Friend and ADB co-founder Scott Hechinger has been spending his spring break (?! he’s in law school) working for the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. He’s been kind enough to keep a log of his experience. If you’re down there, give our NYC - NOLA connection a shout.
Part I:

I landed in New Orleans this past weekend with a group of law students from NYC and around the country to spend a week volunteering. I’m helping out the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation in their efforts to get the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act, which will support skills training and bring in over 100,000 jobs to the Gulf Coast region, off the ground. The bill is stalled – surprise, surprise – in some committee in the House and good ‘ol politicin’ is keeping it from moving any further. Apparently Senator Vitter – the politician before Spitzer to get caught with a hooker – doesn’t like it (for reasons unstated) and got the rest of the Gulf Coast Republican contingent on board to oppose it.

We’ve been leading community meetings in New Orleans, Biloxi, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama to inform stakeholders about the bill and get feedback about what works and what doesn’t. Fascinating people from all over the place come to these things from Bayou born and bred community organizers like Patty, advocating for rural interests and environmental sustainability to Shakur el Tawani, an I-Phone wielding (”it’s one of my only indulgences”) representative from All Congregations Together (ACT), making sure faith-based organizations have their voices heard.

In the meeting in New Orleans, a recurrent theme was the value and importance of broad community engagement and participation in whatever form this bill takes. According to the group, the most vital assets of the region are the people who live here, as well as community organizations, non-profit groups, and volunteers because that’s all that really worked in the aftermath of the hurricanes. There is a strong sense that the government and their agencies – local, state, and national—all considered “the Feds” down here—have not listened. What’s clear to everyone here on the ground is that the status quo is not working: hundreds of thousands are jobless and homeless; where jobs do exist, local workers lack the required skills and skills trainings are either non-existent or too exclusive; and infrastructure and reconstruction gaps still continue unabated. These are some of the problems this bill is intended to respond to.

Pretty much no one in New Orleans, let alone the rest of the gulf coast region even know that this bill exists so I think the major priority needs to be a local awareness campaign letting people know about the bill and why it will help them. Hell, thousands of volunteers come into New Orleans every week, then leave and go back and tell everyone about their experience – they should be provided with info on this bill so they can spread the word. Anybody out there want to lend their design and marketing creativity for a good cause? Email me at: scotthech@gmail.com.

Hopeful stories about ‘Po-Boy’ sandwiches and environmental Powerpoints on the Bayou, a community center in the devastated Ninth Ward, Indian workers marching against Human Trafficking, Idea Villages, Rebirth Brass Bands and gay karaoke to come soon…