After The Flood
Canadian helps rebuild New Orleans
August 28, 2015A Tale of Two Neighborhoods
October 19, 2015Ten years later, The Globe's Gary Mason returns to find a city on the mend – at least for some residents.
Actor Brad Pitt’s foundation, Make It Right, has put up 120 homes here (30 more are on the drawing board). But they have been criticized for their unorthodox design, not to mention the cost of making them environmentally leading-edge. In fact, the homes are so valuable that some fear their owners, having been heavily subsidized by the foundation, may turn around and sell to wealthier white people moving in as part of the broader gentrification of New Orleans.
“The joke in the neighbourhood is they should call the organization Make It White,” says Laura Paul, executive director of lowernine.org, a non-profit that helps area residents rebuild by providing volunteer labour.
A detailed story on the disparate recovery of the city ten years post-Katrina. Laura Paul of lowernine.org says Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation should be called “Make it White.” She acknowledges the organization’s good intentions, but points out that it is not the best way to spend their funds.