AGA TOPICS Newsletter

Community Service, Leadership and Music: April 2008 New Orleans Habitat for Humanity Trip

By: Jeff Hart, CGFM, CFE, Denver Chapter, Immediate Past AGA National President

What do these three activities have to do with each other—community service, leadership and music? First, I will be leading a group of AGA members, family and friends on our second national community service project in New Orleans April 28 – May 2. Second, an AGA Sectional Leadership Meeting (SLM) for selected AGA chapters and other leaders will be held May 2 – 3. And third, the New Orleans Jazz Festival is set for the weekend before and after our community service project (actually, for three days before our work project, and for four days at the end). So, you have more than one good reason to come to New Orleans that week.

Why are we going back again this year? New Orleans still needs our help. By one estimate, as many as 20,000 buildings in the city remain uninhabitable. In fact, 27,500 families, mostly from New Orleans, are still living in tiny, 300-square-foot, government-issued travel trailers across the state, waiting for their homes to be repaired or for some kind of affordable housing to become available. Many other people remain in faraway cities. And hundreds—by some accounts, thousands—live on the city streets.

What are we going to do exactly? The work may be similar to what we did last year: installing floor joists, siding, soffits and fascia (exterior trim), interior molding, kitchen and bath cabinets, doors and door hardware, fencing and address numbers. We painted and scraped. Two volunteers spent a day playing with and reading to elementary school students whose parents were overstressed and overworked as they put their lives back together.

For me, it was one of the best vacations I have ever had. It was so uplifting to be working with my own hands, alongside like-minded people, knowing that we were making a difference with every hour we spent there. We also had plenty of time to go to a ballgame, check out the casino and visit some of the best restaurants and music haunts in the city fabled for its food and music. In the end, nine people volunteered from around the country last year, members of the New Orleans chapter also joined us at the work site, and two volunteers came from the USDA National Finance Center. Volunteer Raul Fierros, a member of AGA’s Inland Empire Chapter, also made an inspirational DVD of our experience last year. If you’d like a copy, please contact him at rfierros@dph.sbcounty.gov.

This year, anyone can volunteer for any period of time, or for any kind of job (construction or administrative tasks, for example). Volunteers are responsible for their own accommodations and expenses. Last year, some chapters sponsored a member from their chapter by paying some of the travel expenses.

Here’s the calendar of activities:

April 25 – 27: New Orleans Jazz Festival

April 28: AGA volunteers may do various volunteer tasks in St. Bernard Parish (suburban New Orleans)

April 29 – May 2: AGA volunteers may build houses or other volunteer work in New Orleans for Habitat for Humanity (probably in Musicians' Village in the upper Ninth Ward again)

May 2 and 3: Select Section II AGA volunteer leaders attend SLM in New Orleans (by invitation only)

May 1 – 4: New Orleans Jazz Festival, including performances by the Neville Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Santana, Maze, Sheryl Crow, Widespread Panic, Dr. John, Al Green, Diana Krall and many more.

The Embassy Suites New Orleans Convention Center (downtown, where the SLM will be held for selected AGA leaders) has set aside 10 rooms for each night, Sunday through Wednesday, for $79. This is a great rate—almost 50 percent off the government rate, thanks to AGA’s “mission,” as the hotel refers to it.

Make reservations by calling the hotel directly at 1.800.EMBASSY. Note the following:

• A special discounted rate of $79 per night, plus 13 percent room tax and a $2 occupancy tax, is available Sunday, April 27 through Wednesday, April 30. (Share a room with another volunteer, and save another 50 percent.)
   

• The hotel block will be released 30 days prior to arrival, so make your reservations early to avoid a higher rate.
   

• If you will attend the SLM, please make your reservations for ONLY the Habitat for Humanity dates you’ll be paying for on your own. SLM invitations and hotel reservations must be handled separately.
  
  Please contact Ada Phillips at with specific questions about the Embassy Suites.

Volunteers may also stay at Habitat's new and improved "Camp Hope" dormitory for next to nothing, or in student dorms at the University of New Orleans’ (UNO) Pontchartrain Hall with semi-private accommodations for just $20.60 per person, per night. Contact Elizabeth Johnson at 504.280.7731 or eyjohnson@uno.edu. You may also contact New Orleans Chapter member and former RVP Peggy Javery at PEGGY.JAVERY@usda.gov for details. If you'd like to sign up to join us, please e-mail me at hart.jeff@epa.gov.

I'm looking forward to being with you all again this coming year. My wife, Roxy, a Habitat veteran, is also looking forward to building a house, and visiting the Crescent City for her first time. I hope you choose to come on this fun and worthwhile trip, and bring friends and family along with you!