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.