Youth and the NOLA Community

A group of 7 youth recently went to New Orleans, Louisiana for a 12 days of community service. We did lots of physical work including painting, restoring wetlands, removing invasive species from nature trails, organizing a library, moving lots of chairs to make room for a screen printing workshop, cutting a lawn, and cleaning a church, among other things.

 Michael, Lizzie, and Nils are planting in the wetlands.

However, I would say that about 50% of our difference is made just by being there, just by showing that people haven't forgotten about New Orleans, by showing that we still care, and by showing that teenagers can be helpful and thoughtful. Interacting with the community is what Dedicated to Make a Change is about. One of the things that makes service trips with Dedicated to Make a Change different is that we try to immerse ourselves in the community and do what they really need instead of coming in with a plan and forcing the community to fit our ideal.
One of the main people Dedicated to Make a Change has worked with over the years is Ward "Mack" McClendon, the owner and founder of the Lower Ninth Ward Village. The Lower Ninth Ward is a nonprofit organization and community center. When we arrive at the center we do not come with a specific vision, we ask Mack what he needs done and then we make it happen. Mack is famous for his tours and his reflections. Every time we work with Mack, he leads a reflection where we discuss what we have learned.

Mack leading one of his tours.

 Mack, Max, and Nils are looking thoughtful after a reflection with the group.

 We also worked with Augie at Wesley United. Augie is basically the unofficial caretaker of Wesley United.

Looking at the church.

Us chilling with Augie.

Augie said the best thing we could do for the church was to make it look nice on the outside. We raked leaves and picked up trash. We also bought some vegetable plants and brought them to Augie. He planted them in front of the church as a community garden.

Here is one of the beautiful flowers that Augie was caring for at Wesley United.

Another wonderful person I have had the chance of meeting in New Orleans is Smitty. Smitty is the author of a book about the 7 days after Katrina called Exiled in Paradise.He is also a great storyteller and he loves to make you think about things in new ways. We noticed that his yard was very long and asked if he would like it cut. If your lawn is over 6 inches high in New Orleans, you can be fined. Of course he said yes and we got right to work, with him telling stories and interrogating us about our beliefs all the while.

Me "golfing" in the long grass. We had to use swing blades to cut the lawn.

Lizzie working and talking with Smitty.

While we were working at Smitty's house a lady drove by and and thought it was nice that we were helping out so she gave us a box of macaroons. Nice little things like that happen to us all the time in New Orleans. Another person who showed us kindness was Darren. He works at the Lower Ninth Ward Village and when he heard we needed swing blades and a mower for Smitty's lawn, he gladly volunteered. Darren was great because he was very generous with his time and seemed to love talking to us about his work. He also came with us to Jazz Fest.

Here is Darren mowing the lawn with a lawn mower that he basically made from scratch.

While we were working at Smitty's house, the owner of the house next to his saw us and asked us to cut her lawn too. Of course we did and she invited us over to her house for a traditional New Orleans dinner. Allison also shared with us her experience of the hurricane. Her whole family was kind to us and let us see some photos they had salvaged from their house after the flood.

Here we are with Smitty and Darren.

Working with the community is a mutual relationship. When people realize you are there to help they are quick to tell their stories, show you around, make you a meal, and give you macaroons or tickets to Jazz Fest. Change brings hope and hope brings change. By giving the community hope and showing that people care enough to help, we really can make a difference.