Lowe’s recently awarded $150,000 to NHC member Rebuilding Together to finance community revitalization efforts in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. The grant allowed Rebuilding Together to partner with Lowe’s for two days of service. Gentilly suffered some of Hurricane Katrina’s worst flooding and the revitalization effort celebrates the perseverance and recovery of this community.
In the 10 years since Katrina, Lowe’s and Rebuilding Together have partnered on several home repair projects to assist those who were impacted by the storm. This time around, the organizations will perform repairs for three longtime homeowners in Gentilly, and upgrade and improve the community’s Fire Station 27, which suffered extensive flooding damage as a result of the hurricane. Volunteers will also distribute hurricane preparedness kits to low-income homeowners in the area.
“Ten years after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, there is still some work to be done. Together, with the support of Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Heroes, we are transforming communities in New Orleans and moving closer to our vision of safe and healthy for every person,” Sandra Henriquez, interim president and CEO of Rebuilding Together said in a press release.
NHC will be in New Orleans next month for our second Solutions convening of 2015, Solutions for Restoring Neighborhoods. The convening will explore solutions for creating affordable housing and revitalizing neighborhoods while looking at housing as a nexus connected to education, transportation, health, public safety and other social issues. Attendees will also get to see housing policy on the ground in two mobile workshops tours exploring revitalized New Orleans communities. Learn more about the convening and register here.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Lowe’s contributed $650,000 to help restore 10 of the 20 fire houses in the New Orleans Fire Department that suffered damages as a result of the storm.