I am going to go ahead and post a request for prayers.  Please keep New Orleans in your prayers during this difficult limbo phase with Hurricane Gustav. He is forecasted to make landfall as a Cat 4 Hurricane.  We are not sure where he will be ultimately going, but the whole coast of Louisiana is in his cross hairs.  New Orleans can ill afford a hit from a Cat 2 or higher hurricane.  The Army Corps of Engineers will not complete our 100 year levee protection until 2011!!!  Let me further inform you that 100 year levee protection is only for storms of a Cat 3 or LOWER.  So, New Orleans will not ever be protected from Cat 5 unless someone at the Presidential level deems it important enough.  It can be done. It’s been done in the Netherlands.  Is anyone listening to our pleas for Cat 5 levee protection and wetland restoration???

The Port of New Orleans controls much of the grain, coffee and other imported goods that the United States consumes.  Not to even mention, the oil we have down here! Scroll down the aforementioned link, to read about oil off of coast.  So goes New Orleans, so goes the Nation…

So, in the coming days when I am normally prepping for Christmas and making ornaments and other NOLA goodies for my customers…I have been boxing up as much of life as possible, getting prescriptions for dog filled, gassing up the car and getting on the road with my loved ones.  Trying to remain hopeful, but I know we may end up leaving our beloved city for evacuation. This makes my heart sink.  I am shell shocked by all of this…

All my friends: I will be evacuating tomorrow morning…Please let me know where you have evacuated…and that you are safe.

Please keep the people of NOLA in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days. 

** I will be checking emails and orders online while evacuated, so everyone please stay in touch!!

Much New Orleans Love to all who love NOLA,

Heather Elizabeth

Without the help of volunteers from all over the country and the world much of the REBUILD could not have been completed.  I would like to take this time to thank all of the volunteers who have come down here in the last three years to help us gut homes, build homes and loan a shoulder to cry on.   I also would like to acknowledge the vast number of volunteers who have decided to make New Orleans their permanent home.  Thanks to all of you for believing in our city and for wanting to be a part of this monumental task at hand.  It is the largest REBUILD in American history.  There are no books to tell us how this was done before.  Not unless we look to how Europe was rebuilt after WWII.   All of this being said,  It is truly an exciting time to call New Orleans home.

Now, let me move onto some nagging issues.  I cringe when I hear people say, “New Orleans will never be the same again.”   Most often when this is said it is in a negative way.  As if to say, New Orleans can’t be the wonderful city it was before.  They are WRONG.  New Orleans is striving everyday to be BETTER than she was before the storm.  We don’t want the same ole’ New Orleans that was only known for booze and a good time.  The citizens of this city desire much more.  We are working to build a city with a cutting edge Bio-Med industry, Hollywood South and Technology sector.

Our young people were leaving the state of Louisianalong before Katrina hit.  We were experiencing the “brain drain” many towns in America have been dealing with.  Now, young people are moving back to be a part of our exciting rebirth.  We have teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers just to name a few coming to NOLA to help breathe life into it once again.  As I said before, it is an exciting time to call New Orleans home.

Post-Katrina NOLA has the opportunity to re-invent itself and be better than before.  Our public schools are being overhauled.  New Orleans Public Schools were recently featured in the New York Times for being a model for the rest of the country.  Click here to read article WOW! Who would have ever thought our schools would be a role model for the whole United States?  It is a true testament to the rebirth of New Orleans.  There may be some nay-sayers out there. But, I know most locals are excited about this opportunity to finally make New Orleans Public Schools work for the children who need it so desperately.

Katrina ripped the veil off our eyes.  She exposed gaping wounds in our city for all the world to see.  These same wounds exist in every urban city in America.  Unfortunately, NOLA had to be the city to show the United States what is happening in every city to its own poor and elderly.  It’s bigger than New Orleans. The issues of poverty, crime and corruption are in your own backyard if you care to look hard enough.  Most people don’t want to dig deeper and uncover these painful truths.  Honestly, I think it is human nature to be non confrontational when it comes to serious problems.  It is easier to just walk away than try to fix things.  Thank God many have chosen NOT to walk away from their beloved New Orleans.  It is because of the dedicated citizenry of New Orleans, that she is being REBUILT now.

When the veil was lifted 3 years ago, the citizens were awakened.  We are vigilant about uncovering corruption.  The storm has energized NOLA citizenry.  We are angry and we are vocal. People are blogging, going to meetings and educating ourselves about potential political candidates.  Yes, it’s a new day in New Orleans. Click here to read one of the citizen blogs

I also want to acknowledge the rebuilding of Lakeview and 9th ward.  These two neighborhoods are very different from one another, but each one has determined citizens rebuilding it.  First, I will address Lakeview.  I participate in the Harrison Avenue Marketplace which is the monthly art market in Lakeview.  I was stunned by the overwhelming support by Lakeview for the artists.  The people in Lakeview have lost every tangible item in their lives and yet they give back so generously to the artists every month by making purchases.  It is a characteristic that makes the people of New Orleans very special.  It is one of the many reasons I love the people of New Orleans so much and will not ever leave.

The Ninth Ward is much slower to be rebuilt.  I drive through the neighborhood every few months to see what is happening down there.  For the first two years, I would leave there nearly in tears.  It is only upon my last visit in early August 2008 that I had a smile on my face.  There are some new homes being built both by owners and by charitable organizations.  Brad Pitt’s Make It Right organization is building some homes on one of the main streets that sits parallel to the former federal levee breach.  The homes are cutting edge green friendly.  I know the owners of these new homes will be so proud to live in them.  Please visit the Make It Right website to make a donation here.  Thank you Brad Pitt for not forgetting about us!!!  You are a blessing to us all.

The pictures shown below reflect the chaotic and frenetic sense of our rebuilding.  Some people are home and some are not.  You often will see a newly built home and then a blighted home right beside or across the street from it.  This is the story of our rebuild at this time.  300,000 homes are going to take many years to be rebuilt.   And, don’t forget about the hospitals, police stations and fire stations that still have to be built!

If you live ANYWHERE near a body of water please visit areweatrisk.org to learn if your levees are safe.  Also, please take a moment to sign the petition to ask that there be an 8/29 investigation into the Federal Levee failure that drowned New Orleans at levees.org.  The Army Corps of Engineers investigated ITSELF after the federal levee failures.  That is just not acceptable.  America deserves more from its government.  Here is a video entitled Why do we need an 8/29 Investigation? to learn more about the 8/29 Investigation.

Please continue to come visit us if you live out of town. The French Quarter is pretty as ever and the food is some of the best in the world.  We need each of you to keep visiting New Orleans in order for her to stay healthy and vibrant. New Orleans businesses still your support and will for many years to come.

Most of the nation has moved on with the natural ebb and flow of life.  New Orleanians can’t move on until we can put the REBUILD and the levee failures behind us.  As the years progress, please remember that New Orleans is not finished rebuilding and still needs your help.

* this was written 4 days before Gustav was forecasted to move into the Gulf of Mexico and possibly hit South East Louisiana

Much New Orleans Love to All,
Heather Elizabeth