Make It Right

In December of 2006 Brad Pitt met with a group of experts to discuss the possibility of building green affordable housing to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Previously, Pitt had sponsored an architectural competition with the goal of generating the ideas on how to rebuild sustainability.

The project was to take place in the Lower 9^th Ward of New Orleans, one of the areas most devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Brad Pitt put together a team of local architects and the group set of goal of building 150 safe, affordable, sustainable, high design quality homes. Although 150 homes may not seem like a lot, it was one of the largest rebuilding projects in the city. Another very interesting goal the team had was to produce a system that could be easily replicated. Interesting…

The architects were asked to design a 1200-square-foot house that was five to eight feet off the ground with a front porch and three bedrooms. The houses had to cost around $150,000 and the donations to Make It Right would help cover the financing. Take a look at some of the designs

http://makeitrightnola.org/mir_SUB.php?section=mir&page=designs&mySub=main

In February of 2007 I was given an opportunity to travel to Biloxi, Mississippi and see first hand the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. I travelled with Habitat for Humanity and our goal for the week was to build as many homes as we could (a few of us saw Brad and Jennifer going into a hotel).

It had been almost a year and a half since the hurricane hit so I really did not know what to expect. I did some research online and after seeing pictures I thought to myself, there is no way it could still be that bad.

It was like nothing I could image! The streets of destruction were endless. Houses were nothing more then a pile of beat up old memories. There were boats on top of cars and garbage everywhere. Just horrifying.

I can remember the pain I felt in my shoulders as I carried yet another stack of shingles up the ladder. This pain did not even come close, not for a second, to what the people of New Orleans experienced.

We had the opportunity to go out to a few local pubs during the week. When you have the opportunity to hear some of the stories and meet some of the people first hand it changes your life. Everyone was so receptive. The questions never ended…

How long are you staying?

When are you coming back?

How many more people can you bring back the next time?

If you ever need a place to stay…

What an experience! There are so many people in the world that are less fortunate. I gave up a week of my time and it helped me realize how lucky I really am. It really put things in perspective and it was one week. I want the opportunity to do more…

Here is something interesting. The more we see celebrities on board with “The Green Movement” the more I see People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight Online covering the stories. Maybe we can get away from:

“Gossip: Is Cameron Diaz dating Diddy?”

“Attempted Murder for 50 Cent?”

Who really cares? Why don’t we become more educated as a society and take some time to contribute, Take some time to learn, and take some time to unlearn.