As part of a Hurricane Katrina 10th anniversary initiative, Habitat for Humanity is putting up 10 new homes in New Orleans East. A few hundred volunteers are spending the next 10 days along America Street, putting up new single-family homes in lots that have sat vacant since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita flooded this neighborhood.
New Orleans native Dan Cahoon helped build some Habitat homes back in 2008 around America Street. He says it’s a mixed feeling to see the neighborhood still marked with blight. “I’m kinda disturbed by how little’s been done, that hasn’t been done by our affiliate out here.”
Many parts of New Orleans East have seen as much as a 30 percent increase in population over the past five years. People are moving back and relocating to this part of the city. But America Street, where the new houses are going up, is still dotted by blighted properties and abandoned lots.
23-year-old Clarence Holmes grew up on America Street. He sits under the awning of a blighted home for shade. The boarded-up structure is where his grandmother, now deceased, lived. Holmes watches volunteers hauling wood to build a new house across the street, and remembers what the same scene looked like 10 years ago. “Dirt and mud over the concrete. Beaucoup dirt and mud over everything, water lines on all the houses. When I got back here it was a scary site."
Holmes says 10 years ago he saw a city that needed help. He says he’s happy to see people still interested in answering that call.