!
Greenly yours,
Charles Allen
Tuesday was our first "touch-base" call as a group since last month. It was a call devoted to looking in the mirror at where we are now, and the muddy bootprints behind us. It was great to feel the group dynamic changed so much already, with commentary from many of us on the roles and goals of the past 4 months realized and discussion on how it all played out when it became real. And right now, we begin the 2nd call, planning the next steps...
Here's a list I compiled from my little notebook I kept throughout Historic Green of all of the tasks and jobs our great volunteers accomplished:
Historic Green volunteers changed out incandescent bulbs for CFL light bulbs in 79 homes = 1910 bulbs, which will save 752,540 kWh worth $87,860 to New Orleans residents (avg. $1112 per family) and #853,770 (427 tonnes) carbon reduction over the lifetime of the bulbs. 752,540 kWh is equivalent to NOT driving 1,143,870 miles in a car; removing 312 commuters from the road; planting 156 acres of trees; 1,143,870 miles is equivalent to driving around the Earth’s equator 46 times, or driving to the Moon and back 2 ½ times! This, combined with the trees planted and rain gardens built, very likely made this a carbon neutral event, though we didn’t track our usage very carefully. Carbon offset also equals 4,180 trees planted or 2 minutes, 36 seconds of rain-forest depletion offset. Lower Ninth Ward Homes
Historic Green volunteers worked with over a dozen homeowners on small projects, including fence painting, yard work and tree planting, house painting, weatherization installation, floor removal, de-nailing and deconstruction, window framing, replacing rotted boards with matching materials (recovered from other projects), site-drainage consulting and design work, mucking & gutting, etc. Greater Little Zion Baptist Church
Delery St. Playground
Rain Gardens
Other Garden Projects
The Village
Preservation Resource Center – Operation Comeback
Alliance for Affordable Energy
Education & Community Outreach
