Come and Volunteer in New Orleans!

All Congregations Together
Common Ground 9th Ward Projects
People’s Hurricane Relief Fund
Collaboration to Bring Families “Home for the Holidays”

NEW ORLEANS, LA

The “Home for the Holidays” coalition is putting out a call to volunteers nation-wide come to work in New Orleans with the goal of helping every 9th Ward family signed up for assistance to have their home gutted by the New Year.

“We see housing as an integral part to stabilizing families and communities and therefore the city. ACT’s commitment is to rebuild communities, one home at a time. In rebuilding homes, we rebuild families. We are looking to our larger, national community to assist us in this effort to bring people home for the holidays volunteering their time and giving of themselves during this holiday season,” stated Mary Fontenot, Executive Director for New Orleans All Congregations Together.

Cleaning and gutting flood-damaged homes is vital to the health and viability of a recovering New Orleans and the first step towards rebuilding for homeowners. While volunteer efforts through relief groups and churches have made tremendous strides in cleaning of houses for free in the City of New Orleans, there are still hundreds of families needing assistance with house gutting.

With thousands of families still displaced and federal monies (Road Home program) still not released, many households lack both the physical and financial resources to gut their houses without some form of assistance. The absence of strong alternatives creates a continued need for volunteer house gutting operations.

“PHRF feels it is very important to support this “Home for the Holidays” campaign to gut houses as part of this fight for peoples right to return. This is the first step in a long struggle to make people whole. Our people deserve the moneys that have been appropriated through the road program and we are also determined to make sure that happens," stated Malcolm Suber, National Organizing Coordinator for Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund.

The city’s “Good Neighbor” program further complicates the situation, establishing a relatively narrow timeframe in which homeowners can take action to prevent the seizure of their property. Regardless of how the city proceeds with carrying out this program, its mere existence has created a high level of anxiety and concern within community. To fill this need and best support the recovery process throughout the Ninth Ward, we need a continued influx of volunteers.

“If we can get 250 volunteers a day until the end of the year, we can have every house on the 9th Ward list cleaned and gutted for the New Year. House gutting is a way that people from all over the country can come to New Orleans and really make a difference in helping the community rebuild” stated Michelle Shin, Coordinator of the Common Ground Lower 9th Ward Project.

In addition to the work of volunteer organizations, we propose the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana partner in this effort by:
1. Releasing the Road Home money to homeowners allowing them to begin rebuilding their homes,
2. Request under emergency powers that the National Guard be mobilized to assist in House Gutting.
3. Commit to a plan for the re-opening of public housing
4. And the restoration of clean drinking water and electricity to all parts of the city

Volunteers wishing to register can do so at www.nolahomefortheholidays.org [3]

Contact us at NOLAhomefortheholidays [at] gmail [dot] com OR 504-218-6613

[article.to_original.email.prefix]: nolahomefortheholidays [at] gmail [dot] com [article.to_original.homepage.prefix]: http://nolahomefortheholidays.org [4]