Besides 4Cs, the most interesting thing I did in New Orleans was take a tour of the devastated area hosted by the co-founders of the Neighborhood Story Project, a nonprofit helping to rebuild and revitalize New Orleans communities. They publish a series of books by and about the various communities hardest hit by Katrina and in so doing give the residents a voice and, because many of the books are authored by young adults, empower a huge underserved population.
Rachel Breunlin led the small van I was in and I became fascinated with the dialect lilt in her voice as she caught us all up on the aftermath of the hurricane and the, frankly, dim future for most of the poorest denizens of the city.
Driving today with the news in the background, I heard her! Turning up the radio, I listened to Neda Ulaby’s report on the Cornerstones project, NSP’s latest book. Her report is in two parts on the NPR web site: Part One is called Charting New Orleans’ Everyday Landmarks and Part Two is New Orleans Empty Lot Brings Neighbors Together.
Listen to the episodes and then check out my experience with NSP at 4Cs. When you’re done with all that, buy one of their books to help them help New Orleans.