Some of you may remember that a couple of years ago, a group of us headed to New Orleans to gut a ruined house. When portions of the levee along the London Avenue Canal collapsed in the aftermath of Katrina, many homes in the Gentilly area of New Orleans flooded. We called ourselves the First Draft Krewe, because ScoutPrime and Athenae at First Draft organized the group who went to work at 1773 Sere Street under the direction of ACORN, which has overseen the reconstruction of 3,500 houses in New Orleans.
Our job was to strip the house down to the bare bones, removing all the inside materials which were rotted, mildewed, and ruined. The house had been completely submerged by the floodwaters. Trust me: it's a shit job, but we wanted to do our small part to help the folks in New Orleans come back.
When we (they really, because I could not do the heavy lifting) got to the kitchen, it was in terrible shape. Cockroaches and termites abounded in huge numbers. Many of us believed the house would be demolished in the end, because of the sorry condition of the kitchen. So why were we doing the difficult and dirty task?
The folks next door, who were well on their way to restoring their house, were quite grateful to have the mess next to them cleaned up. That was reason enough, and you never know. You do the assigned task without too much thinking and questioning because the folks at ACORN, who know what they're about, send you there.
The picture above shows the First Draft Krewe along with our partners, a fine group of students from Elon University, at the end of our work day. As you see, the pile of trash removed from the house is taller and wider than our rather large group.
Now the hero of this post is blogger Sinfonian, who recently returned to 1773 Sere Street to check it out. Pictured below is the termite- and roach-infested kitchen as it looks today.
I could hardly believe what I saw in the picture. Check out the house today at Blast Off!, Sinfonian's blog, at the link above. His story of the return visit and the other pictures of the house are simply amazing. (Links no longer active, alas.)
Thank you, Sinfonian, for taking the trouble and telling us the story. Hugs and kisses to you. What a beautiful, happy ending - for a change. It seems as if I've been hearing way too much bad news.
Here's my post on our work day.
H/T to ScoutPrime for alerting me to the story.
Thank you for your post on your work day. The picture of the kitchen is amazing. Two of the major shames of our country are the slowness with which New Orleans is being rebuilt and the disgrace of the emergency response there. But this is good news and we really do need some.
ReplyDeleteGood news for Whitey anyhow.
ReplyDeleteAmelia, I was delighted to read the story.
ReplyDeleteDavid G., I'm not sure what you mean.
Grandmere --this is wonderful! Thank you for sharing this good news!
ReplyDeleteMargaret, the story warmed my heart, I tell ya.
ReplyDeleteOne never knows where a good deed might lead. Your efforts then clearly bore fruit and how wonderful!
ReplyDeleteAh, that's wonderful! Thank you for doing that, and for posting that. I am so happy to see a good outcome.
ReplyDeletePaul, indeed!
ReplyDeleteBubs, you know, don't you? Thank YOU for what you've done.
Who is the middle aged woman in the back not paying attention?
ReplyDeleteThe middle-aged woman? Canon G, flattery will get you everywhere. I was calling to Grandpère to come get in the picture.
ReplyDeleteNow that's an Eastertide story -- a resurrection we can all understand!
ReplyDeleteJust that the MAJORITY of N.O. hasn't come back. Everything is GREAT for Whitey (The White Race), ...Yikes Mimi YOU ARE OUT OF IT!!
ReplyDeleteJonathan of course will have to be informed!!
Glad to learn that your work brought such success. Reminds me of our bus driver taking us through this area on the way back from the Honey Island swamp tour on April 14, 2007.
ReplyDeleteDavid G., I may be OUT OF IT, generally speaking, but this section of Gentilly is predominantly black, so I was confused by what you said, because it is likely that a black family will buy the house.
ReplyDeleteNor is everything great for Whitey, either. The mayor is incompetent for folks of all heritages and races. I'm originally from New Orleans, live nearby, and visit often. I know something of what's happening and not happening there.
Brian, you saw what the city was like in 2007 and that it had a long way to go, then. It still does.