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.