Rebuilding The Lower Ninth Ward
[notice type=attention]Our mates at lowernine.org are hard at work bringing community back to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, but they can always use a little help. The following letter outlines how ye can give ’em a hand – even at arms length! Please have a read and help where/how ye can.[/notice]
Season’s greetings from all of us here on El Dorado Street! This month marks the fourth holiday season since lowernine.org began its work in the Fall of 2007, and, once again, we have had a productive and gratifying year. As has been the case right from the very beginning, the support of our volunteers continues to warm the hearts of all of us involved in this important work. In fact, we welcomed our three thousandth volunteer in October – testimony to the urgency that the recovery of our neighborhood still has in the minds of so many people from across the country and the world.
As important as our volunteers are, it is the relationships we continue to build with our residents and neighborhood organizations that keep the work satisfying to all of us. Through our cooperation with community leaders and other organizations, we have been able to expand our work into other areas without compromising our core mission of helping residents return to their rebuilt homes.
One of the issues we have been able to address through such cooperation is a comprehensive mapping effort in the Lower Ninth Ward to help the city identify and address the issue of blighted property. Working with the Beacon of Hope Resource Center, Common Ground Relief and the Lower Ninth Ward Stakeholders Association and Homeoners’ Associations, we hope to be able to act as a more forceful advocate for quality-of-life issues in the community, on this and the many other fronts that challenge the neighborhood as we move forward.
None of this work would have been possible without the generous financial support of the hundreds of donors who continue to contribute to our success. As we face the never-ending struggle to keep lowernine.org growing and providing the many services necessary to the community’s resurgence, I would ask all of you, at this special time of year, to make a donation to help us do just that. To donate, CLICK HERE
We have a chance to build a solid foundation upon which the residents of the Lower Ninth Now you can sponsor a volunteer who is helping rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans via Pay Pal. All our long term crew leaders and volunteer staff are our family – we cover their room and board!
You can sponsor a lowernine.org volunteer for:
- a day ($15)
- a week ($105)
- a month ($420)
We have a chance to build a solid foundation upon which the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward can stand as they recover from the storm and remake their communities stronger than before. You can help us today!
Your donation could be used to…
Allow us to purchase building materials for residents who can’t afford them.
The cost of rebuilding a house in the Lower Ninth Ward using only volunteer labor runs in the $12,000 – $17,000 range.
- A new roof = $600-$800
- Re-wiring a house = $1,500
- Re-plumbing a house = $800 – $1,000
- Insulating = $1,000
- Sheetrock = $1,200 – $1,600
- Kitchen cabinets/countertops = $1,400
- Lumber to replace damaged studs/sills/etc. = $750
- Lumber for window/door trim/baseboards, etc. = $800
- New windows & doors = $1600
- Pay our bills! Utilities; gas, maintenance and repairs for our vehicles; insurance; tools and safety equipment; stipends for our on-site staff, and the myriad services, supplies and incidental expenses associated with running a program as ambitious as ours.
lowernine.org is a proud United Way Partner Agency
