on the road

February 16th – April 16th

Gulfport, Mississippi was ground zero when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast over two and a half years ago. While New Orleans was receiving the Nation’s attention, Gulfport, like most of the Gulf Coast, just waited. Until we set foot there, we hadn’t realized that they’re still waiting.

The state of the Gulf Coast of the United States of America is heartbreaking. Its hard to imagine that we can keep our people un-housed, unfed, broken, worn and hopeless for such an excessive amount of time while the money and attention necessary to solve those problems was funneled elsewhere. Private rebuilding sprouted enormous casino’s and resort locations along the Gulf, filling the wetlands, destroying America’s delta, and pulling private funds away from the communities in which they were situated. And, as we found, the term environmental injustice takes on a whole new meaning in the deep South. But even a cloud as dark as Katrina, as they say, has a silver lining.

Working with numerous groups in and around Gulfport, we realized that something very important is coming out of the destruction brought on by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And something even more important will come from the experience of the communities in handling this disaster basically on their own. We were taken in by the Gulf Coast Conservation Corps, a dynamic and beautiful community of young volunteers from Mississippi and around the country working to restore and conserve the natural environment of the region. Their hospitality and friendship allowed us to spread our wings and really survey the region for opportunities to help.

We traveled to Thibodaux, Louisiana; Austin, Texas; Mobile, Alabama; back to New Orleans; and all over the Mississippi coast from Gulfport. Working with the Katrina-Ritaville Express, we drove a FEMA trailer to Austin to protest outside the Democratic debates at UT along with 40 community activists from across the region. We got to know BISCO, the Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing, an incredible organization helping to rebuild and support communities throughout Southwest Louisiana. We attended conferences, joined in on panel discussions, got to know the people, places, and organizations that make up the recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast.

Our experience in the entire Gulf Coast region, and specifically in Gulfport, Mississippi, makes us hopeful for not a silver but a diamond encrusted lining around those dark clouds of hurricanes Rita and Katrina. There’s so much work to be done there, both for the communities in the area and for those of us throughout the nation who believe that regions of this country shouldn’t be third world. We’re so excited to have a hand in it. The people of the Gulf Coast are still waiting for help, but not idly, sitting on their hands. They are taking the reigns, with the help of the government or not, to rebuild their lives and restore their future.  (by Jon)

The streets were fresh from Mardi Gras excitement as we got to work in the Crescent City. Our trailer was parked in Lakeview, thanks to the kind people at Lakeview Presbyterian Church. Even three years after Katrina, many of the beautiful homes of this neighborhood stand empty, boarded up and stained from the floods that tore the community apart. The church had just finished its reconstruction – the entire first floor was destroyed. We cooked up a delicious stir-fry in our trailer, settled into our sleeping bags and got ready for the coming challenge of approaching community-based energy issues in a city that is deeply engaged in a rebuilding effort.
New Orleans is a remarkable city; a sense of commitment and uniqueness pervades its organizations, events, attitudes and individuals. One group that we were very lucky to get in touch with is the Alliance for Affordable Energy, an organization that works towards “creating fair, affordable, environmentally responsible, community-based energy policies for Louisiana and the nation.” The Alliance is involved in a remarkable number of projects, including weatherizing houses to make them more energy efficient, running a resource center and working on job training programs designed to build a Green Jobs workforce within New Orleans. The ability that the Alliance has to engage entire communities and work in solidarity towards energy efficient solutions is inspiring.
We teamed up with both the Alliance and Common Ground Relief to see where we could help out with some of these projects. We taught at Warren Easton High, the oldest high school in the state, and spent some time talking about the emerging green job workforce. Tulane University came into the picture when we gave a workshop on campaign planning and followed with a discussion on how the university students of New Orleans can engage the high school students in working towards energy efficient rebuilding, community service and green jobs.
Sitting in the Common Ground office with the organization’s leaders as well as Forest Bradley-Wright, the Sustainable Rebuild Coordinator with the Alliance was one of the most exciting moments yet – we watched as bridges were built and new coalitions began to get rolling. We can’t wait to continue these relationships and stay involved with the intense efforts underway to rebuild New Orleans in the most energy efficient way possible, with the community and by the community.  (by Gina)