lowernine.org

Two Saturdays ago Craig and I moved to a different organization. The church volunteer center was based in a large, mostly finished space, pretty far uptown in a nice neighborhood. It had an established bureaucracy that we had to work through to stay there and there were lots of rules and policies in place while we were there. Our work was scheduled out and parceled off to different organizations. Lowernine.org is based in a small, unfinished house all the way down in the lower ninth ward. We stopped by one afternoon two weeks ago and arranged to stay here; though we were told to fill out and email in applications as well, it was more of a formality. The work here is all rebuilding homes within walking distance of the headquarters. Leadership roles have been designated but the atmosphere is very relaxed and even some essential roles are filled charismatically rather than officially. Living and working here for the last week and a half has been hard, much harder than the work at the church. We work full days doing home rebuilding work, mostly drywall installation. Last week, eating and sleeping were irregular: we moved our beds three times and on Saturday, our friend took us to the food salvage location to pick up free food (and flowers). When it's not raining, we hang out on the street, shooting hoops and smoking; and by 'we' I mean everyone but me; I just hang out in the street. This place is awesome and you should donate money to it: lowernine.org; the founder, Rick Prose, just said: "We're the future baby!"