September/October Trumpet - Sustainability by Neighborhoods Partnership Network

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September/October 2012 • Community Voices Orchestrating Change • Issue 6 Volume 5

INSIDE • A Revitalized Pontchartrain Park • Commentary from Cynthia Hedge Morrell • Louisiana’s Only Cooperative Grocery • Trumpet Award Nominations • Food Security and Sustainability

NEIGH B SPOT ORHOOD LIGHT pont char Parktrain Neighborhoods Partnership Network’s (NPN) mission is to improve our quality of life by engaging New Orleanians in neighborhood revitalization and civic process.

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

Letter From The Executive Director Photo: Kevin Griffin/2Kphoto

N E I G H B O R H O O D S

NPN provides an inclusive and collaborative city-wide framework to empower neighborhood groups in New Orleans.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...

Find Out More at NPNnola.com

NPN Board Members

---- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities English novelist (1812 - 1870)

Victor Gordon, Board Chair, Pontilly Neighborhood Association Angela Daliet, Treasurer, Parkview Neighborhood Association Benjamin Diggins, Melia Subdivision Katherine Prevost, Upper Ninth Ward Bunny Friend Neighborhood Association

5 New Orleans News Survey 7 NOLA Wise Makes New Orleans Homes Energy Efficient 9 Longue Vue’s Model of Sustainability 13 Pontchartrain Park Re-Born 19 A Commentary from Cynthia Hedge Morrell 21 Nola Food Co-op: 100% Owned by the 99% 23 The New Orleans Fatherhood Consortium 25 Food Sustainability in NOLA and Beyond 29 A Healthy Heart Column

We’re NOLA Wise, are you?

NOLA Wise Makes New Orleans Homes Energy Efficient

Leslie Ellison, Tunisburg Square Civic Homeowners Improvement Association

Sylvia McKenzie, Rosedale Subdivision Tilman Hardy, Secretary, Leonidas/Pensiontown Neighborhood Association Wendy Laker, Mid-City Neighborhood Organization Darryl Durham, St.Anna’s Church Rashida Ferdinand, Sankofa CDC Sylvia Scineaux-Richard, ENONAC

NEIGHBOR OOD SPOTLIGH H T pontcha rtrain Park

Third Party Submission Issues Physical submissions on paper, CD, etc. cannot be returned unless an arrangement is made. Submissions may be edited and may be published or otherwise reused in any medium. By submitting any notes, information or material, or otherwise providing any material for publication in the newspaper, you are representing that you are the owner of the material, or are making your submission with the consent of the owner of the material, all information you provide is true, accurate, current and complete. Non-Liability Disclaimers The Trumpet may contain facts, views, opinions, statements and recommendations of third party individuals and organizations. The Trumpet does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information in the publication and use of or reliance on such advice, opinion, statement or other information is at your own risk. Copyright Copyright 2012 Neighborhoods Partnership Network. All Rights Reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of Neighborhoods Partnership Network is expressly prohibited.

New Orleans 23 The Fatherhood Consortium Community Spotlight

The Trumpet Editorial Board

Nola Food Co-op: 100% Owned by the 99%

The Trumpet Editorial Staff Melissa Garber, Editor

Scott Bicking, Art Director

Nora McGunnigle, Local History Editor

Christy Chapman Rashida Ferdinand, Sankofa CDC

Patricia A. Davis & Greg Lawson, Associate Neighborhoods Editors

Heidi Hickman Elton Jones, New Orleans Rising Naomi King Linedda McIver, AARP Ray Nichols, Maple Area Residents Inc. Brian Opert, Talk Show Host, WGSO 990AM Valerie Robinson, Old Algiers Main Street Corporation Melinda Shelton

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

Jim Belfon, Gulf South Photography Project

Timolynn Sams

N E T W O R K

Contents

The Trumpet

The Twins — Sustainability and Democracy

The end of summer in New Orleans is always the best and the worst of times for me. The end of sweltering summer heat and the beginnings of fall cool breezes, the end of snowballs, backyard barbecues and seafood boils and the beginning of Saints football tailgating and the beginning of frequent, fierce, and consistent… you guessed it … HURRICANES. Growing up in the Crescent City students would often be released from school and told to go directly home to prepare for “the storm.” You would often hear laughing and joking around with the names of such great and powerful forces of nature. I would always wish that my name would be thrown in the bunch with the other popular storms. My mother on the other hand did not see the humor and fun in such games. She had experienced Betsy in the 60’s and was somehow always overly prepared. Flashlights, batteries, candles, fill up the gas tank, remove the pictures off the walls, pick everything up off the floor, board up the windows, and have a bag with three days of clothing packed and ready to leave if a mandatory evacuation is ordered. My siblings and I would always make jokes about moms’ hurricane survival skills never realizing that one day we too would experience the BIG ONE. Seven years ago hurricane Katrina and the break of our federal levee systems caused our nation’s worst man-made and natural disasters of all time. Katrina’s attack on New Orleans disrupted our city’s economic engine and dismantled the city’s largest job employers --- medical and education industries therefore further enlarging the economical gap between the have and have-nots. However, the disaster led to billions of dollars being spent to rebuild communities. Post-Katrina tax incentives had a dramatic impact on the region. Federal money has transformed the schools and provided monies to invest in major infrastructure -- sewer, water, public service buildings, police and fire departments. Yet I have also witnessed a surge of dramatic changes, from the loss of much needed affordable housing in the area, to increased blight and vacancy, and ongoing speculative development in response to the medical complexes under construction. Public safety also remains a difficult issue. Crime is a major problem and the police department is under enormous strain. The voice of residents are become more harmonized in developing unified voices to city wide problems. The lessons from the disaster that followed Katrina have not been lost Seemingly stubborn problems are still affecting the poorest residents still beset the region. Recently the region was greeted by Hurricane Isaac who showed up two days before Hurricane Katrina’s anniversary and decided to linger around causing damage to not only New Orleans neighborhoods but those neighborhoods in low line parishes where former New Orleanians believed they could escape the broken infrastructure that exist in the urban city. Isaac, like Katrina reminded us that our region remains vulnerable to natural and man-made forces of nature. It also revealed the need for residents to build sustainable communities, create democratic cooperatives; and strengthen community through shared resources and education. I believe the residents of New Orleans neighborhoods have done that and are continuing to identify new approaches to build a better, safer and stronger city. This issue of the Trumpet speaks to how we the New Orleans community sees sustainability for the city of New Orleans. NPN continues to serve as a strong and diverse network who envisions improvement and advancement of economic, social, cultural and political conditions. We invite you to join and enlarge this network to reflect the values that all of LOUISIANA can be great places to live.

P A R T N E R S H I P

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4902 Canal Street • #301 New Orleans, LA 70119 504.940.2207 • FX 504.940.2208 thetrumpet@npnnola.com www.npnnola.com 3

What are District Councils? What do they do? What do they not do? How do they impact citizen participation? Do we need them in New Orleans? This fall, the New Orleans City Council will be voting on Text Amendment 19 to the Master Plan. If passed in its current form, Amendment 19 would remove District Councils, currently a part of the proposed Community Participation Process, from the Master Plan. There is a lot of confusion regarding District Councils, and what their role is within a formalized participation process. In the interest of making sure the community is informed about what a District Council is before any decisions are made, the Committee for a Better New Orleans is hosting a series of debates featuring proponents and opponents of District Councils. The two sides will debate the role of District Councils, and what they could mean for our city. Moderated by WDSU’s Norman Robinson, the debates will take place around the city in order to maximize accessibility.

The next dates and locations are:

Tuesday, September 18th • 7:00pm – 8:30pm Saint Stephens Missionary Baptist Church • 2701 Lawrence Street • New Orleans, LA 70114 Debate will be located in the cafeteria at St. Julian Eymard School

Thursday, September 20th • 7:00pm – 8:30pm Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center • 1618 OC Haley Boulevard • New Orleans, LA 70113

For more information, please contact: New Orleans Citizen Participation Project Program Manager Breonne DeDecker at btdedecker@gmail.com, or 267-4696.

New Orleans News Survey

Where Do We Go From Here? In response to unprecedented changes sweeping the New Orleans journalism landscape, The New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance (NOCOG) is conducting a survey to gather residents’ opinions on local media. Information gathered from the survey will lead to a report, providing the region’s news-gathering institutions with feedback to help guide their coverage in ways that meet audience’s needs. The survey is also available online in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. For more information, please visit www.NOCOG.org.

SURVEY DEADLINE – September 21, 2012 1. What is your preferred way to receive news? Please rate the choices with (1) being most preferred and (5) being least preferred. (

) Radio (

) Online (

) Print (

) TV (

WBOK 1230AM, WWNO 89.9FM, WYLD 98.5 FM, WQUE 93.3FM; WWL 105.3FM, WIST 690AM, Vuong Ky Son radio, La Mega 105.7 FM, KGLA107.5 FM, La Raza 830 AM, Other sources? (please list)

) Other

2. What are the most important types of news you want to get on a daily basis (circle all that apply) Arts & Entertainment; TV listings Government News Business/Financial news Investigations/In-Depth Reports Comics Local News Crime Reports National News Employment Opportunities

Public Notices Obituaries Opinion/Editorials Sales/Advertising Society; Social/Civic Calendar 4. Please describe briefly what problems (if any) bother you most about Sports the local news media. Other None/Don’t need news on daily basis

3. In your opinion, which are the best local sources for timely and trustworthy news? (circle all that apply)

Come Worship With Us Saint Gabriel The Archangel Catholic Church

Times Pic/Nola.com, City Business, Gambit Weekly, The Lens, Louisiana Weekly, New Orleans Tribune, Data News Weekly, Jambalaya News, El Tiempo News, Ngoc Lan, Saigon Nho, Bayou Buzz, Uptown Messenger, Citizen journalist/Blogs (please list)

5. Please describe briefly what changes you would like to see in the local news media in the future. ,

WWL TV, WDSU, FoxWVUE, WGNO ABC, WTUL, WTIX, WLAE (PBS), WYES, Saigon Broadcasting Network, Telemundo KGLA 42, Local Cable Access (please list)

Please return survey by September 21, 2012 to The New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance (NOCOG) 4902 Canal St. Suite 300 New Orleans, La 70119. Survey is also available online in English, Spanish and Vietnamese at www.nocog.org.

Every Saturday 4:00 pm Every Sunday 10:30 am Experience The Presence of Christ Welcoming You Home! Know The Wonderful Love, Forgiveness and Peace of God.

N C G

Located In Gentilly Woods 5029 Louisa Drive • New Orleans, LA 70126 ph: 504-282-0296 • fax: 504-288-8585 www.stgabe.net • email: stgabriel@bellsouth.net 4

New Orleans Coalition On Open Governance

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

The New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance is comprised out of eight local organizations: Neighborhoods Partnership Network, Committee For a Better New Orleans, Puentes New Orleans, The Vietnamese American Young Leadership Council, Mary Queen of Vietnam CDC, The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, The Public Law Center, and The Lens. Our mission is to seek open, responsive, and accountable governance by promoting community engagement in civic discussions and decisions, increasing access to public data and information, supporting media and communications that inform and equip stakeholders, and seeking beneficial public policy and structural developments.

NOLA Wise Makes New Orleans Homes Energy Efficient and More Comfortable By Austin Lukes, Global Green USA Technical Assistant / AmeriCorps VISTA

till suffering from sticker shock after getting your summer utility bills? While suffering through the hottest months of 2012, New Orleanians also suffered through high electricity bills, mostly due to air conditioning costs. Even with the AC running at full capacity, many homes do not get as cool as their occupants would like. This costs homeowners energy, money and, most importantly, comfort. Thankfully, NOLA Wise can now connect homeowners to local contractors who have nationally-recognized green building certifications in order to improve a home’s efficiency. In partnership with the City of New Orleans, Global Green USA, and the Department of Energy, the NOLA Wise program helps homeowners lower their energy use, making their homes healthier and more comfortable.

The nonprofit program provides quality oversight during the process and acts as a third party between the client and contractor, to ensure that the job is done right the first time! With older houses like those found in New Orleans, there is a great deal of savings to be found in all parts of the home. From insulation to air sealing, light bulb replacement to solar screens, NOLA Wise contractors apply a whole-house approach in accordance with Building Performance Institute (BPI) standards – the national certification that helps create a more durable and safer home. NOLA Wise also makes a home energy retrofit more affordable by helping homeowners get rebates from Entergy’s Energy Smart program, and by offering a low-interest loan through Fidelity Homestead Savings Bank.

With more and more satisfied NOLA Wise homeowners every day, now is the time to call to find out how you can make your home more efficient and affordable. Call 504-523-WISE for more information or visit the NOLA Wise website as www.nolawise.org. Also contact your neighborhood association about participating in the NOLA Wise Neighborhood Challenge – Find out how your neighborhood can become the most energy efficient and win $5000 towards a community project!

NPN needs bloggers Sign up at: thetrumpet@npnnola.com 6

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All photo courtesy of Longue Vue House and Gardens

Top Left: The Spanish Court at Longue Vue with its iconic fountain, which uses re-circulated water from underground reservoirs. Top Right: The Dome in the Main House was covered with microscopic mesh to lower the temperature and UV exposure inside the house.

Longue Vue’s Model of Sustainability The History of Longue Vue and the Sterns

Longue Vue Today

dith and Edgar Stern, founders of Longue Vue House and Gardens, were important figures in the civic and urban evolution of New Orleans from 1921, when they married, to Edith’s death in 1980. The resources they committed were intended to build an equitable and beautiful future for all of its citizens. The home they built between 1939 and 1942, Longue Vue, was always intended to be a public showplace for the ideals of beauty, civic responsibility, and cultural investment.

The gardens at Longue Vue evolved over the years to include the Wild Garden, an essential sanctuary for native plants species, migrating birds and beneficial insects, the Discovery Garden, an interactive children’s learning garden, and a beautiful collection of live oaks, Southern magnolias, bald cypress, and other native tree species. Food has been grown at Longue Vue since the 1920s in the Walled Garden, which also served as a Victory Garden during World War II. The garden staff is committed to using environmentally friendly sprays and amendments, including horticultural oils as insecticides and simple vinegar as an herbicide. While staying true to the historical nature of the planting plans designed for the Sterns by their landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman, the garden staff is also keeping an eye on sustainability by choosing climate-appropriate plantings and native species. Upon Edith’s death in 1980, the house was turned into a public museum. One of the most beautiful features of the house is the skylight dome over the staircase in the Upper Hall. The construction of this dome, with wire mesh over a steel frame on the outer layer and glass on the inner layer, creates a heat chamber that requires a great deal of air conditioning. In early 2012, Longue Vue installed a microscopic mesh in the chamber between the domes that blocks 98% of UV light and drops the temperature in the house by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Eventually, this mesh will be used to screen every window in the house, protecting the valuable objects inside from UV exposure for the pleasure of future generations. The property is resource-intensive due to its large size (eight acres), and the staff implements creative and cost-effective solutions to various maintenance concerns. The filters in the water coolers are flushed with organic de-calcifiers for more efficient water flow. The fountains, a source of calm and tranquil beauty in the gardens, are run on re-circulated water from underground reservoirs rather than drawing on the municipal system. Every possible piece of equipment is recycled, from machine parts to the bricks in the pathways. This practice enables Longue Vue to stay both environmentally

Left: Scene from Freedom Ride opera. The fictional main character, Sylvie Davenport, is from Pontchartrain Park. Their contributions include building Pontchartrain Park, the nation’s first single-family housing development for middle-class AfricanAmericans. To this day, Longue Vue continues to work in this area through its Department of Community Initiatives. The Sterns were also among the founders of Dillard University and Flint-Goodridge Hospital, Newcomb College Nursery School, and Metairie Park Country Day School. This legacy lives on in Longue Vue’s programming for children of all ages and socioeconomic status, on the site as well as at other places in New Orleans. The Sterns were very generous in supporting arts and culture, including the patronage of Annabelle Bernard, an opera student at Xavier University of Louisiana in the mid-1950s. Xavier was the first African-American college in the United States to produce full-scale operatic productions. In 2011, Longue Vue continued this tradition by commissioning an opera called Freedom Ride, celebrating the historic Freedom Rides of the Civil Rights Movement.

continuted on page 10

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Left: Members of the Adams Family: Paula, Chris, Lintz, and Margaret with their Gentilly Rainwater Harvesting Program rain barrel sound and historically accurate. Longue Vue has a composting system and rain barrels on site. The Gift Shop recycles its boxes, packing materials, and paper, which is given to the garden staff for mulching. Perhaps the most far-reaching element of Longue Vue’s sustainability model is its investment in the community. Programs include Cultivating Communities, a youth philanthropy project run in collaboration with Waldo Burton Boys’ Home. Students from Waldo Burton who participate in this year-long program learn techniques of sustainable horticulture by growing food in

the Walled Garden, sell their produce to markets and restaurants, and donate the profits to a non-profit organization of their own choosing. The Department of Community Initiatives has launched a variety of projects over the years, including the Annual Louisiana Iris Day, celebrating the legacy of naturalist Caroline Dormon (who also received financial support from the Sterns for the completion of her book Wild Flowers of Louisiana in 1934), the Catherine Brown Memorial Lecture series, garden builds at Mary Dora Coghill Elementary School, the Gentilly Rainwater Harvesting Program, and the nativeNOW Native Plants Program. For more information on these projects, contact Hilairie Schackai, Director of Community Initiatives at 504.293.4726.

The Future Longue Vue continues to strive to invest in creative place-making in New Orleans and beyond, as part of the civic and urban evolution that the Sterns envisioned. The house and gardens are a showplace as well as a demonstration of the qualities of sustainability that affect our everyday lives, and the programs and community initiatives contribute on a daily basis to the character of New Orleans and beyond.

GENTILLY FEST!

October 6 – 7

he Gentilly Fest is a 501c3 organization that is committed to raising money through sponsorships, raffles, galas, silent auctions, and other fundraisers. Admission to the festival is free and open to the general public. Gentilly Fest celebrates all things “Gentilly,” including continuous live music on the main stage and gospel tent. Local restaurants and caterers sell sumptuous food and an Arts and Crafts area feature original works from a variety of craft merchants. The festival also offers free children’s activities including pony rides, a kid’s village, and a variety of practical recovery information offered by local business and non-profit organizations. The Gentilly Fest is governed by an elected Board of Directors and the event is administered and planned by an Executive Committee of community volunteers. The Gentilly Fest began three years ago as a way to help our community help ourselves. We realized that our first responders did not have funds to adequately equip their facilities with furniture, office supplies and other general small office equipment. The goal of our 1st Gentilly Festival, Inc. was to raise funds to help support our First Responders and promote small business economic awareness and growth in the rebuilding of the Gentilly area. In the past three years that we have been established, Gentilly Festival, Inc. has raised over $30,000 for police stations and firehouses in Gentilly and other needy organizations. The Gentilly Festival also provides an opportunity for neighbors to come together and celebrate the community’s rich and resilient culture. Many residents look forward to the event as a way of reconnecting with returning neighbors, relatives and friends.

Gentilly Fest is Saturday, October 6th • 11am–8pm & Sunday, October 7th • 12–5pm at the Pontchartrain Park Playground For details go to GentillyFest.com

The Green Project

Sustainability at Work in New Orleans By Elizabeth Ramoni

t some point, we could all use a little help fixing, patching, or sprucing up our home, right? The Green Project is a one-stopshop for donating the stuff that’s taking up too much space, and for finding the perfect piece to replace it! The Green Project is a non-profit salvage store located in the St. Roch neighborhood that sells used building materials and paint recycled on site. It started in 1994 as a place for New Orleanians to bring their unwanted paint – a response to an absence of responsible options in the area at the time. Eighteen years later, they are still the only paint recycling facility in the Greater New Orleans area; they run a successful resale warehouse, as well as an environmental education program. The organization has affected the neighborhood in many ways. Besides being a smart and practical solution for people to reuse leftover materials, The Green Project has always been a community-building endeavor that brings people together and benefits New Orleanians of all ages. Through their salvage operation and their warehouse, they divert an average of 6 tons of materials from the landfill every day, preserving New Orleans architecture

and keeping it in use locally. They keep more than 30,000 gallons of paint out of local waterways each year. It is all put back to use in the community where these materials are sorely needed, sold for a fraction of the cost for new materials at big commercial building supply stores. The Green Project realizes that offering these materials for sale is only part of the process; education is essential to achieve their mission, which is to develop a culture of creative reuse by building a marketplace for reclaimed materials and cultivating a respect for their value. To achieve these goals, they offer Saturday workshops twice a month at the store, as well as a program for children of all ages available at the warehouse or in schools and camps. The Green Project was founded by and run by locals, who are always looking for more ways to develop New Orleans’ unique culture of creative reuse. Recently the warehouse has gone through major renovations utilizing their own materials. Stop by the warehouse to see the brand new trellis fashioned from lumber yard finds and the swanky bike rack forged from wrought iron stair railings. There are plenty more changes and happenings in store. To find out more, check out their website at www.thegreenproject.org.

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

The Staff & Board members of Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Association with First Lady Michelle Obama

Pontchartrain Park Re-Born By Gretchen Bradford, President, Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Assn.

ontchartrain Park, rich in history, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Families were torn apart, and it was a time of great sorrow. It appeared as though there was no hope. The City of New Orleans was contemplating whether Pontchartrain Park should be rebuilt. The citizens of Pontchartrain Park took a stand and began to advocate for the return. The battle was uphill, but we knew we could not give up. Pontchartrain Park had a very slow start on the rebuilding process. In 2009, less than 50% of the residents had returned. Because of the advocacy and the resilience of the citizens of Pontchartrain Park the Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Association was established. The Association was led by HBO’s Treme Actor, Wendell Pierce. He was born and raised in Pontchartrain Park. He became our voice and was able to communicate the history and the need to rebuild Pontchartrain Park. Pontchartrain Park has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Times Picayune, USA Today, WWLTV, CBS, ABC, Fox and countless other news broadcasts, all due to Wendell Pierce’s effort to bring attention to the needs of Pontchartrain Park. Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Association’s goal is the protection and restoration of the neighborhood. We value the input of our residents. We are advocates for restoring the community prior to the disaster. We strive for excellence. Currently, the light is shining on Pontchartrain Park, and although there is still a lot of work to be done, including major street repairs, rebuilding of homes and blighted lots, we are very pleased with how the city has restored our assets: Joseph Bartholomew golf course, Wesley Barrow Stadium, Pontchartrain Park Community Center, the Playground, Tennis Courts, and Basketball Courts. In addition, many exciting activities are in held in Pontchartrain Park; the Annual 4th of July Festivities, Gentilly Fest, Golf Tournaments, NORD Sports Events and Wesley Barrow Stadium, which will Host NORDC New Orleans Major League Urban Youth Academy. Pontchartrain Park is continuing to make progress. Pontchartrain Park has been re-born! The neighborhood of Pontchartrain Park set the foundation that birthed entrepreneurs, lawyers, teachers, doctors, actors, musicians, artist, Mayors, professional athletes and many other success stories. I am so grateful I had the experience of growing up as a Pontchartrain Park resident.

More information: www.pontchartrainpark.org or visit Facebook: Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Association. 12

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Members of the Press Drive design steering committee (Audrey Woods, Norma Hedrick, Hilairie Schackai, Clara Carey, and Alana Miller) review preliminary plans at the office of landscape architecture firm Spackman Mossop and Michaels.

era as the physical line of demarcation between historically African-American Pontchartrain Park and white Gentilly Woods. In the original planning that took place right after Katrina, residents believed that rather than remaining a painful remnant from the past, this long-neglected drainage ditch could instead be transformed into something beautiful. Now, after years spent in a community-driven design process, it is clear that the Dwyer Canal has the potential to be much more. A report called Dwyer Canal Revitalization demonstrates the many benefits that can come from a new design, including the ability to manage stormwater runoff, an increase in neighborhood connectivity and safety, the adding of value to adjacent homes, a memorializing of the history of these neighborhoods and the creation an elegant linear park. Working alongside the Pontilly and Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Associations, devoted community leaders and the progressive landscape architecture firm Spackman Mossop and Michaels, Longue Vue is a proud player in the shaping of this endeavor. Press Drive is the most recent landscape rejuvenation project to be realized, having been completed in August 2012. Also designed by Spackman Mossop and Michaels, planted with more than 250 trees—including live oak, Allee elm, Japanese magnolia, fringetree and sweetbay (the last two both natives)—and studded with 450 Indian hawthorn shrubs, this major boulevard is designed to be a springtime destination. A unique public-private partnership with funding from the Community Support Foundation ensured that the design was developed with community involvement. Prominent in this makeover are three new neighborhood signs. Reminiscent of the ones originally placed on each neighborhood’s southern entrance, two supplementary Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods signs welcome residents and visitors entering from the north. Located between Chef Menteur and Stephen Girard, a third sign of scripted steel mounted on a cement wall (soon to be covered with fig ivy) announces a reinvigorated Press Drive.

Longue Vue Connects with its Legacy

Led by a team of internationally renowned landscape architects and urban planners, advised by horticulturalists and engineers and guided by neighborhood residents themselves, the weekend was devoted to developing small and large-scale landscape design proposals. Third-year graduate landscape architecture students from four universities who participated in the workshop then intensively elaborated these proposals over the course of a semester. The entire process has been documented in a booklet published by Longue Vue titled Pontchartrain Park + Gentilly Woods Landscape Manual. Based on ideas contained in the manual, the PDC pursued two important landscape revitalization projects meant to serve both Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods equally. Arguably the most compelling landscape in the Pontilly area is the Dwyer Canal. Known as “The Ditch” by those familiar with it, the three-quartermile Dwyer Canal drainage waterway, featuring scalped grass banks and clumps of cattail interspersed along its bottom, served during the Jim Crow

By Hilairie Schackai

Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood History

Landscape architecture firm Spackman Mossop Michaels’ design rendering of how the preliminary plan proposal re-imagines the Dwyer Canal. As part of a field trip to Pontilly, design teams from the Catherine Brown Memorial Pontchartrain Park + Gentilly Woods Design Weekend gather at the Dwyer Canal site to learn about the site’s history and discuss the community’s vision.

Through Landscape Revitalization Built to provide a slice of better life around the third-largest civic park in New Orleans, Pontchartrain Park, and its immediate neighbor Gentilly Woods, are well-kept secrets from many in New Orleans, mainly because of their geographical isolation.

hese two neighborhoods—together called Pontilly—are nestled between the lakefront at Seabrook, the Industrial Canal, elevated railroad tracks and a commercial strip on Chef Menteur that was once the first shopping center outside downtown New Orleans. Its landscapes—historic, contrived and natural—are varied, comprising recreational areas, public rights of way, a golf course (with lagoons), a municipal drainage canal (perhaps the only natural-bottom canal in New Orleans), a naturalized northern edge and a rookery with nesting heron, egret and ibis. Individual home lots should also be considered part of Pontilly’s landscape, as the large lots and front lawns (and many secret backyard vegetable gardens) are very much a part of its neighborhood identity. Mobilizing more than 500 residents at a time when few New Orleanians were back in town, Pontilly was the first neighborhood to create a rebuilding plan after Katrina. Residents able to participate formed action and oversight committees, including the Committee on Recreation and Open Space (CROS), which was charged with landscape revitalization. Signaling green recovery at a time when so much of the landscape was devastated and brown, CROS planted sago palms and Knock Out roses at the neighborhood entrance signs on the neutral ground. In mid-2006, the Pontilly Neighborhood Association formed a nonprofit organization called the Pontilly Disaster Collaborative (PDC) in order to seek grants and to coordinate rebuilding efforts aligned with its neighborhood rebuilding plan. Joining the Collaborative were St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, the Baptist Theological Seminary, Bethel Colony Transformation Ministries, Southern University at

New Orleans, Tulane Universtiy and citizen representatives from the various committees formed during the early planning phase. As one of the only organizations from outside the immediate area, but with historical ties to it, Longue Vue House and Gardens became part of the PDC to contribute to the community’s restoration through assistance with landscape revitalization. The founders of Longue Vue, Edith and Edgar Stern, were deeply committed to civic progress in New Orleans during their lifetimes. With roots in the civil rights movement, Edgar Stern—founder of Dillard University and the Flint-Goodridge teaching hospital—was the primary developer of the Pontchartrain Park subdivision built for African-American homeownership. Longue Vue, following in the Sterns’ footsteps, with a solid pool of horticultural expertise on hand and having experience in creating its own post-Katrina landscape recovery plan, was well poised to partner as a collaborative member. As its first order of business, the PDC (funded by a grant from the state) established a community recovery center and sponsored a “Front Lawn Lottery.” Around one hundred residents of Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods who were back in their homes and over the age of sixty recieved $450 worth of sod to reestablish their front lawns. With so much neighborhood green space to tend to, the front lawn—the semblance of routine at a time of shared chaos—was the perfect stepping stone to tackle the larger landscape recovery efforts ahead. In 2007, with the intention of further developing landscape possibilities for the Pontilly area, Longue Vue hosted the Catherine Brown Memorial Pontchartrain Park + Gentilly Woods Neighborhood Design Weekend.

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

By Nora McGunnigle

ontchartrain Park was designed and developed specifically to be one of the first areas to provide suburban-style home ownership to middle and upper income African Americans in New Orleans, and was also one of the last Gentilly neighborhoods to be developed. Its Boundaries are Leon C. Simon Drive to the north, the Industrial Canal to the east, Dreux Avenue/Dwyer Canal to the south and Peoples Avenue/Canal to the west. This area, to be named Pontchartrain Park in honor of the park around which the development was built around, between New Orleans East and Lakeview was acquired in 1950 by the City of New Orleans from the New Orleans Lakeshore Land Company. After the swampland contained in the parcel was drained and dredged from the lake, it was developed in the 1950s by Pontchartrain Park Homes, which advertised the plans for the development in the Times Picayune in 1954, featuring 200 acres of open space with curvilinear streets, parks, playgrounds, and lagoons. The streets and sidewalks were constructed in a way that ensured resident privacy and pedestrian safety. Crawford Homes, the same contractors that constructed the Gentilly Woods development right next to this new neighborhood, constructed the homes in Pontchartrain Park in a similar architectural style. The development and building of Pontchartrain Park was completed in 1955. In 1979, the City of New Orleans’ Neighborhoods Profiles Project stated, “ the neighborhood retains an attractiveness... which is rooted in its conduciveness to family life and a community atmosphere. This is reinforced by the neighborhood’s convenience, safety, recreational facilities, and schools.” Pontchartrain Park itself contained an eighteen hole golf course, a club house, Wesley Barrow Stadium, playgrounds, and tennis courts. The golf course, opened in 1956 and “unofficially” open to African Americans to use, was renamed in 1979 for Joe M. Bartholomew Sr., an accomplished African

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

For copies of the Press Drive Preliminary Plan, the Pontchartrain Park + Gentilly Woods Landscape Manual and the Dwyer Canal Revitalization Report, visit the Community Initiatives page at www.longuevue.com

NE I po SPGHB n American golfer in the early- to mid- 20th century who was tc OTLORH I Pahar GHTOOD barred from playing any of the courses in the New Orleans rk tr area that he taught white golfers on, caddied for, designed, or built. ai n

Mary Dora Coghill elementary school was built in the late1950s as the neighborhood public school, and St. Gabriel the Archangel also provided a Catholic-school education for the local children. The Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) was founded in 1959 after the Louisiana State Legislature passed Act 28 of the Extraordinary Session of the Louisiana Legislature of September 4, 1956, creating SUNO as a branch unit of Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College (Southern University.) Designated as a Historically Black College/University (HBCU), it opened its doors to students of all individuals regardless of race or color in 1964 following a federal lawsuit brought against the Louisiana State Board of Education. Having grown from one building in 1959 to eleven in 2005, SUNO saw all its buildings flooded terribly in 2005 after Katrina and Rita. However, in 2008 they opened their Pontchartrain Park campus once again, although more than 20 academic programs had been slashed in order to bring the school back. Pontchartrain Park flooded badly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, taking on water first from the overtopping of a section of floodwall of the Industrial Canal caused by storm surge channeled into the city from the MRGO Canal, then from major breaches sustained by floodwalls along the London Avenue Canal. The 2010 U.S. Census indicates that the population of Pontchartrain Park decreased 44% between 2000 and 2010. But the neighborhood is well served by the Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Association, the Pontchartrain Park CDC, and the NPN member organization, Pontilly Neighborhood Association (which serves Pontchartrain Park as well as neighboring Gentilly Woods.)

NEIG HBO SPOT RHOO LIGH D pon tch art T Par rain k

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

New Orleans Council Member District D

A Commentary from Cynthia Hedge Morrell

For twenty years, two communities existed, separate but equal. Gentilly Woods near Chef Menteur Highway was a subdivision built for whites. Pontchartrain Park, bounded by the Dwyer Canal, the Pontchartrain Golf Course and Southern University at New Orleans, was the first subdivision built exclusively for black homeowners in the country. In the 1970’s, the two communities recognized their shared goals and formed the Pontilly Community Association. And it was that shared strength and resolve that was vital to the recovery of their communities. There was never any doubt about their community coming back – never!

n 2005 New Orleans was hit by a horrific natural disaster, Hurricane Katrina and the failures of the levees and floodwalls protecting the City of New Orleans. The levees and floodwalls collapsed due to design and construction flaw, erosion of earth and overtopping by storm surge. As a result of the failures, over 1600 people were killed, one million were displaced and thousands of citizens lost their homes and possessions. In the aftermath of the hurricane, the city and the spirit of its people were devastated, yet it was vital to empower the citizens to rise up and give voice to the rebuilding of their city and their lives. The constituents of District D rose to the occasion and pioneered the first neighborhood planning process that set out a blue print for recovery and community rebuilding in the City of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina. While the city was still under water the residents of Pontchartrain Park met to prepare the groundwork of rebuilding this fifty year-old subdivision. At that initial meeting in Baton Rouge, a phone tree was established, email contacts were recorded and an internet search was done to locate other members of the community scattered across other states. With similar concerns, several other neighborhood associations contacted the City Council seeking information regarding regrouping and rebuilding, such as Gentilly After Katrina Group which became the Gentilly Civil Improvement Association (GCIA). Today GCIA serves as an umbrella organization to neighborhood associations in District D. I was told by constituents that developer Donald Trump was interested in the area because of the world class Joseph Bartholomew Golf Course and its proximity to the Lakefront Airport. We did not know if the rumors were true, but the leadership, vision and determination of people such as Concepcion “Connie” Tregre, King Wells, Victor Gordon, Alaina Miller and Father Douglas Doussan, Pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church and many, many others in the Pontilly community guided this precious neighborhood through the storm’s aftermath. They held treasured memories and fostered pride in their families and community and would not be deterred from rebuilding their communities. Families and members of the neighborhood clergy met in early September 2005 at St. Jean Vianney Catholic Church in Baton Rouge to strategize and create a plan of action. They met regularly to ensure that everyone was thoroughly informed. In December 2005, they traveled from Atlanta, Houston, Memphis and various locations to attend the Pontilly Community Association Charrette Planning Meeting held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Greek Church in New Orleans. Support and funding for the “Charrette” came from the business sector, private industry and neighborhood communities, including nationally known facilitator Burt Stitt. He enabled Pontchartrain Park residents to organize themselves and decide what issues were pertinent to rebuilding their communities. Finally he took residents through a step by step exercise to formulate a plan that was arrived at by consensus and goal driven. He facilitated spirited discussions on quality of life issues that allowed residents to vent their frustrations and then focus on moving forward with plans to rebuild their neighborhood. The final Charrette facilitated by world renowned Andres’ Duany, architect and urban planner, was held at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church and filled to capacity. That was the first step toward a rebuilding plan based on identified needs of their communities; and this was the beginning of the citizen participation process.

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

The issue of returning to a city whose levee system had been destroyed and compromised was very daunting. Many residents were still afraid to come back because of inadequate flood protection. In an effort to understand why the levees breached and how to build stronger levees, so that this catastrophe would never happen again, a delegation was sent from New Orleans to the Netherlands to learn firsthand about the technology of levee protection. From this experience, we brought back newfound knowledge and understanding about the technical aspects of the levee breaches and what is needed to secure the city, and also about the importance of empowering individuals to collectively take the destiny of their communities into their own hands. The trip to the Netherlands and its findings were the impetus in bringing together people impacted by the breached levees and the Army Corps of Engineers. While on an educational trip in China many years ago, I came across a Chinese saying, “The ox is slow, but the earth is patient”. It speaks to perseverance and endurance. It reminds me of the constant struggles to recover from catastrophic systematic failures associated with Hurricane Katrina and the failed levees. It also brings to mind the Pontilly Community Association. Their growth has been deliberate and steady, and the benefits of their patience and fortitude have been rewarded. 75% of the residents have to return to Gentilly Woods and 70% to Pontchartrain Park. In 2008, twentytwo neighborhood associations came together to create the Gentilly Festival, annually held at the Pontchartrain Park playground. Many families returned home to take part in this community festival. As a New Orleanian who experienced loss during Hurricane Katrina; and as the City Council representative, I feel privileged to have experienced the highs and lows of rebuilding our city. While there has been much growth and progress in Gentilly Woods and Pontchartrain Park, there is much more to do. Seven years later, houses sit vacant and blighted because families opted not to return. However there is a concerted effort to address the elimination of blight, beautify neighborhoods and attract young families. Today the Joseph M. Bartholomew, Sr. Golf Course is in full operation, as is the Pontchartrain Park Senior Center. In addition, the campus expansion of Southern University at New Orleans, an anchor in the community, encourages revitalization in the university’s enrollment and provides housing for out-of-state students for the first time. Adjacent to the University, Major League Baseball, in partnership with the New Orleans Recreation Department has a state-of-the-art baseball facility in Wesley Barrow Stadium. This project includes baseball, softball and T-Ball fields and indoor batting cages. The partnership establishes the Urban Youth Academy, the first of its kind in a non-major league baseball city. Next year, the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market will open at the location of the former Gentilly Shopping Mall. I congratulate Gentilly Woods, Pontchartrain Park and members of the Pontilly Association who truly exemplify the spirit of citizen participation. Their exhibition of collaboration, cooperation and creativity in the rebuilding of their neighborhoods is a model for the history books. Also I acknowledge the diligent work and collaboration of the Baptist Theological Seminary and GCIA, representing surrounding neighborhoods. Through my experiences, I believe that the sustainability of every neighborhood, every community, rests with the people within.

The New Orleans Food Cooperative

100% Owned by The 99% By Elizabeth Underwood, NOFC Outreach Coordinator

y favorite question I get as Outreach Coordinator for the New Orleans Food Cooperative (NOFC) is, “What’s a cooperative?” Given that the NOFC is the only operating cooperatively-owned grocery store in our state, it makes sense that our community doesn’t quite yet know how the NOFC is different from conventional grocery stores. This question tells me that people are curious about the NOFC and want to get involved in what’s happening here at our storefront in the New Orleans Healing Center. The more information shared, the better our chances for performing our mission of providing our community fresh, healthy groceries. Cooperation informs the oldest business model in the world. Imagine a wheat farmer with a field of wheat but no horse and buggy to get it to market. His neighbor has a horse and buggy but nothing to sell. They pool their resources, create a business that they own, and share the profits. That’s the basic structure of a co-op. In cooperatives, people coming together to pursue a shared goal is, in and of itself, the goal. This doesn’t mean co-ops don’t operate and compete in the world of business; it means that the principles guiding co-ops emphasize community over profits. The historical success of cooperatives throughout the world proves that this business model works. Cooperatives as a formal business model first became established in 1844, in Rochdale, England. The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers created principles that were later adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance. The 7 Cooperative Principles guide all types of co-ops to this day, including farms, housing, schools and any other type of business you can think of. Ownership is a huge motivation for many people who invest in co-ops as a political tool to exercise some socio-economic control over one’s destiny. No co-op owner has more power than another and all owners share the same rights and benefits. Some major co-ops in the U.S. include Ocean Spray, Land O’Lakes and Ace Hardware. Smaller co-ops range from grocery stores to businesses like the Latino Farmer’s Cooperative, C4 Tech and Design and Lagniappe Services, all based in New Orleans. Each of these cooperatives follows the Seven Cooperative Principles which are:

• • • • • • •

Open and Voluntary Membership Democratic Member Control Member Economic Participation Autonomy and Independence Education, Training and Information Cooperation Among Cooperatives Concern For Community

Once a group of people come together with a shared goal for a co-op, they invest personal equity to get the business off the ground and decide – democratically – what their specific mission will be. They follow the Seven Cooperative Principles in laying the foundation of their venture. The NOFC’s story began 11 years ago in Mid-City with John Calhoun spearheading open, community meetings that brought together a wide variety of folks who all wanted to see a cooperatively owned grocery store (with an emphasis on healthy, natural and local food) in an under-served neighborhood in New Orleans. They formed a Board, created NOFC’s Mission, started a buying club and began outreach in the community to get folks inspired and investing. Ten years later, this small group of locals raised enough equity to leverage for loans, secure a storefront in an area that wanted a full-service grocery store (8th Ward/St. Roch), purchase equipment and stock, and hire staff to get open. Our Grand Opening was Nov 12, 2011 – what an exciting day for everyone! The best thing is, YOU can become an Owner of the NOFC. It’s never too late, it’s easy (you can invest right at the register with any cashier) and there’s no limit to how many folks can get involved in this exciting new business. There are two levels of investment, $25 Limited Income and $100 Individual Share, both of which can be made in payments. The most important thing Owners get is an actual full-service grocery store in our neighborhood; the NOFC just would not exist without community investment. Other terrific benefits for Owners include special owner sales; a 10% discount on all groceries during our bi-monthly Owner Appreciation Days;

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case discounts; the ability to apply for our Food For All program which grants a 5% discount to folks who receive SNAP, WIC, and Section 8; the ability to participate in our Hands On Owner volunteer program which rewards volunteers with up to a 15% discount on groceries; the right to vote and run for the NOFC Board of Directors; and Patronage Refund checks in years that we turn a profit (based on one’s grocery shopping during that fiscal year). Remember that you don’t have to be an Owner to shop here: everyone is welcome. When you do visit us and consider becoming an Owner, remember that we provide more for our community than just groceries. The New Orleans Food Co-op is a mission driven business, we have eight Ends Statements, which guide all of the decisions that are made for the co-op.

Our Ends Statements • The New Orleans Food Co-op exists so that we have a healthy and thriving community. Because of all we do: • Our community, regardless of income has access to healthy food. • Regional farmers and producers are linked in a relationship with consumers. • The diversity of our community is represented. • Economically and environmentally sustainable practices are supported.

• Our community understands the cooperative model and experiences its economic and social value. • Community members, staff, and owners have a sense of pride, belonging, and fellowship in their cooperative. • Our community is knowledgeable about healthy eating and how their food is produced. In under a year of operations, the NOFC employs 19 locals in jobs that offer education and advancement, provides local vendors with an outlet for selling their products (we carry a wide variety of local products including produce, grains, condiments, dairy, eggs, meat, baked goods and health & beauty products), supports vendors who practice sustainable and humane business practices (including organic and Fair Trade), hosts free films and workshops, has an on-going Food Drive that provides up to 100lbs of food every month for local organizations, supports a wide variety of community events with donations, and increases our community’s access to fresh, healthy food. Investing in the NOFC is about more than the benefits we personally receive; it’s about sharing these benefits with everyone in our community, increasing our quality of life while creating a business that represents the best things about collective action.

I hope to see you at the NOFC soon; please write me at: eliu@nolafood.coop for more information or ask for me right at the Co-op so I can get to know you, answer your questions and discover how the New Orleans Food Cooperative can best serve you.

Get Connected to the New Orleans Neighborhood Network. THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

Post News & Events for Your Organization at NPNnola.com

Trumpet Awards Nomination Form & Categories The Nomination Deadline is October19 It’s that time again! For its fifth year, Neighborhoods Partnership Network is hosting the Trumpet Awards. We need you to nominate your picks for the most dedicated and effective community organizers and leaders in New Orleans in 2012. The Trumpet Awards annually honor individuals, elected officials, businesses and groups who share our vision in “making every New Orleans neighborhood a great place to live.” Please fill out the form and mail to NPN at 4902 Canal Street, Suite 301, New Orleans 70119 or fax to 504-940-2208 in order submit the nomination for the individuals/persons of your choose. You may also email nora@npnnola.com or keep an eye out for a link to an electronic form in the Tidbits on September 18 & 25, and October 2, 9, & 16. Winners will be awarded at the 2012 November/December Trumpet Release party on November 14, 2012. Your name: Your nominee’s email address: Your email address: Your nominee’s phone number: Your phone number: Is your nominee a member of NPN? (YES) (NO) Are you (or your neighborhood/non-profit organization) a member of NPN? (YES) (NO) Award you are nominating for: Why are you nominating this person/organization/project?

Awards will be presented in the following categories: Good Neighbor to Neighborhoods Award recognizes the neighborhood group that best supports others by sharing their knowledge, serving as a valuable resource for other neighborhood organizers. Neighborhood Phoenix Award recognizes the neighborhood that has had the greatest transformation in the past year, rising from the ashes to renew itself. Best Neighborhood Councilperson is awarded to the council member who is involved and responsive to community groups in her district. Best Education Advocate honors an individual or group who exemplify what it means to advocate for children in our public schools. Best City-Neighborhood Partnership celebrates an excellent partnering between the City of New Orleans and a neighborhood that allows the neighborhood and the city to grown and prosper together. Best Recovery Resource has the information, tools and/or volunteers you need when you need them, and are key to the recovery of our community. Best Community Beautification Project recognizes the best program wherein a group comes together to bring more beauty to a community. Best Business Neighborhood Project recognizes the best partnership between a local business and neighborhood association. Most Outstanding Youth Group is the youth group who works to reform the public school system and advocate for themselves. Best Faith-Based Community Initiative honors a church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious or faith-based organization that offers opportunities for connection and leads its neighborhood in the recovery process.

What city council district is your nominee in?

Model Citizen Award is for an individual who works so hard and so tirelessly that he or she becomes an example of what is possible for our community.

What is/are the neighborhood/s your nominee serves?

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

The New Orleans Fatherhood Consortium Community Spotlight

Football Coaches

Wayne Morris & Wilfred Morris

ontchartrain Park (New Orleans) — Brothers Wilfred and Wayne Morris are important figures to the young boys who enjoy sharpening their football skills in the Gentilly Woods playground. They are even more important figures to the parents of those young boys. They are important because they have made personal investments in the lives of their players as well as the Pontchartrain Park community. Coaching football for the Pontchartrain Patriots and Pontchartrain All-Star teams for over 10 years, they have developed a system for players in several age categories to benefit from their wisdom about football and life. Young boys in the 7-8 year-old, 9-10 year-old, 11-12 year-old, and 13-14 year-old division can all enjoy playing football under the tutelage of these dynamic brothers. Their impact on the young boys extends far beyond the football field - these coaches demand personal, academic, and athletic excellence from each of their players. “It is important to us that we prepare our players to be competitive at the high school level. Its not about wins and losses with us – it’s about teaching fundamentals and sound mechanics on and off the field”, says Wayne Morris. He went further to add “Our players and parents know what we expect. When parents inform us that grades are not up to par, we sit players – just last week, we didn’t allow a player to dress in uniform, let alone play in the game, because we got a bad report from his mother.” Aware that they are always an example and often a source of guidance in the eyes of their players, the Morris brothers take pride in living lives that demonstrate the need for great character in every situation that life has to offer. Several of their players lack positive male role models. Their constant influence has shown results in the character of their former players. “We are proud that we have been able to send our former players to the best high schools in the city of New Orleans. When coaches recruit our players, they have an expectation that our players will exceed standards on the field and in the classroom.” St. Augustine, McDonogh #35, Karr, Brother Martin, Holy Cross, and KIPP are just some of the schools that have players who are

former Pontchartrain Patriots. In fact, the Morris brothers proudly boast that up to 30 of their former players will be playing in the St. Augustine High School Jamboree games on Saturday at Tad Gormley Stadium. Both Wayne and Wilfred have successfully used sports and recreation as effective tools to teach life lessons that will take their players further in life than any sports-related skill could ever take them. They use their experience to help their players become great athletes but even better men. Wayne was very eager to say, “I can’t tell you how many times we have former players to come back to the park and help us in coaching our current players. The presence of former players helps us to make the connection between hard work and the rewards the come from hard work”. Each year, the Pontchartrain All-Star teams enjoy a road trip to Texas, Georgia, or Mississippi to participate in regional tournaments and games. For the Morris brothers, these trips are additional opportunities to interact with their players and to provide them with exposure to the world outside of New Orleans. “Giving these kids a chance to travel is important because some of them might not have any other opportunities to travel to two or three different states”, says Wayne. Recently, the Morris brothers were among 30 coaches nominated by the New Orleans Recreation Department as members of the 2012 New Orleans Favorite Fathers. NORD nominated these coaches for their dedication to their players’ development as well as to providing young males with a reliable, positive role model. It is pure passion that has kept these brothers committed to pushing their players to be the best. We should all applaud Wayne and Wilfred for their work often goes unnoticed. As long as there are coaches and men like the Morris brothers, we can all find hope that there are still men who are committed to teaching our young boys the important lessons needed to become successful men. So, if you are driving down Press Drive one weekday evening or Saturday morning, you will probably see coaching taking place on the field, but what the Coaches Wayne and Wilfred Morris see is preparation for life long after football ends.

Mission Vision In his hotel suite, David puts down his pen and pad and looks out to his city. The sun peeks over the skyline of houses, business buildings, the Arena and the Superdome. A new day is upon David, and he sees hope. He sees hope in the youth. They are the ones who will change this city. He wants to be part of that change. He wants to use his music to influence their decisions. Music moves them. It motivates what they love to do, and what they care about the most. They look up to musicians, especially rappers. The youth dress like they dress, speak like they speak, and do what they do. Rappers have a powerful influence on this generation’s daily decisions. David can educate them through his rapping. David retired from teaching after two years. He could teach a classroom of middle school students and develop their minds, but he wanted to lengthen his reach and influence. Artists have the ability to influence the lives of millions of listeners around the world. With that understanding, David quit his full-time job to pursue rapping professionally. He took on the name ‘Dee-1’ because he believes he is ‘the one’ to change the music industry. There is power to change lives through music and art, but right now, negativity reigns supreme in the industry. The music industry is led by “wack rappers” who, as Dee says, “spit poison [and] hold back the culture.” These artists do not claim responsibility for the matter of their songs. In their minds, they are reporters of the injustices of

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

By Charles Anderson

their day, bringing brutally honest portrayals of our nation’s most underserved communities. They do not offer solutions to these problems rather they sit on the sidelines on big issues of change. The youth support these artists. From them, they hear the message that it is cool to carry a gun, shoot someone and die young. The youth are falling in love with the culture of death and ‘wack rappers’ are leading them there. For Dee-1, music isn’t just about music. Music is about life. It’s about his mission. He has a mission in life. He wants to turn around this whole rap industry. A life on a mission is a meaningful life. Great art flows from a meaningful life. Dee’s poetic powers come from seeing meaning in his world. A life on a mission is an absurdly beautiful reality. Dee wants to introduce his audience to that beautiful reality. That is when change will come about in the industry. That beautiful reality is only open to those who live a life driven by the right things. “It’s all about the people,” Dee sings in one of his songs. His listeners who put relationships above their schedules, plans and fortune can see real hope, love, and peace alive in this world. The youth are supporting Dee’s message wherever he goes. From him, they hear the message that it is cool to use their minds, walk away from arguments and stay focused on their mission. The youth are falling in love with the culture of peace and Dee-1 is leading them there. As Dee looks out at his city, he sees the dawning of a new era of art. He sees a new kind of artist on the horizon. He sees the rising of music with a mission. He sees hope in the culture of peace that waits to be unleashed through the streets of New Orleans.

Excellence.Equity.Community. RecoverySchoolDistrict

A letter from

the Superintendent d

s the leader of a special school district designed to take underperforming schools and transform them into successful places for children to learn, I hold dear my responsibility to ensure that all of our students are college and career ready by the time they graduate from high school. Throughout New Orleans, our schools have made unprecedented gains through the charter transformation process: In 2006, only 23 percent of Recovery School District students in New Orleans scored at or above “basic” on state standardized tests. In 2012, 51 percent of students met this bar. This is the highest rate of progress in Louisiana. In 2005, 11 percent of special education students in New Orleans schools performed at their appropriate grade level. By 2011, 36 percent performed at that level. In 2005, African-American students in New Orleans performed eight points below African-American students elsewhere in Louisiana. By 2011, New Orleans’ African- American students actually performed better than AfricanAmerican students in the rest of the state. While progress has been made, there are still far too many students not fully able to realize their potential. And, this is why we are seeking entrepreneurial leaders with successful records to transform our remaining direct-run schools in New Orleans. Our experience and data show that these schools will be more successful as charter schools where decision-making power sits closest to the adults working with students. Integral to our vision of a system of autonomous high-performing schools is investing school communities in effective turnaround strategies. One of the avenues we are using to do this is the formation of School Community Councils (SCCs) for four direct-run schools included in this year’s charter application process. Community Councils are being established for Sarah T. Reed High, Mary D. Coghill Elementary, Paul B. Habans Elementary, and H.C. Schaumburg Elementary.

School Community Councils will be leading a series of public visioning sessions this fall to develop key community-based priorities for these schools and we encourage you to participate. At these sessions, participants will break out into smaller discussion groups to focus on particular topics such as academic programming for the school, extracurricular activities, and community participation in schools. The priorities generated from these discussions will serve as a basis for dialogue and partnership for the work involved in creating high-performing schools. We know that families and community members are eager to support schools in meaningful ways. By creating the School Community Councils and hosting the Visioning sessions, we look forward to this increased participation. Empowering families and school community members through increased access to information and opportunities to voice their concerns and ideas is central to our goal of ensuring academic success for all students. If these critical stakeholders are invested in turnaround strategies we can continue to improve underperforming schools, and create great opportunities for our students, families and communities. I encourage you to visit our website www.rsdla.net, visit one of our Parent Centers, or call our toll free number (877) 343-4773 to learn more about the success taking place in our schools and to get details about the School Visioning Sessions.

Patrick Dobard Superintendent

NOLA TimeBank Collaborates on

Community Anti-Litter Project By Gretchen Zalkind

Photo: Meg Jurisisch

he four inches of torrential rains that fell on the afternoon of Friday, July 20 forced most New Orleanians to cancel plans and try to make their way home through the watery streets. Despite the challenging weather, half a dozen hardy members of the New Orleans TimeBank were determined to pick up litter in the Leonidas neighborhood. The Leonidas neighborhood “Trash Bash” was the first such event organized by NOLA TimeBank. Green Light New Orleans and the Evangelical Lutheran Church Youth co-sponsored the project. Unfortunately severe weather limited the extent of the project but volunteers still managed to collect over 6 large trash bags full of trash and debris from the streets near Claiborne and Dante Streets. Members of the NOLA TimeBank that participated in the clean-up received service credits for the hours they worked. They will redeem those hours when they receive services from other members of the NOLA TimeBank. Some of the

services available from the NOLA TimeBank members include: piano lessons, yard work, transportation, light construction, and computer assistance. The NOLA TimeBank is looking forward to more neighborhood cleanup events in other parts of the city. TimeBank coordinator Marcela Singleton explains “This is a great way to get neighbors out and feeling a part of the neighborhood and community. It’s also a great way to spread the word about the NOLA TimeBank.” According to Keep America Beautiful, Inc. a national non-profit working to prevent litter, people litter when they don’t feel a sense of ownership of an area and litterers feel free to litter when they see that someone has littered before them. Neighborhood cleanup efforts limit the environmental consequences of littering and help deter future littering. NOLA TimeBank is happy to partner with neighborhood organizations in coordinating clean-up events and rewarding volunteers with TimeBank service credits. For more information visit the website: www.nolatimebank.org, call (504) 484-9058 or email gretchen@nolatimebank.org. To learn more about Time Banking and the NOLA TimeBank attend the upcoming workshop on September 29, from 10:00am —11:30am at the Freret Neighborhood Center at 4605 Freret Street.

THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

Food Sustainability Issues in New Orleans and Beyond By Meaghan Jerrett, The New Orleans Food & Farm Network

ver the last half century, the American food system has experienced dramatic changes. As technology developed, larger farms replaced small-scale farming. Government subsidies increased production of commodity crops such as corn and soybeans instead of vegetable and fruit varieties. As small farms shut down, food production has become less local; the average meal eaten by an American today travels 1,500 miles from where it is grown to where it is consumed. The food we eat has become much less diverse, as well. The changes in our food system have had consequences for our health, our finances and our environment. The food that is readily available in many communities, including parts of New Orleans, is highly processed and does not contain the many healthy, fresh ingredients that were more common a few generations ago. One in three Americans born after the year 2000 will develop Type II diabetes; they will end up with additional health care costs of about $6,600 per year. The environmental toll we are paying is also high. As a result of subsidizing commodity crops such as corn and soybeans, we have lost 75% of crop diversity during the 20th century. This loss of biodiversity makes our food system much more vulnerable. Of the current population of New Orleans, 27% of adults (and 42% of children) live in poverty. In many neighborhoods in New Orleans, a bag of chips is cheaper and easier to find than a piece of fruit. Affordable and healthy fresh food simply isn’t available to many residents. This systematic lack of access to healthy and fresh food led to New Orleans being declared one of the worst food deserts in the country in 2011. Low-income and socially disadvantaged populations are acutely affected by this lack of access to healthy food. The New Orleans Food & Farm Network (NOFFN) seeks to address the problems that come out of having an industrialized food system by supporting the creation of an alternative local, sustainable food system. NOFFN develops various projects and initiatives to empower the people in most desperate need of fresh, healthy food to grow it themselves. Since its inception in 2002, NOFFN has worked in historically underserved neighborhoods to increase healthy food access. Projects have

ranged from building gardens with residents, schools, and other community organizations to providing technical support for up and coming urban farms and community gardens. NOFFN also provides resources and information to anyone interested in learning more about growing their own food in the form of the NOLA Growers’ Guide and the Grow Mo’ Betta Workshop Series. The NOLA Grower’s Guide is a free comprehensive guide to urban agriculture in New Orleans, and includes everything from tipsheets on creating healthy soil to a planting calendar for the New Orleans area. The Grow Mo’ Betta Training Series is a set of educational workshops open to the public which are held monthly to provide training for individuals growing or producing their own food. The workshops cover topics from how to start your own garden to how to raise backyard chickens to how to preserve the food you grow. NOFFN works with a variety of partner organizations on projects where their goals overlap. In July, NOFFN partnered with Green Light Nola and youth volunteers from the Evangelical Lutheran Youth Conference to build 42 gardens, both residential and community. The recipients of these gardens also received ongoing support as they began the process of growing their own healthy food in their backyards. Residential gardens provide individuals and families with more healthy food, exercise, new skills and an avenue to preserve local food culture. This past spring, NOFFN also partnered with the Southern Food & Beverage Museum to create the NOLA Edible Forest. This resulted in the distribution of one thousand fruit trees to residents, schools, community gardens and other organizations. Over the course of the next year, NOFFN and the Recirculating Farms Coalition will be building a new urban farming and food center in the heart of New Orleans that joins innovative water-based recirculating farming with traditional soil-based growing. When finished, the Center will be a hub for research, education and training on growing, cooking and eating healthy food in the city and beyond. The projects that NOFFN undertakes, from building gardens to educational classes to the free seed bank, are all designed to support the development of a more sustainable food system and, eventually, a more sustainable city.

If you have an urban agriculture project that you would like to partner with NOFFN on, you can fill out a Potential Project Form on their website (www.noffn.org). If you would like to learn about new projects, classes, and other opportunities, you can also sign up to receive a monthly e-newsletter on the website as well. THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

Pontchatrain Park Senior Citizen’s Photograph

The Floral Landscape of Longue Vue House & Gardens

By: Cindia Davis, Executive Director, Pontchatrain Park Senior Citizen Center

arlier this summer, I met Jim Belfon, Founder and Director of the Gulf South Photography Project (GSPP). I met him at the New Orleans African American Museum (NOAAM), in his capacity as NOAAM’s Artist In Residence. During the course of our conversation, he shared with me GSPP’s educational and artistic program of classes and workshops for our community’s youth, young adults and senior citizens. I invited Jim to make a presentation to the seniors citizens at Pontchatrain Park Community Center. During his presentation, he discussed and demystified the use and care of consumer and professional digital cameras, as the seniors took each others’ portraits and macro photographs of flowers. The seniors were extremely receptive and excited about his presentation and subsequently participated in a multi-week nature photography workshop series with him. In the weeks that followed, Jim Belfon and his “photo posse” came with equipment in tow. Most of the seventeen seniors brought cameras ready to learn how to use their new invention “the digital camera”. Each class lasted two or more hours. Belfon and his crew provided cameras for the seniors who did not have one available. Because of the large number of seniors involved, six students from Audubon Charter School and St. Augustine High School volunteered to help with the workshops. I think the students enjoyed working with the seniors as much as the seniors enjoyed their attention. After several weeks of hands-on workshop sessions at the Pontchatrain Center, the seniors were invited to Long Vue House and Gardens for a field trip to take photographs of their beautiful plants and flowers. American Limousine Co. provided a limousine bus to transport the group and GSPP provided a sumptuous lunch for the seniors at Long Vue House and Gardens. The photography workshops and field trip were enjoyed by all and resulted in a wonderful array of color photographs of the flowers and landscape of Longue Vue House and Gardens. Additionally, the Arts Council of New Orleans has offered their Central Business District gallery space to feature the photographic artistry of the seniors. Enclosed is a group portrait, candid and nature photos produced by the seniors, interns, volunteers, as well as staff who participated in Gulf South Photography Project’s Nature Photography Workshop, as well as some of their thoughts and reflections.

Second Annual

Food Day: October 24 By Lilia Smelkova

ood Day is a nationwide celebration of and movement toward more healthy, affordable, and sustainable food culminating in a day of action on October 24 every year. Created by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest and driven by a diverse coalition of food movement leaders and citizens, Food Day aims to bring us closer to a food system with “real food” that is produced with care for the environment, animals, and the women and men who grow, harvest, and serve it. The inaugural year, 2011, featured more than 2,300 events in all 50 states, and organizers intend the non-partisan Food Day to be an even greater success in 2012. Some 2011 Food Day events were ambitious, such as an Eat-In in Times Square and a food and music festival with7,000 attendees in Savannah, Georgia. In New Orleans, the Renaissance Project partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank to organize enrollment of eligible households in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Families across the city celebrated with dinner parties featuring Louisiana ingredients and primarily local cuisine. This year, Food Day seeks to inspire countless events, big and small, with individuals and organizations coming together on and around October 24 to learn, debate, and mobilize to improve our food system and the American diet.

Food Day is focused on five main goals: • • • • •

Food Day’s national partners include the American Public Health Association, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Farmers Market Coalition, and many others. Notable food activists serve on Food Day Advisory Board, such as food author Michael Pollan; restaurateur, author and food activist Alice Waters; nutrition authorities Walter Willett, Kelly Brownell and Marion Nestle; filmmaker Morgan Spurlock; and cookbook author and Food Network host Ellie Krieger. America’s mayors formalized their support for Food Day in June, when the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution recognizing October 24 as Food Day and urging all mayors to participate. How can you participate? Consider hosting an event, whether it is a private healthy potluck dinner using Food Day recipes, a movie screening,

To learn more about Pontchatrain Senior Citizen Center’s programs and activities, contact; Cindia Davis, Executive Director; 504 282 2112, or Email: cindia828@yahoo.com To Learn more about Gulf South Photography Project’s programs and activities, contact; Jim Belfon, Executive Director; 504 579 4346, or Email: jbelfonpch@aol.com 26

Promote safer, healthier diets Support sustainable and organic farms Reduce hunger Reform factory farms to protect the environment Support fair working conditions for food and farm workers

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rally, neighborhood party, conference, petition-signing event, or other activity, and post it on the interactive map on FoodDay.org. Visitors to the new FoodDay.org website will also be able to find events near them, create their own, and use social media to spread the word. Organizers also plan to make unprecedented use of social media, encouraging people to share tips for “Eating Real” on Facebook and using the #FoodDay2012 hashtag on Twitter. At home, families can participate in Food Day by rediscovering cooking together and eating at home, and by consuming healthful and locally grown produce. Food Day’s healthy cookbooklet from celebrity chefs is a great (free) resource. As a kick-off for Food Day 2012 in New Orleans, Sankofa CDC and Healthy Heart Community Prevention Project will be hosting a Food and Fitness Fair at the Sankofa Farmers Market on Saturday, October 20, in collaboration with community partners, residents, and health organizations. The Food and Fitness Fair will take place in the front yard of ARISE Academy at Charles Drew Elementary School at 3819 St Claude Ave, with an array of health screenings, fitness, and healthy cooking demonstrations using fresh food from our farmers market. Students are planning workshops for community members about the benefits of eating fresh food and displays to respond to junk food advertising problems. Food truck vendors will offer cooking demonstrations using fresh food from the farmers market. Free cardiovascular screenings to measure glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI will be provided. Ninth Ward residents can benefit from the Veggie Power Dollars program, an incentive program that offers free tokens at the Sankofa Farmers Market to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables for low-income seniors and families with children. Students will also lead garden tours and sell the fresh vegetables and herbs they have been cultivating this year. “Nation-wide Food Day celebrations put sustainable, nutritious food in the spotlight,” said Rashida Ferdinand, Executive Director of Sankofa CDC. “Regular access to fresh, healthy produce helps promote good health and decrease risk of diet-related diseases, with sweeping effects on our health, the environment, and the success of the young people in our community.” Food Day will reach millions of Americans through events on college campuses, schools, houses of worship, and restaurants. But Food Day can also be celebrated by simple, solitary acts of personal responsibility, such as stopping drinking soda or other sugar-based drinks, or forgoing fast-food in favor of a healthy, brown-bag lunch.

Latino Farmers Cooperative Growing Farmers and Ranchers Growing Our Food “I have seven great-grandchildren, and none of them are interested in farming,” said Don Ashford of Ashford Cattle Company as he lead a recent agriculture tour of his cattle ranch in Ethel, Louisiana. He was addressing a small group of Hispanic/Latino beginning farmers and ranchers, members of the Latino Farmers Cooperative of Louisiana (the Co-op), as they walked Ashford’s farm north of Baton Rouge. Ashford explained how he used electric fence to graze his cattle, and his formula for determining how large the plot should be based on the number, size and nutritional needs of the animals. “I want to help support and teach the next generation of farmers,” Ashford said, inviting the group to return with their colleagues in the Latino community to learn more. The Co-op facilitated this interaction. The New Orleans-based organization has been supporting budding Hispanic/Latinos farmers in Southeast Louisiana since 2008, providing education, resources and space to grow food. The cultural heritage of this population is based on what Americans consider “organic” farming and ranching – using little if any fossil fuels and grazing cattle on grass, not feeding them corn and grains. “That is the way it is done where we come from,” said the Co-op Director Kathia Duran, who is from Costa Rica. The Co-op is helping Latinos pursue their passion, make a living for themselves, and feed a growing number of Americans interested in locally grown, sustainably harvested food. Connecting rural Latinos with those in the city allows them to share information, resources, and know-how. The membership of the Louisiana Ranchers and Growers Association, which had its annual meeting in Baton Rouge on August 18, welcomed the Latinos with open arms. During the meeting, Duran put out a call to the audience to help her identify Latinos in the region who were developing their

own agriculture operations. She also solicited mentors and trainers for Latinos hoping to learn tricks of the trade. She had an enthusiastic response. “It is great that we are going to be able to be a part of the transfer of know-how and skills from one generation to another and one ethnicity to another,” Duran said. “That is key”. A former artisan cheesemaker and farmers market vendor, Duran saw a need and an opportunity in 2008, as she understood the plight of the Latinos in the New Orleans area – a great need for access to nutritious foods – and a desire to create farming enterprises of their own. By the end of 2008, the organization had established a food pantry and a community garden; two years later the Co-op had over 300 members, two more community gardens, one micro-farm and regular volunteers groups from all over the country that helped develop the farms and maintain the crops. Last year, the organization changed direction to respond to funding priorities and address the changing needs of the Latino population. The focus now is to help Latinos access resources and assistance to develop farms and ranches of their own. To that end, the organization obtained a grant from the USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), as part of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) along with W.K. Kellogg and the Greater of New Orleans Foundation. The first step in developing this program is to do an assessment of the resources available, the challenges Latinos face in accessing them, and how the available programs could be improved in order to reach this important population. “The USDA has made an effort to invest and to reach out to minority and disadvantaged groups with this program,” Duran said. Thanks to the support from those agencies, “we are the only game in town – and we are gluing and integrating the Latino community.”

For more information about the Latino Farmers Cooperative of Louisiana, Inc., logon to www.LatinoFarmersCoop.org or email info@latinofarmerscoop.org. For information on the USDA’s NIFA program, visit http://start2farm.org

Food Access In The Lower Ninth Ward By Jenga Mwendo

Alongside music, New Orleans is best known for its rich food culture, which is steeped deeply in African-American traditions. Yet in many predominately African- American neighborhoods in the city, access to quality, affordable food is limited and sometimes non-existent. The Lower Ninth Ward is one such neighborhood; it has lacked even a basic grocery store since before Hurricane Katrina. But after the storm, many grocery stores all over the city closed and didn’t re-open. Now, the Lower Ninth Ward is considered a “food desert”, a neighborhood lacking adequate access to quality food. Lack of food access is more than just an inconvenience. Food is one of our most basic needs. Studies have shown that limited access to supermarkets may reduce consumption of healthy foods, resulting in poor nutrition and increased prevalence of obesity. Obesity is now an epidemic in this country, and Louisiana is ranked 5th in the country with a 31% obesity rate, according to the Center for Disease Control. Additionally, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are all diet-related illnesses that disproportionately affect the African-American community. Since April 2012, residents and community leaders of the Lower Ninth Ward have been meeting monthly to create a Food Action Plan to address the need for better food options in the neighborhood. To be completed by the end of the year, the Plan will outline what the community wants in regards to food and how the community itself can take action to get it. A project of the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (sustainthenine. org), this community-led initiative has already had some successes. A volunteer Core Group formed early on and began to inform the direction of the Food Action Planning Initiative. In July 2012, this group formed the

Lower Ninth Ward Food Access Coalition with a mission to invest in the health of the community by supporting the development of sustainable food systems in the Lower Ninth Ward that are directed by and for its residents. They have also met with The Food Trust and Hope Credit Union, with whom the City has partnered to implement the Fresh Food Retailers Initiative. This fall, the Lower Ninth Ward Food Access Coalition is planning an event coinciding with National Food Day (foodday.org) to draw attention to the Lower Ninth Ward’s “food desert” status and what the community is doing in response. This event will help to mobilize more people in the community to join the effort, and to raise funds to support the implementation of the Food Action Plan. On October 20th, the Lower Ninth Ward Food Access Coalition will erect a “Grocery Store For-A-Day,” a replication of the interior of a grocery store, in the parking lot of All Souls Church on the corner of St. Claude and Caffin Avenues. The event will also feature speakers, entertainment, food and gardening workshops, health screenings, games/activities for children and a farm tour. Partners include New Orleans Food and Farm Network, Community Kitchen, Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, and Grow Dat Youth Farm.

For more information about the Lower Ninth Ward Food Access Coalition or the “Grocery Store For-A-Day” event, contact the CSED at (504) 324-9955 or foodsecurity@ sustainthenine.org. See the National Food Day website for more information about the event – http://www.foodday. org/12203/grocery_store_for_a_day. THE TRUMPET | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 2012

A Healthy Heart Column by Dr. Daphne P. Ferdinand, PhD, RN

Being a Good Steward for Your Family’s Health

ost parents realize the importance of practicing good health habits to maintain good family health. However, trying to get your family to select nutritious foods, be physically active, and limit the amount of screen time can pose challenges. For instance, do you find yourself saying at times, “My children don’t like to eat healthy foods”, “I don’t have time to cook”; “I don’t have time to go walking, or “It’s easy just to let the kids watch TV when I have a busy day”. Consider how these statements impact your ability to be a good steward for your family’s health. Parents are responsible for managing their home, and key to shaping the behavior of their children such as: developing the rules within the home, selecting what children eat, how much physical activity they receive, how much TV they watch, and play on computer or electronic games. Parents have an incredible opportunity to utilize health resources to teach their children behaviors that would help prevent serious health problems for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, lifestyle changes are easier to make when there is support of those we are close to. Therefore, engaging the entire family in this process will help everyone make healthy choices and lead healthy lives. Here are some valuable tips from the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute’s We Can! Program which can help parents learn to become good stewards for family health.

Be A Good Role Model

Research has shown that children and adolescents really do listen to their parents and model their behavior. Children look up to their parents and want to do the things that they are doing. If you eat nutritious foods, are physically active, and maintain a healthy weight, chances are your child will do the same. For example, when you participate in an exercise class a couple of times a week, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, or drink water instead of soda most of the time, you are sending a powerful message to your children. Without even knowing it, you are serving as a role model for your family. Create a healthy weight home environment. You can make changes in your home environment to support your family in making healthy choices. For example, you can switch from whole milk to low-fat or fat-free milk, play ball outside with your children after work, or not allow them to have a television in their bedrooms. All of these actions help create a healthy weight home environment.

Involve Younger Children In The Decisions

Talk to your kids about making smart food and physical activity choices. It will be easier if everyone can help support each other to eat well and move more. For example, every weekend have one or more of your children pick one physical activity for the whole family to do. Have your younger child come with you to the grocery store to pick out some healthy foods he or she would like to try.

Have Older Children Make Decisions

Older kids might not be as open to you telling them what to do, so tailor your request to the child’s age and temperament. For example, for older children who are learning to be more independent, you can explain that you want them to be more active, but then ask them what they want to do rather than tell them what they should be doing. You also could let them know that you bought some healthier snacks for them to try and tell them you trust them to prepare something healthy when they’re hungry. Encourage your family to make healthy weight decisions together. It’s often easier to stick to healthy weight actions if everyone in the family has agreed to them. For example, your family could decide to only drink fatfree milk or water at meals instead of soda or sugary beverages, walk to a neighbor or friend’s house instead of driving, or take up a family sport instead of watching TV.

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Don’t Make Drastic Dietary Changes

If your family normally drinks whole milk, try buying 2 percent low-fat milk and see if they notice a difference. After a few weeks, try reducing the fat content again to 1 percent reduced- fat milk. Too drastic a change may upset your family; it’s best to introduce new foods gradually.

Make The New Health Behavior Easy For Them

Put a bowl of washed fruit, such as grapes or apples, on the table. It’s easy if they can just grab the fruit for a snack without thinking!

Limit Foods High In Fat And Sugar In The House

Use the Nutrition Facts label to find foods lower in calories, fat, and sugar. This will help your children eat fewer of these foods. Make available plenty of healthy foods for them to choose, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat milk and milk-products.

Emphasize The Benefits

The apparent benefits of making nutritious food choices and increasing physical activity will be different for you and your children. Youth will likely not care that a nutritious diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables can help prevent certain diseases. Or that being physically fit can reduce the risk of heart disease later in life. However, they are likely to care about growing tall and strong, being attractive, or being good at sports. Helping them make connections between their choices and benefits that are meaningful to them may help them try new things.

Create Opportunities For Your Family to Spend Time Together Doing Something Active

Plan fun and active things for your family to do together, such as play in the park, walk through the zoo, tour some local sites, hike, or swim.

Checkout these online resources below to help manage your family’s health. Remember, “Healthy Families Lead to Healthy Communities.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Weight it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle! Tips for Parents – Ideas to Help Children Maintain a Healthy Weight http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/children/

Healthy Heart Community Prevention Project http://healthyheartcpp.org

National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute We Can! Program

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/

National Heart Lung & Blood Institute We Can! Program Using the Nutrition Facts Labels http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/

health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/eat-right/nutrition-facts.htm

U.S. Food and Drug Administration How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Labels http://www.fda.gov/Food/

ResourcesForYou/Consumers/NFLPM/ucm274593.htm

Dr.Daphne P Ferdinand, PhD, RN is the executive director of the Healthy Heart Community Prevention Project and is implementing the We Can! Program, a healthy weight education program, in the New Orleans area. Contact 504-534-8231 or email daphnep@ healthyheartcpp.org for more information. “We Can! Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition, We Can! and the We Can! logos are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS),” and “Participation by Healthy Heart Community Prevention Project, Inc. does not imply endorsement by DHHS/ NIH/ NHLBI.”

Algiers Point Association Every 1st Thursday of the month @ 7pm Holy Name of Mary School Cafeteria Broadmoor Improvement Association 3rd Monday of every other month @ 7pm Andrew H. Wilson Charter School Cafeteria 3617 General Pershing St. New Orleans, LA 70125 http://www.broadmoorimprovement.com Bunny Friends Neighborhood Association Every second Saturday of the month Mt. Carmel Baptist Church 3721 N Claiborne Ave Bywater Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7p.m. Holy Angels Cafeteria 3500 St. Claude Ave. Carrollton Riverbend Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Thursday of the month Parish Hall of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Corner of Carrollton and Zimple Carrollton United Every second Monday at 5:00p.m. every other month St. John Missionary Baptist Church, corner of Leonidas and Hickory Central City Partnership Every last Friday of the month @ 1p.m. Allie Mae Williams Center 2020 Jackson Ave. http://www.centralcitypartnership.org

Neighborhood Meetings

Central City Renaissance Alliance (CCRA) 1809 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. http://www.myccra.org Chapel of the Holy Comforter Every 4th Thursday of the month @ 6:30p.m. 2200 Lakeshore Drive Claiborne-University Neighborhood Association Quarterly Meetings, time and date TBA Jewish Community Center 5342 St. Charles Ave Downtown Neighborhood Improvement Association (DNIA) Every 3rd Monday of the month @ 7p.m. Musicians’ Union Hall 2401 Esplanade Ave (entrance through parking lot on Bayou Road and Rocheblave Street) DeSaix Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Saturday of the month @10a.m. Langhston Hughes Academy 3519 Trafalgar Street http://danadesaix.org East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Committee (ENONAC) Every 2rd Tuesday of each month @ 6 p.m. St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church http://www.enonac.org Faubourg Delachaise Neighborhood Association Quarterly meetings, time/date/ location TBA http://fdna-nola.org

Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association Board Meeting: Every 2nd Monday 7p.m. Holy Rosary Cafeteria 1638 Moss Street General Membership: 3rd Wednesday, every other month 6:30pm Black Gold Room at the Fairgrounds http://www.fsjna.org Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association Every 2nd Thursday of the month @ 6:00p.m. True Vine Baptist Church 2008 Marigny St. Filmore Gardens Neighborhood Association (meet the 4th Thursday of each month) Rouse’s Food Market (Leon C. Simon & Franklin Avenue) 6:30p.m. to 8:00p.m. (No meetings in Nov. and Dec.) Garden District Association 1 annual meeting per year, time/date/ location TBA Gentilly Civic Improvement Association (GCIA) General Membership- Every 3rd Saturday of the month 10am Board Meeting - Every 3rd Wednesday of the month 6:30p.m. Edgewater Baptist Church 5900 Paris Ave. Gentilly Heights East Neighborhood Association Every 3rd Monday of the month @ 6p.m. Dillard University Dent Hall – Room 104 Gentilly Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association Every 3rd Monday of the month @ 6:30p.m . VOA – 2929 St. Anthony Ave. (meetings on hold until further notice)

Gentilly Terrace and Gardens Improvement Association Every 2nd Wednesday of the month @ 7pm Gentilly Terrace School 4720 Painters St. http://www.gentillyterrace.org Hoffman Triangle Neighborhood Association Every 2nd Tuesday of the month @ 5:30p.m. Pleasant Zion Missionary Baptist Church 3327 Toledano Street Hollygrove Neighbors Association Saturdays at 12:00 (noon) St. Peter AME Church 3424 Eagle St. (Eage St. and Edinburgh St.) www.neighborhoodlink.com (type in 70118 and click on “Hollygrove Neighbors”) blog us at http://www. hollygroveneighbors.blogspot.com/ Holy Cross Neighborhood Association Every 2nd and 4th Thursday @ 5:30 Center for Sustainability, Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church 5130 Chartres, Lizardi and Chartres http://www.helpholycross.org Irish Channel Neighborhood Association 2nd Thursday of the month at 7p.m. Irish Channel Christian Fellowship 819 First St. http://www.irishchannel.org Lake Bullard Homeowners Association See website for meeting schedule Cornerstone United Methodist Church 5276 Bullard Ave. http://www.lakebullard.org Lake Catherine Civic Association Every 2nd Tuesday of the month @ 7p.m.

Get Connected to the New Orleans Neighborhood Network. Post News & Events for Your Organization at NPNnola.com 30

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Lake Willow Neighborhood Every 2nd Saturday of the month @ 10a.m. St. Maria Goretti Church Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (NENA) Every 2nd Saturday @ 12 noon NENA – 1120 Lamanche St. http://www.9thwardnena.org Melia Subdivision Every 2rd Saturday of the month @ 5p.m. Anchoren in Christ Church 4334 Stemway Drive Mid-City Neighborhood Organization General Meeting – Second Monday of every month@ 6:30p.m. Grace Episcopal Church 3700 Canal Street http://www.mcno.org Milneburg Neighborhood Association Chapel of the Holy Comforter 2200 Lakeshore Dr. 6:30 p.m. Monthly meetings are every 4th Thursday of the month

Oak Park Civic Association Every 3rd or last Tuesday of the month Paris Oaks/Bayou Vista Neighborhood Association Last Saturday of every month @ 4p.m. Third District Police Station 4650 Paris Avenue Pensiontown of Carrollton Neighborhood Association Every 1st Saturday of the month @ 2p.m. Leonidas House Community Center (under renovation) 1407 Leonidas St. Temporarily housed at St. Paul AME Church 8540 Cohn St. (corner of Leonidas and Cohn) Pontilly Association Pontilly Disaster Collaborative – Every 3rd Wednesday of the month General Meeting – every 2nd Saturday of the month http://www.pontilly.com

Ask City Hall

Rosedale Subdivision Last Friday of every month @5:30 Greater Bright Morning Star Baptist Church 4253 Dale Street Seabrook Neighborhood Association Monthly meetings are every second Monday Gentilly Terrace School 4720 Painters Street Tall Timbers Owners Association Semi-annual meetings: Second Wednesday of October & April 7p.m. Board meetings: Second Wednesday of every other month 7p.m Tunisburg Square Homeowners Civic Association, Inc. Every 2nd Monday of the month @ 6:30p.m. http://tunisburg.org West Barrington Association 1st Tuesday of every month @ 6p.m. Holiday Inn Express 70219 Bullard Avenue

Send your neighborhood meeting details to: web@npnnola.com

Neighborhood Partnership Network 4902 Canal Street • #301 New Orleans, LA 70119 504.940.2207 • FX 504.940.2208 TheTrumpet@npnnola.com

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District A Susan G. Guidry City Hall, Room 2W80 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1010 Fax: (504) 658-1016 Email: sgguidry@cityofno.com District B Diana Bajoie City Hall, Room 2W10 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1020 Fax: (504) 658-1025 District C Kristin Gisleson Palmer City Hall, Room 2W70 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1030 Fax: (504) 658-1037 Email: kgpalmer@cityofno.com District D Cynthia Hedge-Morrell City Hall, Room 2W20 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1040 Fax: (504) 658-1048 E-mail: chmorrell@cityofno.com District E Jon D. Johnson City Hall, Room 2W60 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658-1050 Fax: (504) 658-1058 E-mail: jdjohnson@cityofno.com Council Member-At-Large Stacy Head City Hall, Room 2W10 1300 Perdido Street Phone: (504) 658 -1020 Fax: (504) 658-1025 Email: shead@cityofno.com Council Member-At-Large Jacquelyn Clarkson City Hall, Room 2W50 1300 Perdido Street New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 658-1070 Fax: (504) 658-1077

NEIGHBOR OOD SPOTLIGH pontcha HT rtrain Park