‘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
