Historic Green

Vital Stats

Valerie F

New Orleans, LA

  • people helped500
  • People Doing It100

The Problem

I am the volunteer coordinator for Historic Green. The following descriptions are modified excerpts from our website that describe the amazing work that we are doing in New Orleans. Historic Green is where preservation meets sustainability. It's about knowing a place, respecting its rich heritage for future generations, and seeing the promise of sustainability to create healthier, safer, more livable communities. Historic Green represents a blending of the past, the present and the future. What was, meets what could be. New Orleans’ Holy Cross Neighborhood and the Lower Ninth Ward offer one path to what we’re calling “sustainable preservation”. Nowhere else could it happen on such a scale as here: an entire community brought to its knees in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Struggling to recover and rebuild. To restore in a way that makes it even better than before. Green homes. Green spaces. Green community. For two weeks this March, hundreds of students and young professionals will converge on New Orleans – bringing their energy and ideas to help the people of the Lower 9 revitalize their community. They are architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects, interior designers and contractors who’ll work hand in hand with neighborhood residents on their historic houses, parks, playgrounds and community centers. Historic Green is an unprecedented opportunity to integrate sustainable practices with preservation of a place. To increase energy efficiency. To enhance its quality of life, housing and transportation. To protect the wetlands. To help create the nation’s first carbon-neutral community.

Plan of Action

My job as the volunteer coordinator has thus far been to be the liaison between the founders of Historic Green, the project coordinators and the many volunteers who are planning to join us this year. I answer all the questions that are sent to our volunteer email (volunteer4historicgreen@gmail.com), I participate in weekly conference call with the planning committee, I maintain the volunteer manual and I keep track of our volunteer surveys. In March, I am planning to travel from my home in Columbia, MO, to New Orleans to work on the ground with our volunteers to ensure their transportation, assignment to projects and serve as a general source of information for our volunteers.