“Self help is the best help” isn’t always true, but in the case of New Orleans, the DIY culture is alive and kicking and working for the people. In the spirit of Obama’s latest gesture for all comers to take part in changing to country, so too has New Orleans revolutionized the average person’s participation in rebuilding their city, communities, and lives.

New Orleans’ community based system goes way back to benevolent societies (now Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs), which ethnic communities developed to help members with everything from health care costs to funeral expenses. But new organizations like Sweet Home New Orleans have elaborated on community action and the scene has surely evolved.

Eductation groups like Save our Schools NOLA get the public involved in ensuring every child has access to high quality public schools in New Orleans. And nonprofits like the The Neighborhood Story Project give people the opportunity to tell their stories. By providing anyone with help writing, editing and publishing books, this group not only documents extraordinary nature of daily lives, but deliver incomes by treating new writers as serious authors. One writer earned $10,000 in royalties. Unheard of?  Welcome to New Orleans.

Organizations like the Neighborhoods Partnership Network and the Lower 9th Ward Village bring together neighborhoods and empower their members to improve their quality of life through support, revitalization projects and getting people involved in the civic process.

And for those who prefer to congregate online, there are tools like Policypitch.com, an online platform that allows people to pitch and introduce innovative new ideas and policies in communities, neighborhoods and regions to build support for their campaigns. But who said it just had to be New Orleans?  Blueprint Louisiana aims to help citizen identify and implement essential changes to fundamentally improve all of Louisiana.

But more than civic and cultural engagment, it’s the store owners, entrepreneurs and small businesses of New Orleans that are wowing us. Business Week coined New Orleans as “The Startup Laboratory” and in a town where anything goes, a lot can happen. The very funding for startups is being reinvented with systems like the New Orleans Exchange which provides small businesses with quick capital through trading receivables.  With small business support from young leaders at DesireNOLA, branding and launch help from the agency Trumpet and talent and consulting from The Idea Village rebuilding’s not just about houses anymore.

More to come on profiling these amazing projects to come out of the city!

Check out the whole list at http://alldaybuffet.org/neworleans100/