Saad Riaz

I haven’t been awake at 8am in a long time. Getting up from the bed at 8 and heading straight to work is something that I came down here to do, and it makes me happy. And it is fun! Lower 9th Village is one of the towns affected by the Hurricane Katrina six years back. But it’s the area in New Orleans that has not been given much attention. When I came here I was expecting some development in this area since it’s been six years since the catastrophe. But it hasn’t changed much within the last three four years. Houses here are still damaged and places that haven’t had any improvement. The towns nearby, that were affected worse are way better off than the lower ninth village, since they were being helped, had sponsors but for no reason the lower ninth ward was left without help.

It was my dream to come here and help out the people. We came at the Lower Ninth Ward to a warehouse and have stayed here since then. It is supposed to be a Community Center and was our job to make it look like one and make it worthy for people to actually come and get help they wanted. The day we came, it was a dangerous place for children, due to all the tools and equipment lying around. Banners of Universities whose students have been here were all scattered around on the roof and hanging badly, library was just dumped with books and two of the rooms were filled with chairs and other wood stuff. In two days we changed a lot of that. Removing all the dangerous tools, shifting the chairs, tables, broken doors, pieces of wood, all the scrap metal, books and weeding the garden outside was hard work. Right now the library looks awesome, Andy and I did most of the poster arranging all day today- getting up on the ladder 15 feet high and hanging the posters, taking some off was fun. I also helped in putting on the wall on one side of the shed and also painting it. It is tiring but a lot of fun and that is what keeps everyone going. We also went to a ranch. It was far from the warehouse but we had a lot of fun there. We got to ride horses, give them baths and had an amazing dinner. We also cleaned the stables, helped with cleaning the land and came back around 6pm.

We took tour of the city and saw all the damaged houses; some had holes in their roofs. These holes held a significance because what Mack, our guide, told us was that during the hurricane at the moment the water was rushing in the streets and into the houses they had just a few seconds to make a hole in their houses and escape, and that way their houses too could have been saved. But many died in the attics and a few made it out. Also something what I came to know were the crosses on every house in the town. The crossed had numbers on two sides and writing on the other two. One showed how many people had died in that house; one that how many animals died and the writing was letters that showed what company helped them.

This trip so far has been really good. Though we didn’t get to build much but there has been a lot of other stuff that is also something that is helping the villagers here. I came to know about some great stuff, about New Orleans and how it was affected.

A Village to Rebuild 

A hand to lend 

A Great Experience

Andrea DiGioia

     From January 4^th to January 10^th I will be spending my days and nights in the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans. I am spending most of my time with thirty nine fellow habitat members at a community center run and maintained by an inspirational man, Mac. Here, we have heard Mac time and time again tell us of the devastation that this community, as well as many others throughout Louisiana, have suffered as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Families watched as their homes filled with water up 32 feet high, giving them 12 minutes to make it to their attic and break a hole to freedom. People lost their possessions, their pets, and worst of all, family members.

     Six years later the people of New Orleans are still dealing with the aftermath of the storm. Many are unable to afford moving back to their homes, forcing them to die in unfamiliar lands. The lower ninth ward, once having 7 schools, is now forced to place all its kids, kindergarten – twelfth, into one school. Empty and abandoned houses occupy much of the area. People just want to go home and continue on with their lives, and they are having a hard time doing so.

     Here, in this area that has lost so much, we find Mac. Mac is a man of endless ideas and endless hope. Originally a member of  the Lower Ninth Ward community, Mac has made it is goal to fix what has been damaged. He sees potential everywhere he goes. It is Mac who has been our inspiration for this trip. As a group we have heard his ideas and seen what he hopes to do with his community center. Using his ideas as well as our own, we have continued upon his project that has so much potential. We are helping him to create somewhere kids and community members can come to read, play a board or basketball game, or just hang out.

      The community has lost so much and could use something to call their own. That’s what I personally see in this community center and Mac’s project. I see a place for the community to come together and continue to grow. It will give them a place of their own. Slowly this week we have been working on this center. I personally have helped to go through thousands of books that have been donated and work on creating a library for the people. Others are working in the yard, making it a safe place for the children to play. Slowly we are seeing the changes we are making in the community center and it makes me feel good to know that I will be making a difference in someone’s, if not many, people’s lives in this community.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Dana Wolkiewicz

After spending 5 days here at the Lower Ninth Ward Village and seeing all the hopefull optimism, it’s amazing to think that the destruction happened more than 5 years ago. The motivation in this community center is incredible. Everyone, myself included, knows about Katrina and the destruction, but it’s much more tangible being down here ourselves. Although it’s been years since the disaster, there is clearly much work to be done around the Lower Ninth Ward. Coming on this trip for my second time around is a completely different experience. This year, I took some time to look around at my peers—watching their faces on the bus tour or while Mack spoke. They may not realize it, but they are the first step in helping New Orleans—to educate. You can’t help a cause if people are unaware that help is needed. After speaking with some of the other students, they were amazed that the city is still in such poor condition. Mack even said that after 2 years, disasters just “disappear” and help is forgotten. Looking at the streets in the Lower Ninth Ward, you would think the hurricane struck only 1 year ago.

Day 1 was a little rocky for everyone, as we were completely out of our element. Halfway through the trip, all 41 of us sat down for a bit of a reflection. We finally put our ideas for the village on paper, and the next morning we started to implement the plans. After 6 hours of working today, you could see huge improvements. I will admit that after day 1, it was hard to physically see that we were making a difference. With only a few days of work under our belts, we can finally see that change. Architecture for Humanity came to visit the village today, and hopefully they will agree to sponsor us so they can improve the village. Tomorrow is the final stretch, and seeing the amount that has already been accomplished in just a few days is unreal. I’m so grateful to be able to go on this trip for a second year in a row, and I hope to continue to do so in the future.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Tara Meinck

The Habitat for Humanity trip to New Orleans has been a great opportunity to make a difference in a community that is still trying to piece itself back together. It is great that Mack commits so much of his time and resources into this project and extremely rewarding to see our efforts, combined with those of students from other schools, directly enabling his vision; a safe haven for the community and a center to which it can turn to. At first, the project seemed very overwhelming because there was still so much that needed to be done in order to get the Village into a functioning condition. Without any given instruction it was hard to know what to do.  We had a reflective discussion and decided that we should not wait to be given instruction because it was apparent what needed to be done and impossible to tell over 60 people what to do at every given time, we had to take the initiative. After that, the trip has become much more enjoyable because we are able to do things that we enjoy and get more done. Today we got so much accomplished; organizing a library, painting furniture, making the community center safer to visitors, etc. It was great to see how well everyone’s work flowed together without any instruction. It really changed my ideas on how to be a good volunteer. It is sometimes more important to be innovative than to be told what to do and it’s more fun too. 

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here. 

Amanda Ippolito

When first arriving to the Lower Ninth Ward Village I was overwhelmed by all the disorganization and clutter. As a group, we finally were able to sit down and discuss a set of long-term and short-term goals to get this place organized and child-safe.  One of the biggest messes inside the Village was the broken, wobbly bookshelves piled with all types of books- new, old, torn, and used. I spent a lot of time today (1/8) categorizing, sorting, and moving the books so they can be more accessible to anyone who comes in and wants to use this library. Despite all the sneezing from all the piles of dust, I feel like I have made a stride toward helping educate children of the Lower Ninth Ward. Since Mac keeps saying that “New Orleans is #1 in crime and murder” maybe finding an escape in books can help relieve some of the transgressions of the community, especially amongst the children to young adults. Although I at first I was disappointed we weren’t doing exactly organized Habitat for Humanity building tasks, I realize that sometimes a little disorganization can help bring people together. J

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Joe Allen

This is my second year coming to Louisiana on a Habitat for Humanity trip. Last year we stayed in Slidell and did work helping to build a home for a family. This year has been different but still rewarding in the same way. We have been working around the lower ninth ward village helping to improve on what many other volunteer groups have already done.

There was a lot of work to do when we first got here and when we leave I’m sure that there will be plenty left. The ultimate goal for the space seems to be a community center for children to spend their time, but I don’t see this area as a safe place for children to play. As of right now there is a lot of excess stuff lying around the yard and some of it isn’t stuff that something that kids should be around. But we have been working hard to make it a more child friendly environment and I think that we have made a lot of progress.

One of the big accomplishments that I have contributed to was building a basketball court in the main area inside. I think that basketball is a great way for kids to spend their time and having a space for them to play is important. We cleared out a large space and moved a hoop inside, and even put a new net on it. We had a big game last night between a bunch of the volunteers and it was a good time. But one problem that still lingers is the amount of stuff surrounding the area. I think that once the majority of the things in the village are thrown away then it would be a more kid friendly environment.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Laura Kowalczyk

This year for our annual build trip, we went down to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana to stay and work at the community center Mack established there. Since hurricane Katrina, he has converted an old warehouse into what will one day be a functioning community center that the local children can come to. The Lower Ninth Ward used to have seven schools, but since Katrina, only one has been reestablished. With no parks or other centers in this area, the city is doing very little to help the children. Mack has made it his mission to give the local children a safe place to go.

To help Mack make this dream a reality, we have been working the past week to make the center safe and kid friendly. We cleared out and sorted unused furniture, put up and painted walls in what will be a game room, and reorganized and expanded the library. Yesterday we took some of the old chairs, sanded them, and then painted them to make them colorful for the game room.

Today we are painting a huge mural, 20x15 feet, of the United States of America. When different groups come to volunteer at the community center, they will be able to put a dot on the map for where they are from. This mural will be a great visual to show just how many groups from all over the country come to volunteer here. We thought that the mural would be a fun project, but has proven to be more challenging than we expected. The projector we got to project a map of the United States on the wall didn’t work, forcing us to free hand the map. While making a grid to help us draw it on the wall, we ran out of tape. These little setbacks have not stopped us from continuing the map. Hopefully by the end of the day we will have a completed mural of the United States!

There is so much that can be learned from the people down here. Through their experiences, they have learned so much and are just waiting to pass on their wisdom. From talks with Mack, other groups staying at the village, even our waiter when we went into the city, I have learned so much. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to come down here.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Liz Dufresne

This being my first time on an actual build trip, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I’d heard great things about what Mack had been doing down here with the Lower Ninth Ward Village and after speaking with him at the Building Dreams in New Orleans benefit dinner in October 2011, I knew he would appreciate any help we could offer him down here.

Along with the Lower Ninth Ward Village, Mack is currently working to get a ranch, located two hours outside of the Lower Ninth Ward, childproofed and ready to take on weekend visitors. They plan to take groups of at-risk kids out to this ranch, and get them introduced to new responsibilities – cleaning, feeding, and working with the horses and working on a farm.

We spent a day on this ranch laying some groundwork to get the program under way. Many of us got to spend some one-on-one time with the horses that are currently housed there, me included. The horse I spent time with was one that holds a special place in Mack’s heart – a horse that hadn’t been ridden in over a year due to the devastating blow that Hurricane Katrina dealt to New Orleans and various other complications.

My new friend, yet to be named by Mack, was a very skittish creature, and initially was very unhappy to even be walked out of his stall with me. But as one of the volunteers at the ranch said to me – all he needed was some love, someone to talk to him, and someone to treat him right. Just by being calm around him, talking quietly to him, and being stern, yet respectful, the horse began to cooperate with me. We walked around the yard together, he ate lunch with me, and though it made him a little uncomfortable, he trusted me enough to let me brush his side and back – where he couldn’t quite see what I was doing.

Even though I only spent a few hours with this horse, I formed a bond in that short time that I won’t soon forget. The time spent with him proves to me that the opportunity to work with these animals is not one we can afford to keep from the children of New Orleans, and the Lower Ninth much longer.

           

After our visit to the ranch, we had a reflection with Mack and UC Berkeley, another group that worked with us this week, and the idea of a “Wish List” of all the tasks and projects that needed to be done was made thrown around; with constantly rotating groups of volunteers we thought that this would be the best way to keep track of things done, and things-to-be-done. Later that night we hashed out a wish list of our own – tasks that we wanted to see completed, or at least nearly completed by the time we left.

On our last three days here we have been working, and will continue to work to complete these projects – a large map of the U.S. to show where volunteers have come from, reorganizing the library, repainting what is to become the game room, and completing a shed for all the gardening tools needed for upkeep. With another half day of work to go all of these projects are nearing completion, leaving mostly clean up for tomorrow, and it really is a great feeling for all of us – we can really see the impact we have made on this space, and by talking to the community members, we know they truly appreciate what we have done here.

One of the biggest things I’ve noticed while I’ve been here, is that Mack is a thinker and not necessarily a planner. He has the most amazing and grand dreams of community involvement and improvement, from a football field and a small arcade for the kids to afterschool homework help for kids and GED programs for teens and adults but without the initial tasks of cleaning up the yard and community center, and having a sustainable source of funding for the Village, none of this can happen, and “Wish Lists” can help the program get there.

Over the last few days I’ve heard Mack talk over and over again about how the cavalry hasn’t come, and its not going to come, and I don’t want to contradict a man this amazing and self sacrificing – but he’s wrong. Groups like ours have come down here over the last six years, and continue to come and help him make the community’s dreams into reality. We eat with him, work alongside him, and try to get a feel for the needs of his community, though only for a week or two each year.

We are the cavalry.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Janelle Boucher

My name is Janelle Boucher and this is my first year as a member of Habitat for humanity. I was told we would be spending our annual trip in the Lower Ninth Ward located in New Orleans. One of the most devastated parts of Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina.

When we arrived and went on a tour of the area with our host, Mack, I was shocked at the status of the lower ninth despite it being almost seven years since the hurricane. I didn’t know what to expect when I first came down but what Mack showed us was beyond anything I could have envisioned.

Mack made a point to show us the status of the schools in the area; there’s a total of one. The school isn’t miniscule but it is probably smaller than my high school which held 2000 students from 9th to 12th grade. This one school is expected to hold and educate students from K—12 . This is ridiculous. If this isn’t bad enough, the seniors at this school are educated in small white trailers. It gets worse. The graduation rate in Louisiana is about 63 percent. From that number only about 60 percent have an adult literacy level.

Mack then told us about his daughter who used to live in New Orleans but evacuated and later had children in another area. He once asked her to return one day so he could see his grandchildren. She said she wouldn’t, her kids had a chance where they were; they were on the honor role.

He must have been crushed when she told him this but he understood. How could he ask her to come back when New Orleans has the highest crime rate and a murder rate that has doubled since Katrina. He believes these statistics are because the youth in New Orleans are under educated. I agree with him considering the average 16-year-old sent to a juvenile facility in Louisiana has a 5th grade reading level.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Kevin Woods

This is my second time coming to Louisiana. Last year I went with the Habitat group that went to Slidell, where we helped build houses for people in the community. It was a great experience – helping others that were always so friendly and eating all the local food, which was amazing, so I decided to come back this year.

We stayed in The Village this time, which is a community center in the Lower Ninth Ward that is still being put together to one day become a place where children can come to play. We spent days working there, making it safe, cleaning up, and putting up a roof. We also spent a day at a ranch that, like The Village, was in the progress of establishing a fun and safe environment for children in the area. While there, we got to ride horses and drive tractors and have fun – we played hard but we worked harder. Children would come and go during the day to ride the horses in the rodeo and hang out around the ranch. It was great to see this alternative offered to them.

The Lower Ninth Ward has one of the highest crime rates in the country and creating these new centers will hopefully open a new environment in the community that will take kids off the street and out of the penitentiary system.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Rachel Mollard

It’s day 6 here in New Orleans, or what I now like to call NOLA. Although it’s been a lot of work so far, time has flown by. Looking back on everything that’s happened on this trip, it’s hard to believe what we’ve accomplished here.

To be honest the trip has been much different than I had originally anticipated, but it’s been so worthwhile. I came here thinking we would be going around the Lower 9th Ward, helping people in the community fix up their homes for damages rendered, if you can believe it, six years ago. Instead, we have been working tirelessly to fix up the Village, a community center in the Lower 9th Ward intended to be a place for the community to gather and children to have a safe place to play and learn. Early in the trip, we took a tour of the Lower 9th, as Mack, essentially the father of the Village, told us about his community. He told us about hurricane Katrina and what happened to his home. The water rose about 8- 32 feet that day on land, and most people were forced into their attics, either breaking a hole in their roofs and waited on there to be rescued or died drowning in their own attics before help could come. He explained what the “Xs” on the home meant, the date of the investigation, the name of the organization who examined the home, and the number of people and animals found deceased in the home. It was shocking to think there were still homes with these “Xs” on them, and still so many empty lots were home once stood. It was then that the impact of the hurricane truly sunk in.

While fixing up the community center was not what I had in mind in when I came to New Orleans, I couldn’t have imagined doing anything else. The impact the Village will have on the community when it’s finished is greater than any of us will ever know. The ultimate goal is to fix the place up enough and make it safe enough to earn liability insurance so children can play and learn here safely. This week has been a combination of cleaning, sorting, painting and building in the Village.

One of the projects I have been really involved in over the past days is a map painting of the United States. The idea behind the map is the number of volunteers that come through the community center to stay and work in the Lower 9th Ward from all over the country. The plan is that once the map has been painted on the wall, each group that comes to the Village will be able to mark where they came from, showing how we can all come from different places in the country, but regardless we can still come together for a united cause. First we traced a map we found in the library and drew over the map with a grid. Being the engineers and artists we are, we devised a way to blow up the grid on the wall so we could map out, well, our map! As I’m writing this blog the map is still in progress. But in one day we have drawn and painted most of a 15ft by 10ft map and a large blank white wall. We scaled the huge wall taping out our grid, carefully calculating out every move, as engineers do. We then carefully drew out the map in pencil while other people in the group followed after filling the states in with brightly colored paint. Even if we don’t finish today, like the village itself, it is a work in progress to be finished by other volunteers in the future.

Overall, this trip has been eye opening, saddening, challenging, and tiring, but most importantly one of the best times of my life. I have not only learned so much about New Orleans, it’s culture and the impact of hurricane Katrina, but I’ve learned a lot about myself. I may be one person, but I can make an impact. I’ve gone outside my comfort zone, pushed myself physically and I’ve come out on the other side a better person for it

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Chiana Montesi

This trip has been very eye opening to me. I have always had more than enough provided for me my entire life, and when I realized how much I took it for granted. The lower ninth ward has so much to offer to its community, but without the funds or support it seems as if the community has no positive influences. Walking around the village and lower ninth I saw how happy the people were even though they were still rebuilding from practically nothing.

The part of the trip that really moved me was seeing the holes in the houses. For those who don’t know when the hurricane hit people inside their homes had 12 minutes to go up to their attics and cut a hole in the roof. Those who couldn’t successfully cut the holes most likely died. It’s a breathtaking site to see, and really shows how you should never take time for granted. After I took in the scenery, I wondered why the buildings were even still up. Why after 6 years do these people need to see the remains of what tore their city and lives to pieces. But then I realized that it was a reminder to volunteers like myself, that these people still need help. They have come so far, but still need help. Even though these people are incredibly strong and amazing they cannot do it alone.

Another site that was eye opening to me was the x’s. The x’s show four things; the date that people came and checked the house, the group that came in, the number of animals that died, and the number of people that died. Luckily no one died in this house, but the place was still a mess.

Coming back to the community center I had a new motivation. I wanted to make it more suitable for kids and the community. Along with others I decided that we should paint a mural on the wall of a map of the united states. We decided that on top of the mural we were going to have the logo Building Dreams for New Orleans. Underneath there would be a map painted with all different colors. As schools like ours came down to help renovate the community center, you mark your state and draw a line and label it with your state. Having this can be inspiration to other schools so that they could leave their mark on the community center. I also believe that this will also further inspire other children who come to the community center to get involved with community service and groups like Habitat. By inspiring this community and building this center, I hope that it will inspire them to stay involve and stay off the streets.

When we were viewing these scenes, Mack brought up pa very interesting point. He said that 6 years after the fact there are still volunteers that are coming to help. He said it’s not by the media, because in that case we would have heard about the progress when the Saints won the superbowl just 2 years ago. Instead were spreading the word about the community by mouth. So by coming here and by having this blog hopefully we can continue to spread the word and continue to build dreams down here in New Orleans.

Oh yeah! I also adopted two awesome puppies down here! One girl named Blues, and one boy named Bourbon! They’ll be making the trip back to CT with us when we leave!

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Caitlen Beahn

This is my second service trip to New Orleans and it definitely will not be my last.  There is something magical about this city that keeps me coming back.   What motivates me the most is the people.  The people in this community have more grit than anyone I have encountered in my life and it is truly an inspiration.  Everyone that I have had the opportunity to meet is so thankful for our work.  While we were working in the Lower 9^th Ward Village, I had the chance to talk one-on-one with Mack.  He told me that Hurricane Katrina was the greatest thing to ever happen to him because it changed his life. He was able to face the disaster and grow from it.  Mack has so much determination to get this Village up and running for the children in the community and I know that if we continue providing our work we will be able to make his dream come true.  I am thankful for being able to come to the Village with such a wonderful, hardworking WPI Habitat for Humanity team and hope that everyone had a great experience!

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Mallory Howard

Wow, what a week it’s been here in New Orleans! From long days of manual service work at the Lower 9^th Ward Village, to whirlwind trips to Bourbon Street, and Mr. Johnston’s Horse Farm, our group has truly had a taste of New Orleans, Louisiana culture.  I am so happy to have had this opportunity to lead this Habitat for Humanity trip.  I came down to New Orleans last year to volunteer, so I was excited to be able to come back.  Although I was the leader of the group, I did not have to step up much. Leadership is a quality that many of these students posses and demonstrated during our trip. Each day, everyone on this trip truly showed motivation, hard work, positive energy, and a lot of heart. Together we have created memories that we will never forget and friendships that will last a lifetime.

When we first walked into the Lower 9^th Ward Village, I felt overwhelmed with my surroundings. I knew there was much to get done, but the group I walked in the doors with was intelligent and creative and I knew that ideas would come together. While I was thinking of how I was stressed and overwhelmed, I tried to put myself in the position of Mack and the community around the Lower 9^th Ward. “I am too blessed to be stressed” is something Mack expressed early into our stay. Mack was and is a great inspiration. His high level of energy and positivity helped us all put all our effort into helping the community down here.

After seeing Mack smile and call us his heroes throughout the trip, I knew all of our hard work paid off. Although there was not much structure for our workdays, everyone came together to plan and make ideas happen. I am very impressed with all the work that was completed in a short amount of time. There is still much work that needs to be done at the Lower 9^th Ward Village, but we are leaving it today more organized, serviceable and colorful. Lives were truly changed throughout the trip, and I hope all the participants remember this once in a lifetime experience as fondly as I will in the years to come.  


For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Ashton Kim

I first joined the cause of Habitat for Humanity because I believed that there was nothing more important than providing people with the basic elements of life; food, clothing, and shelter. Habitat represented the third, and I have dedicated myself to its cause for the last two years.

I had attended trips to communities where I built houses from scratch. The last places I visited were remote areas of Brazil where our groups completed brick houses for people who could not afford such shelter. After mixing concrete, carrying tons of cement and bricks, shoveling rubble and sand, digging into solid ground, and setting foundations and stack up walls, our building team learnt the value of manual labor and the impact it had on less fortunate people who needed places to stay. The people we helped had the worst working conditions in the middle of the barren plains of Northeastern Brazil, and we were glad to give them a proper place to live. We were working as part of a team, where professionals supervised our process and taught us methods for bricking and mixing the concrete with our hands, and we completed multiple foundations, alongside infrastructure for the neighborhood.

Once we arrived in the Lower Ninth Ward, I immediately realized that it was going to be a different kind of assistance that we would be providing. Our group was not going to be part of a build site, but an active force that would help the community sustain itself. Although managing with donations, the community center and the community itself did not have all the resources it needed to go on. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina had left homeowners unable to return, and stripped from their rights to their houses due to technical and legal issues. Meanwhile, there was only one school left of the seven before the disaster, and the crime rate was highest in the country. Mack, the manager of this place, repeated the importance of the community, how a hub will need to be created for the community to have a voice, and how he wished he could bring more kids and education back here, starting with safe infrastructure around the center and more volunteers and sponsorships to sustain development in the area. His concern was that a place of disaster is easily forgotten, even if it hasn’t been taken care of. After six years, that was what happened here.

We started with simple work, and I must admit that some of us were disappointed with the lack of organization here. Even I was used to and expected there to be organized shifts and tasks. All there was were piles of junk to sort out and a center to clean out and reconstruct. Still, our group managed to organize the scrap from what we could use, clear out entire areas of the center and refurnish them. Putting up walls and painting them, rearranging the library, etc. As our leaders mentioned, we had to be proactive, rather than reactive, and initiate everything we could think of to make this place more sustainable and then leave it to following groups to continue the job. We cleared out a new library, painted walls, added more aesthetic elements to the center, and got through sorting a lot of trash.

Truth be told, it wasn’t work that I was used to doing or even expected at this trip, but it gave new meaning to the work I am doing for Habitat. I was used to raising individual houses, this place, once brought back on its feet, could provide a starting point for the entire village. Our work here could be the beginning of something far greater, which could build momentum with more volunteers and help. Even now four other schools were staying here and working alongside us. I hope students could spread the word back in their own communities, and also use their own expertise that they learn from each school to help rebuild this place. Mack said that his driving force was we who were volunteering, and we should be for more people.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Danielle Antonellis

Last January a group of 40 WPI students travelled to Slidell, Louisiana for the largest build trip WPI Habitat for Humanity has ever ventured on. This trip was a huge success- we worked on five different Habitat for Humanity homes, saw the sites in New Orleans, and grew closer as a club. Perhaps the most resonating experience we had was our tour of the Lower 9th Ward, one of the communities hit hardest from Hurricane Katrina. Our tour guide, Ward “Mack” McClendon is the Executive Director of the Lower 9th Ward Village, a community center he started after Katrina. The purpose of the Village is to create a hub for the community. This includes a location for town hall meetings, a place for children to come after school for tutoring, computer access, and fun activities to keep them off the streets, among other programs. The purpose of the Village is evolutionary since the needs of the community are always changing. The Village was founded on the principal that every community should have a voice and shape their own future. Unique to other non-profits, the Village runs solely on in-kind donations and the visions of the Lower 9th Ward residents.

As we drove around the Lower 9th Ward last January, Mack told us stories about Katrina and her aftermath. It was and still is difficult to understand how such a strong community has suffered so much and is so far from full recovery. The sympathetic faces of my fellow classmates were unforgettable, yet so many of them were inspired by Mack’s work. How could someone who lost everything be so hopeful?

After we returned home, I started calling Mack and talking to him about the problems with the Lower 9th Ward and disaster recovery in general. I have learned a great deal from him and am inspired to work in disaster recovery as an engineer because of our friendship.

In October, Mack flew to WPI to educate our community about long-term disaster recovery. We had an event called “Building Dreams in New Orleans” which included authentic Cajun food (cooked by Mack), a silent auction, live jazz band, and talks from WPI President, Dennis Berkey, and Mack. With over 250 guests and the support of our generous sponsors, we were able to raise over $11,000 for the Lower 9th Ward Village. Although this donation is a great help to the Village, our work is far from done.

Another group of 40 students is currently staying at the Village to continue the recovery of the Lower 9th Ward. From building sheds to painting murals and creating game rooms, our group has made large improvements at the Village in just a few short days. Many of these projects are explained and shown in other blog posts.

I have spent most of my time organizing our volunteers- from the work they do to the meals and transportation. I have also spent a great deal of time discussing the future of the Village of Mack. There are several challenges currently facing the Village that is stopping it from being fully functional as a community center. The building is not safe for children- a large amount of work still needs to be done on the physical building. I brought Mack to a meeting with Architecture for Humanity in downtown New Orleans. We are hoping this well established organization will partner with the Village and colleges associated with the Village to redesign and renovate the Village. This space has a great deal of potential. The community is in desperate need of an open space. The Village could be repurposed for job training, afterschool programs, as a gardening center, among many other programs.

The Village is in the process of hiring fulltime employees and organizing long term volunteers to better establish the organization and its programs. I spent some time meeting with the incoming volunteers and Mack to prioritize the Village’s goals and come up with a plan of attack. We are all very excited and hopeful for the future of the Village. This project is far from done, but the countless volunteers and financial support has been astounding. This must continue for the success of the Village and I am personally looking forward to being a part of this project for the long term.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Michael Day

So first, a quick overview of everything: I’m Mike Day, WPI Class of 2015. I heard about this trip during the first meeting of WPI Habitat for Humanity, and was immediately interested. We’re here helping in the lower 9th ward, at a place called The Village.

This is The Village

The Village is run by Mack.

So that’s the trip so far. But I’d like to take a little time here and take a step back to look at the larger picture.

We live in a world that is rocked by natural disasters on the scale of Hurricane Katrina every few years. In the 6 years since Katrina we have experienced the Indonesian Tsunami, Haitian Earthquake, and Japanese Earthquake, all of which have caused devastation on scales that defy human comprehension. As Stalin so succinctly put it, “The death of one man is a tragedy: the death of a million men is a statistic”. How can we as a people better ourselves if we forget the plight of millions after mere months?


Survivors deal with a variety of problems, even from those who try to help. Professional companies who work exclusively in providing services to disaster areas make profits off the people, technically providing aid while statistically hurting the populace by not involving them and getting them to stand back up on their own.


Millions of people donate to not profits that claim to be using the money in direct aid. What we forget is that ‘Non-Profit’ is a classification of companies the government deems worthy of corporate tax exemptions, and their motives and actions can be far from sincere. It is widely accepted that under half of the money donated to relief efforts for disasters actually ends up helping in any way at all.


So what does this leave for those who help? The truly selfless souls who donate time, money, and effort (no matter how big or small their contribution); are they all bound like King Sisyphus to an endless struggle. Must we provide aid to each disaster until the next one sends our efforts hurtling downwards to the bottom of the hill?

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Shaine Grogan

New Orleans is truly a remarkable place. My first trip to New Orleans last year for Habitat for Humanity I realized how unique the people are down here. Everyone no matter color or wealth seems to have a smile on their faces and love making others smile. The food and spirit in New Orleans is unlike anything I have ever seen . That is why I wanted to come back again this year and help these people out. It’s a shame that the city has so much crime, when it is one of the happiest cities I have ever been to and I feel that with a little outside help the crime can be limited

So far on this trip I have spent time cleaning the Village, which is the Lower Ninth Ward Community Center. The center has many hazards for children and needs many renovations. It could be a great place for the kids of the Lower Ninth Ward Community. Today we finished building a roof for the shed. Yesterday we went to a Ranch and it was a great experience. I rode a horse for the first time. We helped to clean up the ranch and make it more suitable for children.

Coming to New Orleans is an awesome experience! It makes you feel good to help the people that have faced a disaster. Seeing those people is what keeps you motivated. I also got to have some fun and see the city of New Orleans. I’m excited for the BCS National Championship on Monday night. I plan to root for LSU as they are New Orlean’s team. New Orleans is a great place.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Kyle Bonaccorso

It is depressing to think that in August of 2005, an entire community was destroyed. The Lower Ninth Ward was under up to 32 feet of water. Everyone was forced out of their homes, and those who didn’t get out were killed as a result of the storm. This disaster was very tragic, but what is even more tragic is the way we, as a nation, handled it. We did not give the people affected the proper support network in order to help them through the adverse time. People were bussed out all across the country and many are just waiting for a chance to come back. Sadly though, the Lower Ninth Ward doesn’t look that much better than it did six years ago. There are still houses with holes in the roof where people had tunneled out of their attic to escape the water. The schools were destroyed and only one is currently functioning. The kids need a place to get an education and one school is not sufficient. Building more schools and educating the kids is important to potentially bringing down the crime rate. In order for anything to actually happen, there needs to be organization.

Having been to the Lower Ninth Ward Village two years in a row, I have witnessed the start of a vision becoming reality. Mack wants to see his village become a community center which will help bring people back to their homes. His goal is to change the way that people embrace disaster. The work that has been done over the last couple days has made a huge impact and has turned the Village into a comfortable and fun place for people of all ages. We cleared out a lot of space that was only being used for storage and turned it into a small library and game room. We also cleaned up the backyard and removed the broken windows. We have set up a framework for other volunteer organizations to pick up where we left off. It is great to know that when we leave this place, we will have made a big difference. This disaster was embraced completely wrong. But it serves as a good lesson. We can learn from this and make sure that if we ever encounter another disaster, we will embrace it correctly.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Andy Nelson

Another day at The Village and we have started to incorporate our ideas and dreams into our work. There are so many things to be done that it is difficult to decide where to begin. I worked to rearrange banners from different organizations who have helped at The Village and installed some bookshelves to create a reading room. The banners show how many people have helped turn The Village into a reality and show just how far The Village extends. Yesterday, we spent the day at a ranch, which will host retreats for children from New Orleans, many of whom have never been outside of the city. Perhaps experiencing life on the ranch will have a positive impact in their lives, give them a new way to look at things, and encourage them to stay out of trouble.

Working together

Your community and ours

Building a village

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Dan McCarthy

This is my second trip to the Lower 9^th Ward Village, and I have begun to notice many of the little things that make the village run. The Village depends on volunteers and donations in order to stay running.  It is run by Mack McLendon, a man full of promising ideas. He has so many new ideas and programs that he believes the village could become to change the community. Since getting down here, I have seen the vision of the village move from just that, a vision, to something that has the potential to become a reality. The WPI Habitat for Humanity students who are with us at the Village all have the drive to see something get done here.

At first, I had expected that in the year since we had first toured the community center, some significant changes would have been made. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The building was littered with donated materials that mostly had no use to the Village itself. Mack explained that if ever anyone wanted to make a donation, he couldn’t say no to it because it might end up being valuable. What I found really fascinating about the materials that were lying around the Village is that most of them were donated by movie crews after their sets were done being used. New Orleans had become the location of the most number of movies being filmed in recent years, even surpassing Hollywood, and when sets are offered to the Village, they have to take all of it, and not just the useful things.

Much of what we had done in recent days is clear out the Village of useless things. Once this was accomplished, we had a much better idea of what the space could be used for. The task I took ownership of was reorganizing the library. Mack has thousands of books from all different genres, but they were extremely cluttered and needed more space to be showcased. Part of  rearranging the library was to re construct walls out of bookshelves to make the room bigger and more closed off from the other parts of the community center.

Mack has been extremely influential when it came to my desire to work for a bigger picture than I am a part of. I am proud to be a part of the Village community, and the difference Mack is trying to make here is unbelievable. The vision he has of his community center is one that can have so many different purposes: a recording studio, a computer lab, a game center, a library, a tutoring center, a place to get a GED, as well as running programs that will help students change their diet to be healthier. The problem is that it takes so much to keep this place alive that it is difficult to move forward.

Mack has been studying the way people are affected by disasters, and when he explains all of the things he has seen, some of it is quite scary. One stat that sticks out in my mind is that roughly ten percent of all donations made to a cause actually make it to the people that need it. The rest goes to the overhead of running a relief effort. This seems scary to me. The other fact that made me nervous was that for an entire year after the storm, people who lived in the area originally were not allowed to come home and help rebuild their community. Volunteers were being shipped in from around the country, but people had no say in how their community was rebuilt. This is part of why Mack believes so much in the Village. It has the chance to make the community come together and claim the Lower 9^th Ward for itself.

The pieces are starting to fall in place for the Village, but it is not yet close to achieving the full spectrum of what it wants to be. Any help that anyone can offer will go a long way to making the vision a reality. 

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Adam Moreschi

This year’s New Orleans service trip has been a different form of rewarding thus far. 2011’s trip was very much structured through Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West Chapter, whereas this year we focused our efforts toward the Lower Ninth Ward Village Community Center, a safe haven for young children and adults recovering from the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina. Under the supervision of our senior ex-President, Danielle Antonellis, and Ward “Mack” McClendon, the Village Center coordinator, we are working to redesign, recreate, and renovate the Village for the future generations of college students and charities collaborating to make more initiatives down here.

Although a number of us believed that we would be building houses in the Lower Ninth Ward when we came down to New Orleans, we have been plenty busy around the Village, from painting game rooms to redesigning their kids library, putting up tool shacks to recording the next steps for when we leave. In all honesty it has been a day-by-day effort, yet in an area of extreme need for infrastructure, intel, and organizational developments, we’ve been making an impact that I am hopeful will stay grounded in the years to come. A few of our students have also been looking into finding how the Village can become self-sustainable in the future, and our idea of bike tours of the area for tourists seems to be the most promising factor thus far.

“The Village Project” has been an effort mentally and physically for our 41 members from WPI, yet with the right mindset and feasible goals we’ve had what it takes to make a true difference in the lives of those in the Lower Ninth Ward. Hopefully with this type of productivity and passion from future volunteers, the Village can be fully operational come this April for the youth and the people of New Orleans, rebuilding their community from this center of hope.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Katelyn Nicosia

The little time I have spent in the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans in general has truly been an eye opening experience. On the bus tour we went on during the beginning of our stay, I was exposed to the poverty that these citizens have been living in since Hurricane Katrina. There were so many vacant lots where houses have been knocked down due to their desertion and their disastrous state. The houses that were left standing from the hurricane were probably in no better state than the houses that were torn down already. The one house that we stepped off of the bus to visit was devastating. There were holes in the roof where the people previously living in the house had tried to escape out of when the water was rising during the hurricane. The pipes were sticking out of the walls of the house and there were no windows still intact. There also were weeds and bushes growing onto the house. It was clear that there wasn’t a relief program still in place to clean up the houses and get the New Orleans citizens back in their homes. Seeing the many, many houses and buildings that were still in the uninhabitable state like the house described above really inspired me and got me excited to be working with WPI’s Habitat for Humanity even more than I previously was.

During the bus tour, Mack also talked with us about the schooling in the Lower Ninth Ward. He told us that prior to Katrina there seven schools throughout the city. Now,a there is one school that is Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Mack told us that he believes this is a root cause of the problems still remaining in this area. I agree that if children were getting educated like most children in America are then there would be less crime on the streets and more improvement. I think this is why Mack is working on making this community center for children because he wants to help the children have a better life down here. This made me want to really clean up the place and make it possible for children to come here. I know that we all won’t be able to complete everything we want to accomplish since we are only down here for such a short time. However, knowing that we are getting things organized and putting a system in place for the next groups who come makes me very happy with what we are doing. Choosing to come down here with Habitat was one of the best decisions I have made.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Deanna Cavallaro

This is my first habitat for Humanity trip down to New Orleans, and it is a little bit different than I expected. I pictured my trip to be mostly constructing a house for a family, however we ended up helping Mack. When we first got here the warehouse had junk all over it so on the first day we cleaned up some of the really cluttered parts. We spent hours carrying chairs and tables from the inside to the backyard. We looked at the empty room and Mack always says that this village is supposed to be for kids. We asked Mack what he wanted to do with the empty room and he decided it was going to be a game room. We got bright Habitat colors and dry-walled and painted the room. From the chairs we found before, we took six sturdy ones and painted them to match the room. It was really cool to start and almost finish this room because seeing the entire transformation was incredible. That was probably my favorite part of all of the work days.

Other than the workdays at the village, we had gone into the French Quarter and spent all day walking up and down the streets. It was amazing because culture here is so different; everyone is so kind. We met a waiter named Raffle and he told us some awesome stories about living in New Orleans. We had also gone to a ranch of Mack’s friend; the highlight of my day there was finding and saving four puppies.

The village has already come a long way in the three days that we worked here and I can tell there is a lot of hope for the future. Once the village is complete it will be so useful for the community and all of the children and I can’t wait to see the progress in years to come.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Brianna Maljanian

This past week we stayed at the Lower Ninth Ward Village to help Mack fix the place up. The center will eventually be used as a place that the children of the community can come to. But when we got there, everything from chairs to lamps was in piles and we didn’t know where to start. On our first day we sorted through a lot of it and put it outside. It felt as if we were just moving things around and not making progress, and everyone realized that we needed to change things up.

We knew we had to have a group meeting in order to get anything done because there was so much to do. We were initially expecting there to be tasks set out for us to do when we got here, but we quickly realized that no one was going to tell us what to do. We knew there was so much to get done, it was just hard to know where to start. I took two and a half pages of notes during our meeting last night of just our ideas. That showed me and everyone else how productive we really can be as a group, and I thought it really brought us together. It really showed today when we got right to work at nine. There were so many different tasks going on and so much got done. I helped to paint the game room, reorganize the library, and sort the miscellaneous items that have been stored at the Village. At the end of the day, the library looked like an actual library and it was really satisfying for everyone who was helping out. I learned that it is so important to take action instead of waiting for someone to tell you what needs to be done. All we had to do was sit down and look around, brainstorm, and take action.

Listening to Mack speak is always a pleasure. He has the biggest heart out of anyone I have ever met, and is so passionate about making the Village a place that is safe and fun for children. I love that he has all these ideas, and he really needs people like us here to help push to make these ideas happen. It still amazes me that this many years after the hurricane the Lower Ninth Ward looks as bad as it does. I have been so honored to be a part of helping making it a better place. Mack always calls us his heroes, and we really are because we continue to give him and the community hope that their home will be restored.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Cait Kelley (CK)

After meeting Mack for the first time back in October when he came to visit WPI, I was inspired by his story and the work he does, and have been so excited to come and see what the Lower 9^th Ward Village was really all about. Me and a group of 5 other friends in Habitat for Humanity decided to come down early to explore more of New Orleans before the rest of the group arrived. We got to see a Saints game, the Sugar Bowl, listen to great jazz on Frenchman Street, and see the world famous Bourbon Street. But even after all of these exciting things, I think one of my favorite parts of coming early was getting to hang out with Mack. We got to be his family for five whole days. Even more, seeing how the Village runs on a daily basis, meeting the few workers that come by every day, and getting to have a meeting with Mack to help him create his plan was great preparation for the group coming to meet us. We even got to make friends with the handyman, Slick, and he brought the six of us to his house for authentic New Orleans “soul food”.

At first glance, the Village is just a converted garage. But the more you look around and spend time here you feel the love and the deeper meaning behind the project. You see all the banners hanging on the wall and know how many other schools have put time and effort into this. You see all of the donated items that people brought to Mack hoping he could use them. While we were here someone even donated an entire duplex for free. It’s only a couple blocks away and the plan is to use it for more housing and offices. The entire community is behind Mack and the success of the Village.

But despite this sense of support Mack needs more help. He doesn’t have enough people here everyday to accomplish all of his ideas. Our group’s main task while we’re here is to clean out and reorganize all of the donations to make a workable space for the Village to continue to grow. As a group, we have also been making task and idea lists for our group and future groups to work off of to make the Village the best that it can be.  I truly believe this place will be the hub of the revival of the Lower Ninth Ward and we are the beginning. 

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Chris Welsh

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast with vicious force and anger I was sixteen years old. I was able to understand that there were thousands of people dying due to this storm and even more people in need of help. Love from all around the world poured into New Orleans to help the victims of this disaster, and I became inspired by these people. However, at the time, I was unable to go to New Orleans because I was not provided with the opportunity. Most disasters do not receive enough recognition once a few years after the storm pass. The news coverage shifts to other stories and many people remain as helpless victims. My sister, however, traveled to New Orleans two years after the storm and shared the stories of the devastation that still remained. Because of the facts that she provided me, I was aware that the people in New Orleans still wanted and needed many people’s help. For these reasons, I became even more compelled to travel to the city and provide my assistance.

I came to New Orleans for the first time last year, and was able to gain firsthand experience of the devastation that remains. Last year however, I was a little upset that we were not doing direct work in the city. Instead, we were working in Slidell, Louisiana, about an hour outside of the city. Therefore, when I found out that this year’s build trip would take place directly in the Lower Ninth Ward, I became ecstatic. I was finally able to fulfill my desire to help the people in this city.

Now that I am here, in the heart of the Lower Ninth Ward, I am able to see and talk to the people that were most affected during this disaster. I feel proud of both myself and of my fellow classmates for the tasks that we have accomplished thus far. The major task that I am trying to complete during this week is building a shed to store the tractors, tools, and scrap wood. Slick, one of the workers in The Village, told me that they have had many tools stolen because the tools have no place to be stored. Hopefully this shed will prevent these things from being stolen. I am glad that I came on this trip and have been able to have a positive impact of the people of this community.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.

Johanna Hartmann

Community service has always been very important to me. I was ecstatic when I discovered that WPI had Habitat for Humanity and joined right away. Unfortunately, I did not go on the first build trip to New Orleans. However, I heard so many great things about it, especially about the Village of the Lower Ninth Ward. After listening to my peers rave about the trip and all of the wonderful things they were able to do. They were so adamant about helping Mac and coming back.  Their passion for helping the Lower Ninth Ward was truly inspiring. I was so excited to have the opportunity to come down there myself. Mac gave us a tour of the Lower Ninth Ward and immediately I was able to see with my own eyes the devastation that had occurred and the dire need for help. I was excited to get to work as soon as possible.

This past week we have been working on the Village, turning it into a community center. The overall goal is to create a place for kids and teens to come for recreational and educational purposes. I specifically worked on cleaning, organizing, and creating a room for a library. Mac already has such a vast array of books and toys, there is so much potential. We worked on taking this potential and turning it into an organized playroom/library for kids and teens. 

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Village please visit their website here and if you would like to make a donation, you can do that here.