The state of things.

Just a few updates:

1. Gutting of the 9th Ward is nearly complete. Gutters are now working on the "bottom of the barrel," the last few houses on the list. This is huge, as Common Ground has been gutting for about a year now, and it's something the organization as a whole should be proud of.

2. The 7th Ward project is off to a good start, but not without a few bumps along the road. We haev opened up an emergency shelter in the 7th, serving as transitional housing for families in need. Jake Stevens, Oxy student, described to us the couple he worked with there yesterday: they had spent the last week living underneath a bridge, and were so grateful that CG could provide them with a place to stay, a place where they wouldn't have to be woken up every hour from an intruder or rats.

Trash pick up has been monotonous but we're making progress, and today hopefully we will branch out into other areas of the 7th (we've sort of just been concentrated in one area due to lack of a map.) However, we've run into some problems. We have been picking up trash in black garbage bags for two days, but yesterday were told by the local government that they would not pick it up unless it was in clear bags. Considering how scarce clear bags are, and how the city routinely picks up black trash bags everywhere else in the city, this smacks as an arbitrary action intended to make things more difficult for us. After a long search, we managed to find clear bags, and we'll play their game, but it really is annoying --- doubly so, since this is the city's job in the first place.

3. On Saturday night, there will be a fundraiser for Common Ground. The TBC Jazz Band, a group of young musicians (aged 17-21) from the Woodlands, will be playing on Frenchman street. The band has been touted by The Roots and are considered to be one of the more exciting groups out there, so it should be great.

4. On Monday, there will be a protest/march at the St. Bernard projects. If you haven't gathered it yet, New Orleans is in the midst of a terrible housing crisis, and the HUD intends to bulldoze the St. Bernard houses, supposedly in an effort to reduce crime. It hardly makes sense; after all, the city's crime rate is higher than it has ever been, and so too is the amount of New Orleans citizens without homes. One would think that preserving the housing would curb crime, but it seems that HUD believes otherwise. The whole thing is quite upsetting, and you can read more about it here:
http://www.justiceforneworleans.org
http://www.survivorsvillage.com

5. A sickness has been sweeping through the library and taking down several of the Woxy kids. It seems to be some kind of stomach flu. Fortunately, I haven't been infected yet, and here's hoping it will stay that way.

That's it for now. I'm taking a break from trash-pick up to do some work here at St. Mary's. As volunteers we are required to sign up for two chores a week, and today I signed up to do grounds and security. I'll have some down time between the two so maybe I will post some pictures, but who knows.

Have a great day!