Drowned Communities
I'm currently at my family's property in Brewton, Alabama; we were some of the lucky ones with someplace to go and my parents' neighborhood was the place of “least destruction” in the New Orleans area. Let me just tell you a little more about our larger situation.
To understand a little bit about the layout of New Orleans, go here. Just to orient you: New Orleanians don't refer to north-south-east-west when referring to where they live. They relate it to a neighborhood or a body of water. Expressions are “lakeview,” “across the river,” “out by Bayou St. John,” or “Bywater.” Even in the city, if you wanted to tell someone where something is located, you'd say it is on the “uptown, riverside” of a street, as opposed to the “southwest side.”
You've probably seen pictures of downtown New Orleans. What you haven't seen, because of its inaccessibility, is New Orleans East, St. Bernard Parish and the 9th Ward. Much of this area is coastal and surrounded by oil refineries. It's also home to many poor Catholic residents. Not only is the water there over the tops of many homes (where it will be for many more weeks), but it is loaded with toxic chemicals and sludge from the damage to the refineries. Reports I've received are that the police rescue teams can't even get into many of the homes to check for survivors or bodies because of the sludge and the level of the water. They are also finding floating cars with dead people inside. My cousin, Donald, who works in environmental cleanup, told me that 25,000 body bags were delivered yesterday to New Orleans International Airport. Will they all be needed? Let's pray they won't.
Turning Attention from the Dead to the Living
So there are many deaths and much destruction. What are we doing about it? Well, we can't begin burying the dead because the rescue effort is still tending to survivors. We also can't bury the dead because our cemeteries are underwater. So what are we doing? We're trying to help the living — meaning the entire city of New Orleans that now can be identified with a word usually associated with war-torn areas. We're refugees. No one whose home is in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaquemine or LaFourche Parishes will be able to move home for quite some time. The first possibility (within 1-2 months) will be Jefferson Parish (where my parents live). Some areas will take substantial environmental clean-up and total reconstruction of destroyed neighborhoods.
The archdiocese is currently focusing much of its energy on tending to the refugees. Since the neighborhoods are uninhabitable, there's no use trying to open churches except for police and rescue personnel. During the time when New Orleans will be closed, people need food, water, shelter and assistance. Kids need to find other schools.
What am I doing to help? Well, from now until October 15, I'll be assisting the Willwoods Community in helping to assess damage and tend to their affordable housing units. Among other things, Willwoods owns 11 apartment buildings with nearly 1700 units. These units are managed by the archdiocese. I wish I could show you pictures of the buildings which we have on the willwoods.org website, but the website's servers are down due to the power outage.
What is Willwoods? Willwoods is a public company founded by the Church at the time that Archbishop Philip Hannan was the Archbishop of New Orleans in the 1970s. It has 501(c)(3) status as part of the Catholic Church, and its Tax ID number is 72-0883574. It was originally formed to promote marriage ministry in the archdiocese, but it now has five main areas: faith and marriage, prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, assisted-care living, affordable housing and WLAE (New Orleans's Catholic public TV station). Right now, the affordable housing units are our primary priority.
A Good First Step: Housing the Workers
If you, or anyone else you know, would care to help, please donate to the Willwoods Community, whose donated funds will be designated for affordable housing. All of these buildings have damage, the degree of which is determined by their location. The units in Jefferson Parish will be the first to be repaired, so that workers can return to help restore New Orleans. The ones in Orleans Parish are badly damaged and tenants will not be able to return to Orleans Parish for months. Restoring Jefferson Parish units will provide housing for many returning workers. Anything that can be done is greatly appreciated.
I'm not really good at asking for help, but here it is. Lots of people are donating to different relief efforts or the Red Cross, and that's great. I'm just asking for help for something with which I'm involved. I'm not asking help for something that would be a luxury, but what is a necessity: housing so that refugees can return home. My parents were on the founding board of Willwoods, and I'm currently on the board.
If you are not in a position to give a lot, you might be in position to bring this to the attention of someone who can help. Since Willwoods's website is down for the foreseeable future, and no mail is being delivered to New Orleans, you can donate on WLAE's website. If you want to send a check, we have set up a temporary address at Willwoods Community, PO Box 385 Brewton, Alabama 36427.
I can't even begin to tell you how hard this situation is for me. As many of you know, being from New Orleans isn't an accident of birth, it's genetic. It's part of me. All of my family is from there, and I have deep roots there. It's breaking my heart to see what has happened to my city, and I have a hard time thinking about the destruction for more than a few seconds. It's just too hard to go there. So I'm trying to get to work. Anything you can do for us refugees is greatly appreciated. Anything you can do will help. And when New Orleans is rebuilt you can come for a visit and see your contribution. And we'll have fun, I promise. In the meantime, thanks for your generosity.
© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange
Fr. Christopher Nalty is a canon lawyer. He lives and works in Vatican City for the Congregation of the Clergy.
