Faith

We Believe.

Broadmoor Lives

These signs have popped up along Nashville, Fontainebleau, Broad, and Napoleon. We're hearing that Broadmoor is ahead of the curve as far as neighborhood planning. True, there is work happening around us, but it is slow going.



Some good news for the neighborhood was in The Times Picayune this monring.

Read on:

Broadmoor plan gets boost
$45 million pledged inClinton initiative
Thursday, September 28, 2006
By Bruce Nolan
A consortium of philanthropists President Clinton convened in Manhattan last week to tackle some of the globe's most daunting problems took on a somewhat smaller project as well: pledging at least $5 million to Broadmoor, the once-flooded neighborhood at the bottom of New Orleans' bowl that is far ahead of many of its neighbors in planning its resurrection.

The aid is not a single check, but a pledge to provide money, equipment and the power of corporate connections to help Broadmoor rebuild, said Douglas Ahlers, a Harvard University fellow who has helped the neighborhood with its planning.

Broadmoor's champions include San Francisco real estate magnate Walter Shorenstein, Shell Exploration and Production Co., the Coca-Cola Co., Chevron Corp. and Digitas, a digital marketing company.
A few of the partners have been helping Broadmoor for months, but committed themselves to additional support at last week's Clinton Global Initiative gathering in New York, Ahlers said.

And Ahlers and others are seeking more philanthropy. Among Broadmoor's friends is Walter Isaacson, the head of the Aspen Institute and former head of CNN, who grew up in Broadmoor at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and South Galvez Street.

"Walter Shorenstein and his staff, Walter Isaacson and others -- they're all out there working their Rolodexes and seeking more partners as we seek either money or particular contributions," Ahlers said.

A big help

The commitment of aid -- Ahlers said the $5 million figure is a minimum -- appears to be the largest pledge of outside help to a New Orleans neighborhood.

That would mean that Broadmoor might begin elements of its rebuilding program before many other areas. Even so, the need is so great that Broadmoor leaders say they are reluctant to publicize the gift too loudly, lest donors think their help is no longer needed.

Broadmoor is one of the city's lowest neighborhoods in terms of elevation, a triangle of about 2,000 homes bounded approximately by South Claiborne, Toledano and Nashville avenues that before Hurricane Katrina closely mirrored the city as a whole.
Before Katrina it was about 68 percent African-American. About half of its residents owned their homes, many of them architecturally important houses built after the area was reclaimed from swampland early in the 20th century.

Katrina flooded the area with as much as 9 feet of water. An early city planning process suggesting that part of the area revert to open land to help drainage electrified a diverse group of homeowners who reached out to each other, determined to save their community. They turned their once sleepy Broadmoor Improvement Association into a grass-roots planning powerhouse.

Broadmoor homeowners surveyed each other to find out who was returning. They shared information on contractors, established a system of block captains, and began talking about how their neighborhood should be fixed.
Planning far along

Early on they attracted the attention of Ahlers, a man of diverse talents who was a pioneer of Internet advertising, lives part time in New Orleans, owns the French Quarter restaurant Muriel's, and works at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Through Ahlers, the Kennedy School committed a team of graduate students to help Broadmoor residents refine various aspects of a recovery plan that is much further advanced than those of other neighborhoods.

Ahlers said he also brought Broadmoor's story in the spring to a San Francisco conference, where Shorenstein was interested in seeing how partnerships of government, universities, corporations and foundations could work together to solve complex social problems.

"I sort of steered it toward Broadmoor, though the truth is we could've had any project in the world to demonstrate the possibilities of public-private teamwork," Ahlers said.

Ahlers described Shorenstein as a strong backer of Broadmoor going into the Clinton Global Initiative event, an annual gathering of individual and corporate philanthropists who pledge, as a condition of invitation, not to leave without adopting a project.

It was that meeting last week that produced British entrepreneur Richard Branson's pledge of $3 billion in research on alternative fuels to combat global warming.
It was also there that Shorenstein, Ahlers and others recruited partners for the aid for Broadmoor.

Many facets to effort

Ahlers said the aid can take many forms."Do we need backup generators for Pumping Station No. 1? On my to-do list is call General Electric and see if we can get generators from them. That's a great example of me looking for a partner who can come into this network with a specific contribution."

In the same way, he said, Internet search engine provider Google Inc. might be approached for assistance rebuilding Broadmoor's library.

"Maybe this can serve as a model for these kind of partnerships," Ahlers said. "Yes, this is absolutely about Broadmoor and helping a particular neighborhood. But it's also about putting together public-private partnerships where each member contributes part of the puzzle.

"One of the things we hope is that this will be something other neighbors can replicate -- maybe even the whole city."

. . . . . . .

Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3344.

Who Dat?

We, like many other New Orleanians, have been waiting for the Superdome to reopen for quite some time. Thankfully, we got in early with our season tickets purchase. I can hardly believe the Dome will be filled with season ticket holders in each and every seat.

Charlie and I were so excited...Charlie was SO excited, I thought he was going to pop! We took the afternoon off from work and walked downtown to have lunch with Lee. The rest of the afternoon was spent meandering around the city, watching fans get ready for the kick off.



The city, always celebrating something, has signs on almost every streetlight. The signs downtown celebrate the return of the Saints to the Dome. "Be a Saint."



The Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day, and U2 joined the city in the celebration. Interestingly enough, I was more excited about seeing our team run onto the field and get in formation for the kick off. Of course it was nice to have Bono in our city, and I think everyone appreciated the national attention, but last night was really about out guys, The New Orleans Saints.



The energy in the Superdome was surreal. I thought the Dome was going to levitate. The opening defensive plays showed us that the Saints were with us; they too had this positive energy that could take them anywhere.



23-3, Saints. We're now 3-0. Fans chanted "Who Dat" as we left smiling. Looking forward to the next game. It is great to be a New Orleanian.

Batture? Is that You?

Batture got, what I hope to be, his last haircut of the year. He looks a bit like a bobble head for a few days, but it grows in quickly.








Even though he looks so darn silly, he's got to feel so much cooler without all that hair! I know it makes my life easier because I am not sweeping up hair tumbleweeds each day.

Geaux Tigers!

Mmm, Mmm Good

So I promised yummier meals, right? Well, Charlie got it! I have been carrying around these recipes from Real Simple Magazine for two weeks.

Their "golden chicken' looks like this....



My version of golden chicken looks like this....



Not bad, eh? A step up from casper chicken. Fairly easy. I opted out of the whole chicken and went with the cheapy leg quarters, but I did every thing else as instructed by the recipe and even used fresh rosemary from my garden.

I wonder how long until I try one of the other recipes I've been schlepping around in my bag.

She's a Traitor

"There have been some new developments in Broadmoor!" I report to Charlie on Thursday night when driving home from a walk.

The first sign of progress was the sale of the house on S. Gayoso and Jena. That poor house has been on the market since the storm. They had been asking $125,000. Wonder what it went for as the house sags and will need to be shored.

The second perk in Broadmoor was the opening of Quiznos. Quiznos had just opened on Napoleon days before Katrina. We hadn't had the chance to eat there yet. Now, a year later, it has reopened after much hard work.

After running errands this morning, we decided to support the city by eating out (ha!) and where better to do it than Broadmoor's new Quiznos. The woman in front of us shared our excitement in the Quiznos opening and chatted with us as though we were long time friends and neighbors. (This is not at all unusual in New Orleans, and even more common in these post Katrina times.) After I explained that we had lived on Jena (she lives on Napoleon), but have bought a house closer to the river, her demeanor changed. We felt her disappointment and boy did we feel ashamed.

Despite living outside of Broadmoor, I feel we have done a great deal for the neighborhood. We have done more than most and continue to improve our property. I also feel it would be very difficult for me to live in Broadmoor as simply driving through makes me teary at times. Still can't let go though. I take the route through the neighborhood every chance I get and make the extra turns to pass in front of the house. Charlie and I drive by together, sometimes commenting to each other, sometimes just a sigh or silence.

But the guilt I felt today....

Neighborhood Bar

Jessica and Sean Kelly, some of our closest friends, lived in the neighborhood and owned The Rendon Inn, a bar that had been in the neighborhood long enough for my grandmother to remember it. Charlie and I would come here to sit at the bar and enjoy Jessica and Sean's company. Charlie thought it a good excuse to order Rendon Cheese Fries.

On our drives through our neighborhood, we often pass the Rendon to see what's going on. Our drive yesterday revealed that it had finally been gutted. We could peek in the back and see the deck they had built is still in perfect condition. Not sure what to think of the place. Rats were everywhere and wood supports have been cut to prop up the ceiling. We thought for sure this would have been a tear down.

Then, September 2005:


Now, September 2006:






We know Sean had most likely taken down the sign hanging at the corner entrance before Katrina hit, in an effort to keep it from flying away or being stolen. I'll have to find out if he had salvaged the sign on his return trip to pack up for a relocation to Atlanta.

We probably miss The Rendon more than Jessica (smile), but that's because we always knew where to find our friends.

365 Days

It has been a little over a year since Hurricane Katrina hit our city, but it has not quite been a year since we were able to lay eyes on our home since the flood waters sat for several weeks and Broadmoor remained off limits to it's residents.

I regret not taking more photos to capture what we saw in those firts few hours of returning home, but I know those images are forever a part of my memory.

After fianlly getting passed security checkpoints, we had thought our first trip home would be filled with getting things back to normal. However, when arriving, I was so overwhelemed by our home, I couldn't even stay. I had to process what had happening.

On the second trip, we got to work. That's where these pictures begin. First it was tree debris, then the basement muck out.












At the time, having so many of our possessions out in public view, all heaped on the front yard was very difficult. Strangers poked through it all and maybe even read through our books and letters and glanced at our smeared photos.

So, a year later, 3837 Jena Street looks much improved.



We've laid St. Aug sod in the front and seeded the back. Our home has now been rented to three twenty-somethings who have been positive and upbeat about living in such an empty area.

The view down the street shows an empty neighborhood. I can hardly believe this is a street that once had a parking issue! Jena Street has evolved a great deal in the past year. Piles of trash have been removed and flooded cars have been towed. Although few residents have returned, it seems as though the beginnings of renovations are appearing.

Bon Appetit

Casper Chicken. We have it for dinner three to four nights a week. Charlie would probably tell you it's more like five nights a week, but he's got a skewed sense of perception when it comes to meals.

No salt. No sauce. No seasoning. Plop it in the oven at 350* and in no time...it's done! Casper Chicken! Hey, at least it's healthy.

I have to admit that looking at it now, sitting atop the stove in the blue pyrex baking dish, it looks awfully pathetic. But once on the plate, next to some *white* rice or *white* potatoes and *plain* broccoli, it doesn't look SO bad. Charlie adds some sauce, BBQ for now, and butter to the veggies and starch, and that does help it out.

Cooking dinner is not my favorite thing to do, if it isn't already obvious. I am usually looking for something fast, healthy, and it mustn't create many dishes. Please note that I do cook a breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, sometimes some hashbrowns, every morning before work and pack a lunch complete with turkey sandwich, granola bar, an apple, and miscellaneous treats. (I even throw in a love note every once in a while.)

I have pulled a few recipes from Real Simple that look easy enough. I've made a grocery list and have thought about how to streamline the prep. We'll see how it goes.

Labor Day on South Padre Island

So, the only picture I have to show for our long weekend on South Padre is this photo of my crocs, on the return flight. Notice the jibbitz, jewelry for crocs! Charlie decided on the exact location for the daisies, which just pop right into the holes. There are many, many, many ways to accessorize these practical rubber shoes.

We stayed at The Marisol on the gulf. The condo was perfect for sitting and watching the sun and action on the beach.

It was great to see Aunt Mary and hope we can do it again next year! Promise to take more photos!