Sustainable Homes

Artwork, Photography, Animation, and Narration by Ashley Tsai
Music by Garbled Waves

A short stop-motion video explaining the various green and storm resistant features of a Make It Right home.

Homeowner Services

Film by Christiana Botic

This video details the process of becoming a Make It Right homeowner, focusing on the financial support provided by the organization.

New Orleans Bound

Hello to all those readers who are still with us!

Tomorrow, the majority of our team returns to New Orleans, for the 5 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. We will be attending multiple events where citizens will reflect on the destruction caused by the storm and the progress made since. There were also be ceremonies to honor those that passed. Stay tuned throughout the weekend to hear about what we’re doing and where we are.

Looking forward to returning to the Big Easy!

-Andrew Eisbrouch

I Reminisce

Walked up to one in New York. Then there were two. Mosied onto a flight to DC. Dozed. One walked up to us in capital city airport. Then there were three. Flight to Austin. Slept. Bags jammed into trunk, backseat. Trained. Whole Foods. A little bit poorer. Drove to Greyhound. Then there were four. Hostel hallway. Hugs. More hugs. Then there were six. Room three. One sitting on a bottom bunk. Seven. Ate chili. Meat. No meat. Trained. Dying kitten. Trained. Bounce. Three drove to airport. Four came back. Eight. Slept. Trained. Bonded. Apples to Apples. First team meeting. Smoke-filled chili. Frisbees. Memorable Greyhound bus. Twelve hours. New Orleans.

-Candice Porter

I look good.

Portraits by Max Collins and Sam Wolson.
Video by Sam Wolson.

Wrap Party Preview

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Photos by Max Collins and Ashley Tsai

Preview of some photos that will be showcased at our wrap party this Sunday, August 8th. Want to see more? Come by the United States Art Authority on Fruth St. between 7pm and 10pm!

‘Sustainability’: One Livelihood at a Time

Hurricane Katrina wiped clean the bank accounts and investments of most families and individuals in the Lower 9th Ward. With the highest homeowner rate in the city, 4,000 homes and many more livelihoods were swept away in the storm. Not only did residents have to rebuild- they had to buy gas to drive cross-country, they had to buy new clothes, and at the end of the day, they had to hope they could find work. Neil Dupar, a chef in the French Quarter and our infamous Father’s Day BBQ host, explained that he had had an opportunity for promotion before Katrina. After the storm, he had to resume his previous job because the restaurants he wanted to work in had closed.

Make It Right does not provide subsidized or rental homes – it engages in a long term process that puts low-income families in houses, and gives them the means to sustain their futures in those houses. It has provided jobs to over 30 local contractors, and over 350 on-site workers. Hundreds more suppliers and vendors have benefited from the net MIR has cast over the greater Green appliance producing industry. In a city where the unemployment rate rose from 6.3% to 8.2% in the last 13 months (according to the U.S. Department of Labor), Make It Right has provided the potential for sustainability- a term that applies to the area’s businesses as much as it does to the energy bills of residents. As one MIR homeowner, Ann Parfaite, expressed to our team, the people come first, and the businesses come after. Infrastructure should not be far behind, believe staff and residents alike. Or so they hope. Speak to anyone involved with MIR, and you will realize that one organization can only do so much. Diedra Taylor, an enthusiastic homeowner, went to business school after the storm and created a long-term plan to open a childcare center. But she has found the financial investment her neighbors can provide will not be sufficient to get her venture off the ground. She explains that she needs government support to get her business running, and to invest in the future of the 9th.

-Adrienne Collatos

Photos at JP’s Java!

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The three SOW teams are now showcasing work at JP’s Java Coffeehouse (2803 San Jacinto). Check out our photos there throughout August!

Cloud Full of Awesome

The Final Countdown

Fourteen days left. Murmurs of disbelief travel through the office as we all wonder where the time has gone. In the editing bay, however, time seems to move at its own pace–thrashing like a roller coaster, leading us to a destination we can’t yet make out. We have fourteen days to finalize what we’ve spent 54 working on. We have fourteen days to explore new ideas in editing and gain closure on our favorite characters and themes. We have fourteen days to wrap up a story that goes far beyond what we have seen this summer. And though these fourteen days feel like the final stamp on a letter home, we are working as though it is our first, expectantly watching new clips, visiting and revisiting old assemblies, aggressive and industrious in working on this production.

This summer has started to become a memory. The days we have left are dwindling. But we are still here and we are still working.

-Marquise Eloi