First Week wth Habitat ReStore.

What an amazing week with amazing people: volunteers, paid staff from Habitat and of course the amazing people that come into the store. I haven't had so many amazing moments happen to me in such a short time frame in my entire life as they occurred this past week. This place is magic.

I only worked on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with them, but I feel that I was able to make some kind of small and subtle impact. The fondest memories are from my interactions with the people there. Everyone who comes into the store is so open and friendly: they want to talk and shoot the breeze. That is one thing I absolutely love about this place and these people: they take the time to Live Life.... and live it well. Tuesday was the first day for both Fred and myself- how I shall miss that guy! I didn't go in Friday because I knew that I would be heartbroken every time I looked around and didn't see him, busy, somewhere within the warehouse.

The two high school aged girls in this photo who helped us paint are involved in this one program that helps teens who have either fallen by the waist side or have been in trouble in some respect with the law, and because of that have not been able to graduate high school. This program helps them get their GED and helps them learn various life skills that will further their opportunities in their future lives. The group total is about 10 to 15 younger adults, who all come in for a day's work on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week. They are very hard workers and I am really thankful that there are so many programs around here that really try to get them back involved and back on track. (As I talk with the people from Habitat I am learning just how many Non-Profit and Not-For-Profit organizations have sprung up within the last few years, all because our federal and local governments were NOT going to be there to help them out. Thus amazing -and I mean amazing in all it's depth and richness- groups dot the city all over the place! That is truly the "power of the people" right there! And the fact that governments are sometimes more harmful than helpful.)


During my first three days I was able to accomplish the following with Habitat:


* Help out on the pick up route and get donations that people and businesses gave to Habitat Restore. We only did two pick ups that day, but the things we ended up getting really were in good condition and would help a lot of people.

* Clean up the flooring and tile area, for this week's huge donation of tiles coming in. It now looks so pretty. This is where Fred and I first bonded. = )

*Carry in all the donations, clean them, place them in their correct locations, price them accordingly and help people find them. It was kind of like being on that show, Price Is Right (with Bob Barker or that silly replacement new guy), because we weren't really educated on the laws of the land and so we priced the things best we could. And based off of other similar objects that were already priced. I was pretty liberal in my stance: I usually marked it a bit lower than I think my older and more experienced counterpart staff worker would have labeled it. Little things to help out, you know?

*Make some amazing friends. All of the staff seem to be just all around talented and creative sorts of individuals: the main "boss man" is the drummer in a band who is about to go on tour across the states, the main cashier is a very talented singer who opened the previous weekend for Yo Yo Ma (!!), one of the other paid workers is a drummer whose style I can't get enough of: true New Orleans Cat, and another one is pretty much the main guy for the local green movement and expo going on next year sometime. Amazing right? And these are people I am getting to hang out with on a daily basis now. (I think I am the truly lucky and blessed one here, no? Oui. Oui. That photo up there is Fred and myself on his last day, Thursday, after a week of wonderful magic. In that photo we were wrapping up the end of the afternoon spent painting the wall behind us a pretty green colour. During the week, after work, we were able to catch some good jazz music around the French Quarter- something that is essential to any one's trip and introduction to this fare city. There were about a team of five of us working on it and this being one of the only photos that I have that wasn't completely blurry. I am so proud of this photo and the memories and moments it represents to me from my very first week here in New Orleans.

*And so many other smaller details, such as painting the building to really make it POP, to cleaning up the trash bins, to taking a trip to the recyle center to dump off a truck FULL of empty boxes.


Small steps, but all towards the right direction. And a good direction it be.
Peace and Nola Love, k. <3

First day with Habitat for Humanity, yay! Success. = )

The photo to the right is where the people volunteering for Habitat park their cars. This is the first thing that I saw when I arrived this morning and I think it is the perfect image.


What a success today was! I am so happy that I decided the best idea was to get my own place so that I could help out with other groups around the city besides Common Ground. CG (Common Ground shall now be CG) offers cheap, basically free, room and board for their volunteers who need and request it. I was going to sign up for this until I started thinking that I wanted the full expreience of New Orleans. I wanted it to truly become a part of me, become my home. Hence the want and desire to get a place instead of board with them, CG.

The full exprience I knew I would want to involve myself in consist of searching for and finding other great groups within the city that do various things and help in numorous ways. Such as Habitat. Or the Fringe (Theatre) Festival coming up. Or have the chance to go to the VooDoo Music Festival. And go out to the Quarter when I want. Basically, I wanted freedom that I don't think would have been acceptable if I would have boared with them. They may have been open to such, but I know that I would feel guilty if I went off and did my own thing. So it has all worked out swimmingly thus far.


Back to Habitat. Sorry. Tangents.


The warehouse that they are housed in, at least this main one, is a huge building located in the Bywater part of the city. Groovy. I hadn't the slightest on where to go and what to do, so I just strolled in and said hello. Luckily everyone was really nice and helpful and I soon was directed to the right parts of the vast and never ending warehouse.


The "ReStore" Store.
This is the place that I helped with today. Basically it is the "store" part of Habitat
that takes in donations from local people and businesses and resales it to the people who are in desparate need of the various materials to rebuild their own house. Of course the prices on all of the materials is very low, and the profits go towards the materials needed to build the Habitat Houses built. So the money isn't going to waste and most of the people running around are volunteers. Like me. Like Frank. And those kids from a local high school. Some of the longer term volunteers, like Charlie and Erin, have become employees- who I am sure recieve a pretty low income from all the hard work that they do.

It is open from 8.30 to 4.30 and there was no real "introdution" or class about the goings on. Just "to work"- which I kind of appreciated. Within ten minutes of arrival, the two newbies to the place (Frank and myself) were put to work cleaning up the tile area of the store.

Frank is from the East Coast- Jersey, I believe. He is currently living in Boston and working there. While we were rearranging tiles and tossing broken ones, he told me that he comes into Nola every year for about a week to help out with some local orginization. It was such a great way to spend that first hour, talking with him.

Around 9.30 we were paired with two of the more exprienced workers and went out on the "daily route" to pick up various donated goods from both people and businesses. I headed out with Charlie. He has the best name: Charlie Brown. NO JOKE! He gave me his card and when I read that I couldn't believe it! The peanut jingle is still playing in my head.


Pick Up ONE

Our first pickup (my FIRST pickup!) was at a private residence and what a donation the lady made! We made our way to the Garden District, found her house and she showed us what was ready to take. I couldn't believe what she had for us and what GREAT shape it was in!

The List (-what I remember- at least):

- five Ikea closed cabinets, wood
- 2 taller, white cabinets
- various pieces of wood

Since we where there about an hour moving all of it around, she kept adding to the "give" pile.

"Could you guys use a couch?"
"SURE!" The couch is going to make someone REALLY HAPPY!

"And what about this TV?" "!!!!!!!!!!!" I'm freaking out. That TV was bigger "than the blue banana". Around 60 inches.

"And this chest, it is broken. But it is more appealing, I think." "Awesome."

She was so nice and helpful. I couldn't believe that the TV she had on and seemed to be watching before we came to the house, she was not donating too! Crazy. Crazy.

Charlie, luckily, called one of the guys to come and help with the TV and couch. I was so thankful because I knew that I would not be able to lift either of those things.


Pick Up Two

We had lunch before our second place at a famously popular vietnamese food resturant before heading over to Lowe's, our second place to pick up. Amazing food, to be sure.
(I am going to gain so much weight here! NOOOO! But, YAY! -to good food, at least. Ha.)

At Lowe's we headed to the back and met with Craig, who lead up to 3 big boxes of Chauk. (Can you even imagine how USEFUL this with be for people just starting to rebuild their houses?! That is so exciting! And I labled the prices and they were only $1.oo per tube. There were just over 200 tubes. Cool.

Pick Up Three

We called the guy and he wanted up to come Thursday instead. So no pickup three anymore. Back to the main warehouse.


Back at ReStore

As soon as we returned, Charlie gave me a chore list and I was more than happy to oblige him. By this time there were a lot of people browsing the selection and that made me happy! I was having so much fun doing my chore list and talking to everyone who would talk with me. Hehe. People were asking me questions I wasn't sure how to answer, so I pointed them to the right person in which to find the answer.

All of them were so completely different. People you both would and would not expect to find there. Old. Young. African-American. Causasian. Dominican. Spanish. Persian.
It was great. Nice looking people, who you think wouldn't be there.

The conversations that I had throughout the day with the fellow workers and volunteers, along with the people shopping at the store are what make it even more rewarding to me. Those exchanges are worth more than any amount of money per hour that I could be paid doing something else, somewhere else.

I feel so lucky have joined in with them at the ReStore and really hope that I am accepted in with the family of long-termers. I cannot wait to see what all good comes from this adventure!


Yay for good people who have donated their things to Habitat: they are giving life and endless hope to people who really are in need of it.

I am blessed and beyond thankful for my own placement in this whole thing. And I know how lucky I am. And everyday I wake up, I remember where I've been and where I come from. And send thankful vibes out into the great Beyond.


Big Smile, k.

Good explination of area my house is located in:

The house above is a house on my block that the following story is centered around.


So,

there aren't many white faces that I come upon in my neck of the woods. Yet, around certain hours of the day, a few houses down there is a sea of 'em that randomly appear and then vanish. Dondondon. Joe, my roommate, was at work and I had free time for take Miss Daisy for a walk.
Luckily the sea of white, smiling faces were busy at work at that house down the block and I decided to walk on over and say hello. Of course they noticed me before. And of course they noticed me walking up. You just don't really see Caucasians walking around those parts of the city. And more so with a dog. For pleasure.

So us I walk up to them, I already have about three of the girls attention. The others are coming in and out of the house working. Walking up with a nice smile and a friendly dog, I ask if they own the place or if they are with some organization. "Oh! Yes, we are with Common Ground!"
I was trying to contain my excitement, but I was really excited to see that the very same organization I had worked with some 4 and 1/2 years ago were still out there cleaning up. And still had good people coming into the city to do some good things. It was a team of about 10 or so. They have been working at the house for about a week and currently only gutting the place.
I asked about how I can help out and how to get that whole thing started. They guy, who may be a long term volunteer, seemed a little standoff-ish in his reply. Short and crisp. So I asked more questions. And the girls gave me the more detailed response I was searching for.

After telling them that they are doing a great job and "thanks", Daisy and I continued on our merry way again. I can't only imagine the thoughts that were going through those younger girls heads as I was approaching.

I know that when I was helping out a HUGE part of passion and interest was in connecting with the people of the areas in which we gutted and repaired houses. These people have a "front porch" culture that is represented in no other city in the states quite to the extremely beautiful degree that it is here. St Louis, Harlem (NYC), and Detroit all have it to some varying degree, but New Orleans is in a completely different league. So interaction wasn't hard to come by. People, back then, really loved what we (Common Ground) was doing within the community, so they liked us. And we loved them. It was a great relationship.

So I can only imagine what these girls were thinking as I walked up to them. A white, at least "middle-class" looking women, walking her dog in this area for pleasure. Did it make any sense to them? Those who haven't seen other white faces expect on those rare occasions such as these?
I haven't the slightest what they thought. If they thought that I was an original Nola resident that had returned to my home, or if they could see through my thinly painted veil? I know that I would have raised my eyebrows at myself back then. Well, maybe not so much with that cute little dog in tow. = )

Another thing that was pretty strange for me was the whole idea that I was living in an area where the group that I had come to volunteer with was working. And they were not only rebuilding, but only beginning the first steps of cleaning and gutting the house. It is strange because it is, once again, FIVE YEARS AFTER! (I get really angry at the fact that the area is still in such disorder and people are still hurting because of their situation.) Also because living there kind of bunches me in that subgroup of "returned" people- even if I am not one of them. Both of my roommates are two of the people who have come back or that have been around through it all. And most of the people who have come back to that area are also counted within that group. They either restored their house or moved into the area because the prices were affordable.
It just feels strange and weird to me when I see them look at me how they do. They look sort of confused. A little off ease sometimes. Curious.

But then also happy. And welcoming. And that feels good.


I really hope that I get out to work with them sometime next week. I don't know if it is the same organization that I remember or that I left. People have been telling me that they have had a lot of infighting within the organization concerning politics. It has lead me to wonder if they still have the same "good relations" within the community that they are trying to help. Or if they have become a burden. It seems that they are less "accepting" of people who really want to come and join them to clean up. But, maybe that is just me. I hope it is different once I find a way in to the group. If not, after today's amazing success with Habitat for Humanity, I'm not worried. I have a good-good place to go, if Common Ground doesn't need nor want my help.

We shall see.
We shall see.



Cheers, k.

Back to the City... Back to New Orleans.

It has been a good four and a half years since my last visit to this city. The place has been one I have consistently thought about- since I boarded that place back in 2006- as a place I must and needed to return to. With haste. Although it has taken me a longer stretch of time to come back, I feel that this "return" (-if you will, and I shall) is one of the best decisions I have made in my young life. Something just feels "right" about being here. And being here now.

It isn't easy. Last trip I was witness to a city who was undergoing one of the most emotional times in its history. This place, whose heart never misses a beat, might cease to be. That was our fear then. Our fear was that the people (who made this great city what is was at its best) would be pushed out and the Donald Trumps of the world would make their greasy entrance in. Of course that has, to some extents, happened. BUT this city isn't dying out. The Good is still to be found. And in numbers! It is still the Nola we all somewhat love and know. The heartbeat that was once slow and unsteady back in 2006 is now beating strongly and firmly. As it should be.

I want to do this blog because I feel that people think it is as it was. That things are as they once were. I feel that people has lost interest, because there is no reason to still care... right? But the city isn't at all the "French Quarter". And that area was the least damaged in the whole of New Orleans. The hurt is a bit deeper and harder to feel, when you come across someone whose knows no other place in the world but here as Home. They have either weathered through all of these years or have come back.

And don't let the news fool you: people are returning. In high numbers! Mid-City is a bloom with couples coming back and restoring. The city's beat is still kicking and shall be for a very long time to come.

I will be here for less than two months, but I want to share what I come to experience with those who may not know really what is going on now here. This might be some "French Quarter", but it will be a lot more of the outer wards. 9th Ward. 7th Ward- where I am based and call Home currently. Magical places I wander to. Stories that I want to put out there and have reached someone. Because out of all of my travels, within the States and throughout the world, here has been no place like here. Like New Orleans.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to get in touch with me:
Usedpancakes3@gmail.com.

I know this isn't "correct" writing. I have my own poetics and consider myself more of a poet than a real writer. And I hate rules. I shall spell correctly, but just know that there is a very alive and fluid humanness to my writing. A quality that I find periods cannot allow space for. Please bear with me. And my run-on sentences and incomplete sentences. I did it on purpose. Promise.

Thanks for reading.


Peace, Hope and NOLA. <3 k.