Field Report: Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

Another busy month has passed at Youth Rebuilding New Orleans! In case you are not familiar with the organization, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans is a non-profit organization that was organized by youth, for youth, following Hurricane Katrina. Many young people who wanted to volunteer to help rebuild their city were turned away by other non-profits because of the liability associated with reconstruction work. Instead of accepting this rejection, a committed group of teenagers organized to assist with the home-rebuilding processes which were occurring throughout the city.

In 2011, however, YRNO began its current plan, Project HOMEwork. This is a unique initiative that combines volunteer opportunities and skills training for youth with home-ownership opportunities for New Orleans teachers. Purchasing blighted and foreclosed homes, YRNO rebuilds them with youth volunteers, teaching them the importance of civic engagement and home ownership. By using volunteer effort to build the house, YRNO can pass on the savings to local teachers by selling the homes below fair market price. In this way, YRNO works to improve the community, supporting revival of the New Orleans community and culture.

Though YRNO has grown exponentially since the initial days following Hurricane Katrina, our vision and founding principles have remained the same. As the VISTA at YRNO, I have had the privilege of seeing this inspiring commitment firsthand, every day. Currently, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans has 4 Project HOMEwork sites and a volunteer calendar that is bursting full to the brim. The Future Leaders Initiative is gaining momentum at Sci Academy, as we just wrapped up the hiring of our new Youth Engagement Coordinator– Megan Gold! YRNO and its volunteers have also continued to work in Braithwaite, gutting homes in a community that was completely destroyed by Isaac.

Personally, this  month has been filled with many new experiences for me: conducting interviews, meeting volunteers from all over the world and painting trimwork (at our Hope St project site), just to name a few. While each day has its challenges, I truly couldn’t ask for a better VISTA experience!

This group of volunteers came to New Orleans from all across the country! After communicating via email and for the last couple of months, phone for the last couple of months, it was a pleasure to meet them. The generosity they displayed, making so many sacrifices to travel to New Orleans and work with us for an entire week, was inspiring. They have also graciously agreed to support YRNO in the Super Service Challenge, a contest that I have been promoting to our volunteer groups.

On October 25^th, YRNO brought 80 Sci Academy out to Braithwaite, LA, to spend their afternoon assisting community members with gutting their homes.  The work was tiring and dirty, but the amount of work that still needs to be done—more than 2 months after the storm—is heartbreaking.

To finish on a brighter note, our Hope St project site is almost finished! This is especially exciting to me because this was the first YRNO site I ever worked on, when I brought a group of friends to volunteer—even before I was a VISTA. It’s so rewarding to see how far it’s come, and we can’t thank enough all of the volunteers who made it possible!

 

 

 

-Lauren Lim, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

Field Report: Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

 

I can’t believe it’s been another month already!

Before Isaac came along, I had anticipated that I would use this blog to provide an update on what has been cooking at YRNO over the past month: The Youth Engagement Coordinators for the Future Leaders Initiative have started working full time at KIPP Renaisance and Sci Academy; We had (almost) secured 2 Tulane CPS interns for the fall; The project sites have been coming along nicely; YRNO was planning for a huge, 80-volunteer service day with the OG Cares Foundation.

However, the coming (and going) of Hurricane Isaac has given me a different perspective on the past month. Before Isaac hit New Orleans, my boyfriend and I were fortunate enough to be able to evacuate to his parents’ home in Mandeville. There, we were able to safely ride out the storm. I was thankful that his family was so welcoming of me into their home, that we did not lose power and that the house did not sustain any serious damage.

It wasn’t until I returned to the city, however, that I was able to fully appreciate how truly fortunate we were. This was my first hurricane. Returning to a city of flooded streets, downed power lines and debris was shocking. Soon after returning, my roommate, Betsy, and I volunteered at the NOLA 311 call center. Although I was probably more trouble to the call center than we were worth (I seem to be a magnet for technical difficulties), it was an eye-opening experience. We received calls from all across the city, heard stories of countless hardships brought on by the storm and did our best to provide assistance. Although I had complained of cabin fever from my experience, the call center made it really hit home that my experience was nothing in comparison to what many in the city faced.

Serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA during the hurricane has given me the unique opportunity to witness the ground level of the recovery effort. I am endlessly inspired by the amazing non-profits that take the initiative to keep the city afloat. I am amazed at the selflessness and the kindness demonstrated by so many members of the New Orleans community.

The leaders at YRNO are in the process of planning multiple large-scale days of service to assist those whose homes were flooded in Laplace and Lafitte. I am fortunate to be working at an organization that continually demonstrates such willingness and ability to help. Thank you, in advance, to all of those who are volunteering with YRNO!

Best wishes,

Lauren

 

-Lauren Lim, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

 

Field Report: Firstline Charter Schools

I write this field report – my first – the week after Hurricane Isaac shut down the city for nearly a week. As always, we continue on. And so I begin my sixth week as the K-8 VISTA Community Outreach Coordinator at FirstLine Schools.

It began with an orientation and tour of the schools from David Durand, the Director of Community Partnerships and my supervisor. FirstLine Schools currently operates four K-8 schools and one 9-12 (Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School). Its mission is to create and inspire great open admissions public schools in New Orleans. While each campus maintains its own unique culture, they all share the primary objective of preparing every student for college and a fulfilling career.

Samuel J. Green Charter School, located in the Freret neighborhood, was oneof the first to be operated by FLS. It is also the birthplace of The Edible Schoolyard New Orleans (ESYNOLA), which is a flagship program being developed at each of the FirstLine campuses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arthur Ashe Charter School opened in 2007 with fewer than 50 students. Now, the school serves over 400 at a brand new, state-of-the-art campus in Gentilly.

Langston Hughes Academy came under management of FLS in 2010, but officially became a FirstLine school this year. The LHA campus was the first newly constructed school building to open its doors since 2003, and boasts a thriving ESYNOLA program in the back yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Dibert Community School became a part of the FLS network that same year in 2010, by request from the community. The Dibert Family Organization is the strongest parent group among the FLS K-8 schools, a fact I hope to take advantage of as I work with parents from the other campuses.

That was week one: becoming familiar with the four schools I would be working with. I was also provided a desk at the FLS Main Office on Canal St. I share an office with Rebekah Cain, Director of Development & Communication, and Darcy McKinnon. Darcy was one of FirstLine’s earliest employees, and she fills a number of roles, including branding.

 

I will admit, my job is confusing.

 

FirstLine is a large, thriving organization with many employees. Finding my place – being both productive and not stepping on toes – is a challenge. I already ran into one boundary with grant writing. David had tipped me off about a potential grant opportunity, so I began to investigate. I contacted the granter, had multiple conversations, but made the mistake of not notifying Rebekah. As it turns out, that is her job and she was already working on that particular grant application. Lesson learned.

Another part of my VAD is to help plan events for and make use of a large literacy grant just awarded to some of the FLS schools. I quickly discovered that FLS already has a full-time Family Literacy Coordinator, Donnica Conway. She is also on board the Literacy Grant Team charged with taking advantage of the funds. So, my role there must also be limited.

Furthermore, I was finding it difficult to build relationships with the individual schools. Not only are they in different parts of the city, they were busy in their first couple weeks of school. The administration either didn’t know me or at least didn’t know why I was there.

Finally, while I do technically have a predecessor, he remains a mystery to me. His position was only at Green, so it was a fundamentally different job. There is no sustainability binder from that position, so far as I know. Luckily, the VISTA who was placed at Clark last year left behind a plethora of valuable resources in Dropbox.

 

Now for the good news.

 

I have come to the conclusion that my role should be focused more on the individual campuses rather than the network main office. In VISTA terms, that office appears to be at capacity. So, I have been making an effort to connect with school leaders and parents, and to get a sense for their goals and needs. While the balance between direct and indirect service seems a blur sometimes, I feel the need to take on enough responsibilities to warrant interns or other sustainability measures. This will take time.

I have two specific projects right now: newsletters and parent organization.

Each K-8 should have a quarterly newsletter, starting this month. One thing my predecessor did leave behind was a newsletter template for Green. The other schools also have similar templates. Kathleen and I are on-boarding an intern this week to handle a few jobs, including the K-8 newsletter production.

Before Isaac, I had managed to nail down a parent liaison from each school, and soon I will organize a meeting between them, Donnica, and David. We need to seek out parent leaders who are not employed by FLS – ironically, ¾ are – and formulate a strategy to grow parent involvement through training and outreach.

My VAD includes many other goals throughout the year, and I look forward to the challenge. For now, I will continue to reach out and build bridges as best I can.

 

-Jason Lacoste, Tulane Education VISTA, Firstline Charter Schools

 

 

Field Report: ARISE Academy

 

In the past weeks I have learned more about the city of New Orleans than I have in the previous 3 years that I’ve lived here. Being able to be outside the “Tulane Bubble” and plopped into the St. Claude community has been quite an eye opening experience.

 

To start, the majority of the work has been developing and implementing numerous programs in the St. Claude community. From a Debate Program, to mentoring, I hope to have a school filled with young people willing to help our scholars. It has been quite difficult to get the responses that I have been searching for. I thought that with my connections at Tulane Athletics, things would just fall into place. However, that is not the case. It’s interesting that the majority of students want to their work at “already developed schools,” especially those with programs SPECIFICALLY suited for them. For instance, a music major at Tulane had emailed me the day before he was supposed to have an internship, as soon as he found out he would not be able to work exclusively in the area he wanted, he bailed fast. After that, the most important thing that i am looking for in volunteers as well as interns is their ability to be a team player. This leads me back to my own experiences with Hurricane Issac at ARISE. Because we don’t have school this week, the operations team has to help in anyway we can.

 

It’s been a rough few weeks, but I hope things will start getting better.

 

-Kylie Kastes, Tulane Education VISTA, ARISE Academy

 

Field Report: Alliance for Affordable Energy

NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE

 

To me the end of  August will always represent the end of summer. In Pennsylvania, where I grew up, the summer weather was never consistent. There were a lot of sticky humid days,  a few clear blue sky days, but plenty of rainy days. Maybe, that’s why it was so plush green during the summer.  I do remember heavy, cloudy skies more than clear, blue ones, and when September rolled in the warm weather rolled right out. Every green thing dried up and died, daylight seemed to shrink and the temperature dropped faster then we could sometimes pile on the layers of clothes to keep warm. It would rain more and more each day until the rain turned to freezing rain. You knew then that the snow wasn’t far behind, and it was rarely that good snowball packing kind of snow, but before the snow would fall I remember the brisk early morning walks to school, and wondering how summer could ever return from this cold, brown dead environment, but Spring always returned and there was always another lush green Summer that followed.

In San Francisco, CA the end of August meant that Indian Summer wasn’t far behind. Two weeks of brilliant, warm blue-sky weather stretching across the whole bay area. Now, earthquakes do shake things up there, but mostly small earthquakes, and you do get use to them after awhile.  To me those little earthquakes and tremors always felt like someone giving a sharp nudge or a shove, which made you lose your balance for just a moment. It also reminded you where you were in the world, which was somewhere near the San Andreas fault, but instead of worrying about it people would hit the beach, hang out at the golden gate park, and of course enjoy the warm evenings in the city.  Even the leather jackets, which are common wear for most San Franciscans throughout the year, are tossed aside during this time. The evening fog magically holds back its clammy, drizzly self and  provides a few weeks of gorgeous weather.  Of course, the normal San Francisco weather does return and usually with vengeance. The fog rolls in and wraps around you in a bone chilling hug  and the leather wears are in quick fashion again and life goes on as usual.

In Chicago, IL the summers are painfully hot and the winters are pretty cold, but with less snow then I would have thought. At the end of August the weather changes, but gradually over time with a mix of hot days and rainy days. The mornings become cooler and the leaves dry into those burnt fall colors, which swirl around on the windy days, which are quite rare in Chicago.  It’s the politicians in the windy city that are windy not the weather. One thing I do miss in Chicago are the ice cream truck vendors that roamed the neighborhoods.  I can still hear the ice cream truck jingle that blared out in repetition on those melting, hot summer days, and the watching all the vendor trucks maneuvering up and down the neighborhood streets selling their cold sweets.  Although, once the weather starts to change you only hear the jingle from a faint distance, but I know they’ll return next summer in droves.

 

In Hawaii, on the Big Island, it rains every damn day and not just once a day, it will rain five times a day, and always  in a  torrential downpour.  It gets pretty humid there too, but an ocean breeze will float in and usually keep things comfortable. On the island, you worry about Tsunamis. In Hilo, the town I lived in, it was washed away quite a few times in the past and they have a Tsunamis museum downtown that document every event. Of course, there are volcanic eruptions  on the island too, but they happen on the other side of the island.  I drove thru an area that was recently covered by lava and it looked like giants had come thru with massive machinery and just ploughed the land up plowing over homes, apartment buildings, cars, and trees right down to the ocean.  During the day you can smell the smoke from the volcanic eruptions and watch the smoke billow skyward. At night while the tiny coqui frogs serenade each other  you can see a fuzzy orange glow in the distance from the volcano, but once the  lava flow cools, and the plants start to sprout back up people return to their land and rebuild. It’s a perpetual cycle of survival on the island.

 

Of course, here in New Orleans, LA the end of August means temperatures continue to hover around broiling with a large dose of humidity, and Hurricane watching becomes a full-time job.  Hurricanes and tropical storms are expected in this area: Heavy rains, downed power lines, uprooted trees, and everything in the path of these storms are affected. Homes flood, electricity is lost for days at a time, people lose all their things, and yet as soon as the calamity is over people return to clean up and rebuild. It’s what survivors do. No matter where you live in the world you deal with what nature throws at you and then you carry on.

 

 

 

 

-Jon Scott, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Alliance for Affordable Energy

Field Report: Benjamin Banneker Elementary School

It started the first few days I was in New Orleans, even before I began working at Banneker. I would be at a party with friends, or strike up a conversation with a stranger at a coffee shop. At some point, the following exchange would occur:

 

Me: “I’m actually going to be working in a school.”

Other Guy: “What school?”

Me: “It’s called Benjamin Banneker. It’s in the Black Pearl neighborhood.”

Other Guy: “Oh…isn’t that the school that like…has a nun who runs it?”

 

Although they weren’t completely correct, all these strangers were close. Sister Marie Noel has been the assistant principal at Banneker for over ten years. I thought it was unusual that a nun would be an administrator in a public school, especially since I got most of my formal education from private schools run by nuns. Certainly the novelty of Sister Noel’s position as a both school leader and a nun was what caused people all over the city to know about her, right?

 

Over the past year I learned that people know about Sister not because of the peculiar fact that she works in a public school, nor because she constantly tells everyone she encounters that she will include them in her evening prayers. They know her name because she has an unmatched work ethic and devotion to education. I found people who had only met Sister Noel once, but had witnessed her selflessness and enthusiasm. She is truly an amazing person.

 

Of course, I witnessed all these things myself. Today is my last day at my work site. I am excited for what lies ahead of me, but there are many things I will miss about my time at Banneker. Sister Noel is at the top of that list. But I will also remember the lessons she taught me about education, devotion, and most importantly, being a good person. I am honored to call her my friend.

-George Doonan Martin, Tulane CPS Education VISTA, Benjamin Banneker Elementary School

Field Report: Puentes New Orleans

This month Puentes’ has some important things coming up, check them out:

 

Join Puentes’ Initiative, Welcoming Louisiana, for a Film Screening

Join Welcoming Louisiana for a FREE Screening of Hawo’s Dinner Party. This film follows the trajectory of Hawo Siyad, a refugee and former nurse from Somalia. She is determined to learn English and to connect with her neighbors. But as news of “home grown terrorism” appears in the national media and as haw tries to reach out, we get an intimate glimpse into the honest and often uncomfortable confrontations that emerge. Refreshments will be provided as well as an interesting discussion after the movie. The screening will take place from 6pm to 8:30 pm at the Muslim Academy at 460 Realty Drive Gretna, LA 70056 on Friday August, 24th. Please call Puentes’ office for more information; 504-821-7228.

 

 

Public Leaders Fellowship

 

Puentes New Orleans is recruiting rising community leaders for its Public Leaders Fellowship. This program’s goal is to build the capacity of rising community leaders to meaningfully engage themselves and their communities in civic life by training them in concepts of public leadership, community organizing and advocacy, and by providing them with concrete skills and tools for accessing, engaging, and holding accountable decision-makers at all levels of government. The fellowship is completely free to all accepted participants.  We have designed the fellowship so that it has minimal interference with weekday workdays.

This eight-month program is a collaboration of Puentes New Orleans, Neighborhoods Partnership Network, and Committee for a Better New Orleans (all member of the New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance).  Please contact Rafael Delgadillo at (504) 495-4803 if you are interested in the program or know a qualified nominee.

 

-Sadira Glenndeming, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Puentes New Orleans

Field Report: Joseph S. Clark Prepartory High School

 

So I’m reporting in the third official week at Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School.  It’s been a smooth transition into a scheduled routine, I’m happy to say I have some autonomy to set my own hours. Now that mornings are more habitual, it’s becoming easier to wind the alarm clock back in order to get to Clark, located right off the I-10 236A Esplanade exit, by 9:00 or 9:30.

 

I’m thankful to report that aside from my pre-work morning routine and average 7-9 hour day, my days vary while in the “office.”  I work out of the Student Center, formerly the Front Office at Clark.  I work at a desktop and share the room with Ms. James, the College Coordinator.  However, the Student Center is also home to both of Clark’s Social Workers, the RTI Coordinator, Speech Therapist and School Nurse.  It’s safe to say that my workspace is always abuzz with the outside, energized environment of Clark’s student body.  Parents, faculty, staff and 9-12^th graders peruse, query, roam and find sanction in the Student Center.  Principals, teachers and faculty administrators are constantly in and out (the Conference Room is in the back), students request and receive information and parents resolve a whole host of questions and concerns here.

 

What do I do in the Student Center?  I’m the young woman with a lunchbox and folders who, 80% of the time, is testing the strength of the keyboard as I blast out e-mail after e-mail (“Can you teach me to type that fast?” – Principal Coleman) to pre-established partners, potential new ones and the Clark community at large.  So, you ask, where does the “varying routine” I aforementioned get brought into the mix?  Well, as my tenure (just kidding) should have it, the longer I am at Clark the more opportunities for new experiences present themselves.  I have begun meeting with new partners and existing ones, scheduling meetings and attending enriching events that give more meaning to the work I am doing.

 

The accumulation of activities came from my open and sincere interest in getting more intertwined with the Clark community.  These involvements have introduced me to new people, take on new tasks, and sparked tons of ideas in my mind.  Monday, August 13^th was the first full day of classes.  That week was incredibly hectic for everyone else in the building, but because I do not work directly with the students, this gave me the opportunity to do plenty of research and contact teachers about possibilities for the upcoming year that they tabled until the dust settled in their classrooms.  For now I feel ahead of the game.  But who am I kidding, how can I be?!

 

Since the program I am working in, Together for Tomorrow, is a 2–year pilot program, I find it important to mention that I am the second VISTA at Clark Prep High School.  This means that next year it is unlikely that there will be another VISTA member posted up at this formerly failing high school.  The surrounding Tremé community has shown wonderful signs of improvement and the same can be said of Clark.  With that said, I have a responsibility and commitment to the school to improve it’s sustainability within the year that I am here.  As my predecessor Mike Jayes put it, it is important to have our actions be deliberate, that way we do not lose time to efforts that will be discontinued upon exiting, or equally as bad, slowly dwindle away for lack of ownership and interest by the community we are serving.

 

Want to hear something really cool? It’s cooler than reading this blog, I promise. Trey Songz visited Clark last week! His inspiring speech and singing were quite impressive to say the least.  Check it out for yourself!:

http://firstlineschools.blogspot.com/

 

-Kathleen Duffy, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Clark Prep High School

Field Report: Kedila Family Learning Services

 

Kedila prides itself on being an organization “Where the Journey to Learning Begins.”  The past few weeks have been pretty busy as we have been trying to pinpoint exactly where and when the journey will begin.

For the past six years, the journey to learning has begun at Benjamin Banneker Elementary and Middle Schools where Kedila holds its after school tutoring and enrichment program.  Banneker Elementary and Middle schools fall under the jurisdiction of the infamous New Orleans Recovery School District.  Until the Thursday before Banneker was set to open its doors for the fall semester, the Recovery School District had not set an exact opening and closing time for the school each day.

That Thursday, we were informed that the school will open at 8:40 am and close at 4:50 pm, creating a school day which starts late (after most parents probably have to be at work) and ends late.  The end time was especially significant because it meant that our after school program would run from 5-7 pm.  Most elementary and middle schoolers are unlikely to be able to focus, during those late hours, after a grueling day at school in order to do extra after-school tutoring and enrichment.

As I walked around Banneker that Thursday with Mr. Dipo, everyone inquired as to what Kedila would be doing about the after school program with school ending so late.  Their concern demonstrated the genuine need there is for Kedila’s after school program at Banneker and what the program means to the students, teachers, parents, and Banneker staff. This experience was evidence that Kedila is an organization that is truly making a difference in these students’ lives.

We are still in the process of determining when the journey to learning will begin, but I know that our program will continue to make a difference this year.  I hope I can help Kedila grow in any way possible to help sustain the program in future years and possibly even at additional sites.  We can only hope that the children will have patience with the Kedila staff and their tutors.  Although the journey is starting out slightly differently this year, we will forge forward on the journey to learning in the coming year.

Enjoy some pictures from the Kedila Summer Camp closing ceremony!

 

 

 

- Betsy Bateman, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Kedila Family Learning Center

Field Report: Southern Food and Beverage Museum

The Southern Food & Beverage Museum’s partnership with the New Orleans Public Library has just been made official, this means that our Culinary Library will be a branch of the New Orleans Public Library with NOPL services, such as access to the entire collection, available to the community. Opening in 2013 at 1609 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, our current collection of 9,000 volumes (cookbooks, food history books, reference books etc), will be available for the public. People will also be able to request and check out any book from the Public Library here at our Culinary Branch.

In addition to being good news for food scholars, culinary students, and chefs it will also be a vital resource for the Central City community. The area hasn’t had a library in this area for at least 40 years.

This is a project we’ve been working on for a while, and we’re excited to have the New Orleans Public Library be a part of it!

So far construction on the building has begun, many thanks to students from Howard University who volunteered with us as part of their alternative spring break program back in March. I worked with the students to paint the building and cut the grass on the bit of land behind the library, which now we’re working on turning into a demonstration garden. I’m excited about all the possibilities for this space, such as a brick oven, beehive, and fruit trees. We’ve already had lots of volunteers help us build 2 raised garden beds and plant some avocado, lime, fig, and lemon trees. Once our library is open it will also be a great place to sit and read!

Read more about it in an article from the Times Picayune:

New Orleans Will Have Largest Culinary Library in the South, written by Judy Walker July 18, 2012

http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2012/07/new_orleans_will_have_largest.html

 

-Lucy Rosenbloom, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Southern Food and Beverage Museum