We're heeeeeeeere!!! The land of the Big Easy. The car ride wasn't too bad. No body crashed and we're alive!
After a brief introduction to the United Saints apartments (http://www.unitedsaints.org/), we unloaded, went out to dinner, and went to bed. None of us realized that the next day would be the time of our lives!
We woke up to the sound of the beating rain on our windowsill. What does this mean? After a state of confusion we were told that instead of starting our project with Rebuilding Together (http://www.rtno.org/), we would be participating with a new organization called Project Greenlight. Project Greenlight (http://www.greenlightneworleans.org/) is a nonprofit organization that installs green (CFL) energy efficient light bulbs to individuals' homes saving them hundreds of dollars a year on their energy bills and reduces their carbon footprint. It was a blast! We split into two groups and were assigned 3 different homes per group. After countless wrong turns and the beautiful scenery we finally arrived to each of our homes. This experience was the perfect introduction to the city of New Orleans! The people here are lively and even though we were there for less than an hour, they shared their own personal stories and really made us feel welcomed and excited to be here.
After our volunteering for the day, we came back to our apartments where we dove into an important and informative discussion with the representatives from the Fair Housing Action Center (www.gnofairhousing.org). We were all enlightened as they described their goals of addressing discrimination in the housing market. We then reflected on all the experiences that we have had so far-- the people we've already met, the places that we have seen, the things that we have heard. It was a great way to try and process our time here so far. Now we are about to go discover the French market!
Don't forget to check out our website. www.hillel.org.vt.edu
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