Spring Bulletin 2007 Vol. 23, No.1

Plenty’s Katrina Relief program now has a base of operations in Arabi, Louisiana which is adjacent to the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. The base is a 3 bedroom house that is being repaired by Program Director, Tony Sferlazza and numerous volunteers who come and go. Tony, who is an experienced building contractor has been helping mostly elderly residents of greater New Orleans get their damaged homes livable again. He has also been assisting with the renovation of community centers such as the Community Center of St. Bernard Parish and the NENA Center of the Lower 9th Ward.

	These student volunteers and Plenty Relief Team staff had just spent the day clearing downed trees around a home in Louisiana.	Every month, Jim Selin, an enviromental activist who lives in Nashville, loads his station wagon with books, toys, clothes and food and drives to the Gulf where he distributes everything to schools and community centers and other locations. Plenty helps with Jim’s expenses thanks to the fundraising efforts of Elaine Langley and the Farm Community in Summertown.
	Eighteen months after Katrina, block after block in neighborhood after neighborhood remain abandoned. The “Road Home” program that was supposed to help people repair their homes has been plagued by detours and potholes. Only a few hundred out of tens of thousands who have applied have seen any money.
		More than 80% of the 5,100 public housing apartments in New Orleans have been kept closed (even though many like the ones in this picture have been inspected and declared structurally sound) and are scheduled for demolition at a cost of tens of millions of dollars according to Loyola University Law Professor and New Orleans resident, Bill Quigley.
	Plenty volunteer, Tim Stack (left) and Tony installed a hotwater heater for Ms. Emma Prebost (center). Tim’s transportation costs were donated by Sandy Hollow for the Arts and Recreation, (SHARE), a Pennsylvania nonprofit organization.
		Ms. Emma Prebost, 83 years old, shown here with Plenty volunteer, Sarah Firth, gutted her own house. She lives in a 250 sq. ft. FEMA trailer parked in her driveway.
	In 2005 the Louisiana Association of Nonprofits (LANO) launched Nonprofit Central to provide meeting space and networking opportunities to nonprofits supporting hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in and around New Orleans. Plenty participates in the weekly Monday morning meeting at Nonprofit Central which gives us the chance to network with other nonprofits and find ways to collaborate. Above, Tony Sferlazza talks with some of the representatives of nonprofit organizations that are working in New Orleans. For more about Nonprofit Central visit: http://nonprofit-central.org/
		At the Going Home Cafe, volunteers prepare and serve hundreds of free meals daily. Long after the big money relief agencies pulled up stakes in the Gulf, armies of selfless volunteers have stayed on the frontlines.