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: 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: 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

 

Field Report: Homer Plessy- A Community School

I have been working with Plessy for a couple weeks now.  I’m very impressed with the passion of the community and the head-of-school.  I have to admit that moving to NOLA from San Diego, CA definitely left me predisposed to anxieties.  One of the greatest of those was that I would have a completely different approach to education reform than my head-of-school.  Thankfully, Sara and I were so aligned that we even had matching nail colors the night we met.  It’s inspiring to be working with such great and knowledgeable people building a new school.

 

Yes, the rumors are true.  Homer A. Plessy Community School is real and on its way down from the clouds into the Bywater, St. Roch, and Marigny neighborhoods.  This new public charter school is not meant to compete or detract from other schools in the neighborhood, such as Arise Academy (Kylie) and KIPP, but rather to fill a need and offer an alternative style of education.  Our curriculum focuses on “art integration” and learning through play, which is a stark contrast from other charter schools now available to NOLA children.  We will also be offering a Pre-K program that will help alleviate the burdens of impacted schools close-by.  We are currently fighting for the Colton school site and should hopefully know by the end of this month, but don’t hold your breath for bureaucracy.  We will start classes next fall.

 

So…what are you doing now, you might ask.  Well, schools always need more money, so that has become a priority through fundraising and grants.  Also, settling the structure of the school and getting paperwork done.  Most importantly, we are reaching out to the community to make sure parents and families understand that we are another option that may be better suited for their child.  I’ll be interested to see how things fall into place as decisions are made by OPSB and RSD.

 

In other news, I AM ABSOLUTELY LOVING NOLA!  I can’t thank everyone enough for being so welcoming and helpful.

 

Till next time! ~Jean

 

-Jean Hsu, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Homer Plessy Community School

 

Field Report: Kids Rethink New Orleans School

Working at Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools has really been quite interesting. These “kids” are thinking and speaking publicly and advocating for things that I had never even considered a part of my life until later in high school and college. The first week I was there, the Kids and staff were preparing for their annual news conference, so I was caught in the middle of the most hectic time for the summer program.

Kids Rethink has 5 committees that meet during the school year after school and occasionally on weekends. They are: Food Justice, Restorative Justice, Garden, Architecture, and Digital Media. During the summer, the committees all get together during the week and write speeches and create projects to showcase at the news conference. I have to say I was quite impressed with what the Kids were able to do with such little guidance of the staff.

The thing I often forget is that these actually are kids. They may be mature in these respects, but they are still allowed to be immature because, well, they haven’t had the time to fully grow up yet. The first day I was there, two little girls around 10 years old got really excited and wanted to show me around. It was really quite cute that they were so enthusiastic and so attached.

My goals for the first month were to get our donor database in order and send out thank you emails, set up a phone system for the office that has extensions, voice mail forwarding, and a lot of other features that would help us unclog our messages since at any one time, there may be 30 to 100 unread messages on the answering machine left in the office. I have also had to put together a volunteer packet detailing what Kids Rethink does and an application template for them to send to us so we can place them in the appropriate committee or job. I have done almost everything except for the office phone line stuff because customer service at an tech company is extremely lackluster unless the product they sell is only used by extremely tech-savvy clientele. It should be done by the end of the week, though.

So far, I have mainly just been “expanding capacity” in the traditional terms, such as making it easier for staff to get their messages and relay information between each other much quicker and creating more funding through individual donors and whatnot. Though I only spent a week with the Rethinkers, I think I have gained a great deal of insight into this aspect of New Orleans. I look forward to the start of the school year.

Other than that, it’s extremely chill. All of the staff are friendly and accommodating.  Working in a professional setting is really cool because it makes me feel like a real person almost (aka not mooching off my parents, taking care of my business, not crying to anyone when something is wrong and being able to take care of it myself). My parents raised me well to be able to be completely self-sufficient at this age.

Anyway, I have to study. My next field report should be much more entertaining. Everyone should definitely check out the Rethinkers’ Web Page though. Just Google “Kids Rethink”!

When this MCAT nonsense is over with, there will be much rejoicing and a lot more hanging out with my fellow VISTAs.

-Jack Hua, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools

Field Report: Green Light New Orleans

 

July

In order to connect with the volunteers for the ELCA event, we’ve designed a social media map to help them and their families find out about the projects they’re working on. We’ve designed a google map with different icons at the location of each project (like a vegetable at each address where a backyard vegetable garden is being built, a lawn mower at each empty lot that is being cleared, etc). The icons will all be colored red and then changed to green when they are completed. As soon as a volunteer group finishes a project, they will take a picture of themselves and send it to the Green Light office. People working in the office will upload the pictures to the map at the address of the project and change the icon on the map to Green so we will have a live update when volunteers finish a project. We will also be posting the pictures of the volunteers to Facebook. Hopefully getting to see their projects on the map will give the volunteers more of a connection to Green Light and the project they are doing.

 

August

            The ELCA event was pretty successful over all. We definitely couldn’t have pulled it off without our awesome NCCC team, River 7! They were incredibly helpful in preparations for the event and leading groups of volunteers during the event. The only unfortunate thing was that almost all of the projects got rained out on Friday the 20^th. In the morning, the buses all arrived at the different sights and the volunteers waited, hoping the thunderstorms would stop. After a while, it became clear that it was not going to stop raining, and the streets were started to flood. Eventually, we decided to send the morning volunteers home. We hoped that the afternoon volunteers might be able to work, but the rain continued throughout the day, and eventually we had to cancel the afternoon groups too. That was disappointing, but Green Light is partnering with 400 volunteers from the AARP in September and they will be able to complete all the projects that were not finished on Friday.

I ended up working in the office during the event, answering phone calls and live updating the impact map, which I wrote about in my July field report, as volunteers sent pictures. The impact map was pretty cool, especially for bragging purposes. A lot of the volunteers never ended up sending pictures of their groups, so we don’t have pictures of everyone, but for most of the projects, we were at least able to list the names of the volunteers.

 

You can check out the impact map here: http://www.greenlightneworleans.org/ELCA/ELCAeventimpact719.html

 

Things are going to be much quieter here now that ELCA is over, but soon we’re going to start planning for the AARP event in September. 400 volunteers are going to seem pretty easy to deal with after 2,400!

 

-Selena Poznak, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Green Light New Orleans

 

Field Report: Alliance for Affordable Energy

 

Seafood in Georgia?

I was on vacation over the fourth of July. I was looking forward to getting away from the LA heat for a few days, but it seemed to follow me all the way to Georgia. It was a boiler there as well. The visit was still good, and as always when visiting family I ate and drank way too much. It was interesting to leave New Orleans, where seafood is on everyone’s menu and indulge in a clam bake in Stone Mountain, GA. I even got to help prepare the ingredients and surprisingly it turned out superb. It was my first clam bake since I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania. I love seafood, but everywhere I‘ve lived the seafood has been so expensive to eat until I came to New Orleans. I eat more seafood now then I have ever done before.

I was just famished after taking a 12 hour bus ride from NOLA to visit a relative in Stone Mountain, Ga. The last time I took a Greyhound bus anywhere was almost thirty years ago. I was 19 years old and it was my first trip outside my home state. Anyway, I arrived around 8:30pm in Georgia and didn’t get home until almost 10pm. A bowl of delicious clam chowder with some good red wine made my first night back perfect. Here’s the recipe for the amazing clam chowder I ate the first night I arrived home and the Clam bake recipe I helped prepare and then devoured with a family member and her cool friends on the fourth of July. Enjoy!

A note from my favorite Chef: I’ve enclosed the recipe for the New England-style Clam Chowder, but the recipe for the Clam Bake I had to wing. Like the Clams Casino, your grandmother never wrote the recipe down, but she taught me how to make both of them at the Franklin Seafood House in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

New England-style Clam Chowder

 

Ingredients:

1 Can (51-ounces) Chopped Sea Clams

1 1/2-inch cube salt pork, diced small

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons flour

3 medium potatoes, peeled & diced

3 cups milk

3 tablespoons butter

Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper

Directions for the Clam Chowder:

Drain clams and reserve 2 1/2 cups clam juice.

Cook salt pork slowly in a small skillet until the fat has been rendered (melted) and the scraps are brown. Strain and put 2 tablespoons of the fat in a large pot. Heat fat, add onion and cook slowly until golden. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.

Add potatoes and clam juice/water. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add clams and simmer 10 more minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add milk, butter and salt & pepper to taste.

Heat until butter is melted. It makes 9 cups or 12 (6-ounce) servings.

 

Cook’s Notes:

(1) If there isn’t 2 1/2 cups of clam juice, add water to make up difference.

(2) I use Sea Watch Chopped Sea Clams.

(3) I use Half & Half instead of milk for a creamier chowder.

(4) You can add one can of whole baby clams for added flavor and texture.

(5) Never heat the chowder to boiling or the milk will curdle.

 

Franklin Seafood House Clam Bakes

This recipe is only a general guide. I’ve also added mussels to the bake in the past. Some people (not me) add a whole small octopus. All you have to do is keep in mind that the cheesecloth you’re going to use to wrap the clam bakes in before you add them to the steam pot only holds so much.

 

Ingredients:

8 medium small red potatoes, scrubbed.

1 pound littleneck clams in shell, scrubbed.

1 pound unpeeled large raw shrimp.

4 Corn-on-the-Cob, husked and cut into two or three pieces.

4 Fish fillets (your choice) wrapped in parchment paper.

1 Lobster tail medium size

Directions:

 

In the bottom of a clam & lobster steamer pot, stockpot, steam pot or a large double boiler (size of pot depends on number of bakes) pour water, seafood stock or clam juice. Lay the cheesecloth-wrapped bakes in the top. Cover with lid and bring the liquid to a boil, then simmer over medium-low heat until everything is tender, the clams are open and the shrimp is pink. Serve with crusty French bread slathered with butter and frosted mugs of beer.

 

It really was a great visit and the food was to die for, but that’s always been my experience when sharing a holiday with family and friends.  The food and drink always tastes better when shared. The rest of the month was pretty much like last month except for having to update my fall intern descriptions on-line. At the end of July, I had to say goodbye to most of my legal interns we had volunteering over the last six to eight weeks. They really helped the Alliance for Affordable Energy by updating and organizing electronic energy policy docket files.  It really was a pleasure to get to know these people, who have another year or so to go before taking the Bar exam and becoming lawyers. I wish them all a successful year.

July came and went far too fast for me to really delve deep into what I’ve learned this month as an AmeriCorps/Vista volunteer. Between reconnecting with family after almost two years apart, dealing with roommate issues, shipping my mountain bike from Georgia to New Orleans, and trying to balance work and play while striving to live a healthier life then I have in the past. I continue to stumble here and there with myself and with others, but I do value the experience that July has given me and I look forward to August, and of course, eating more seafood.

 

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

 

Field Report: Carrollton- Hollygrove CDC- Market and Farm

 

 

 

 

Hollygrove Market and Farm is proud to announce the re-launch of its Youth Garden Tour! The tour highlights an urban farm, community garden space, chicken coop and local produce market. By encouraging participating youth to sample herbs and harvest garden produce, the Youth Garden Tour presents a fun and engaging, hands-on learning experience.Our Garden Educator Interns provide lessons on food systems, nutrition and sustainable growing practices. The tour is offered to schools, summer camps and youth programs at no cost and can accommodate up to 50 participants. Visiting groups are encouraged to provide a small donation if they select to receive a garden salad or local produce snack. Hollygrove Market and Farm is currently available to lead tours on Monday and Wednesday mornings between 9:00am and 12:00pm. The summer session of the Youth Garden and Farm Tour will run until August 18^th. Check out the pictures below from some of our recent tours!

 

-Lora White, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Carrollton- Hollygrove Community Development Corporation

 

August Friday Schedule

Friday VISTA Schedule for the Month of

AUGUST

 

3- Service Project

VISTA Site Benjamin Banneker Elementary From 9-3

 

10- Leadership

Training on Age Diversity

 

17- Documentary Series/ Program Evaluation

Partnership Development Series will take place this day as well with our Assistant Director of the Campus Community Partnerships, Amanda Bruberger

 

24- Professional Development

Training with Janet Johnson- Economics of Poverty

 

31- Professional Development

Training with Janet Johnson- Nonprofit Sector