Habitat World Online

The Publication of Habitat for Humanity International | March 2006


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Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced many musicians to flee New Orleans, the jazz, blues and Dixieland that were the city's musical score have been harder to find, as have the musicians who seek to return, but, like so many, have no place to go.

Habitat for Humanity International and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, working with Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis, honorary chairs of the organization's hurricane rebuilding program Operation Home Delivery, seek to change that with a "Musicians'Village" in the Crescent City.

The village will consist of Habitatconstructed homes built with qualifying displaced New Orleans musicians. Its centerpiece will be the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, named for the patriarch of the Marsalis clan, a modern jazz pioneer and native New Orleanian, and dedicated to the education and development of homeowners and others who will live nearby. The center will celebrate the music and musicians of New Orleans and will include performance rooms and classrooms.

"Music is as much a part of the fabric of life in New Orleans as the cuisine, the culture," said Branford Marsalis, the award-winning saxophonist. "Hurricanes Katrina and Rita scattered musicians across the country and shuttered many clubs and concert venues across the city. This plan, this village, will help restore New Orleans' musical heritage and protect it for the next generation that will follow."

"This is very exciting because it uses the Habitat model-building homes and communities-and takes it a step farther, to building hope for the future," said Connick. "Children will grow up in the neighborhoods, in a safe and secure environment, and at the same time have the opportunity to become a part of the musical and cultural scene in New Orleans."

One year after the 2004 tsunami devastated costal areas of India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, Habitat for Humanity had provided more than 6,000 families direct housing assistance. Approximately 133 teams from eight countries helped by building new houses and repairing existing homes--in addition to 43 domestic teams from Thailand and Indonesia.

Covering three years from 2005 to the end of 2007, Habitat's recovery strategy will be to lend direct housing assistance to 20,000 families and, through a network of Habitat resource centers, assist another 10,000 to 15,000 in disaster mitigation services and training in construction and materials fabrication.

In an effort to galvanize professional builders throughout the United States, Habitat for Humanity will conduct a Home Builders Blitz June 5-9, in which professional house builders will construct 700 Habitat homes in 175 communities across the country. Following the blitz, participants will build 300 houses along the hurricane- ravaged Gulf Coast. The project was initiated by builders in Raleigh, N.C., who proposed making it a national event.

The event also will help spotlight substandard and affordable housing issues and the resolve with which Habitat affiliates across the country are responding.

"We've found from previous local Home Builders Blitz projects that builders have continued to stay involved with Habitat after the event itself. It's a chance for them to demonstrate their community outreach, and the media attention that will accompany the build will go a long way toward raising awareness of important housing issues," says Abby Goward, Habitat's project associate for the blitz build.

To learn more about the Home Builders Blitz and to find out whether your local affiliate is hosting such an event, contact Goward at (919) 303- 7807, Ext. 4333 or via e-mail at homebuildersblitz@ habitat.org.

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