Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Free Live Music @ Freret Market this weekend


October 3, 2009
Noon - 5p.m.
5030 S Liberty Street, New Orleans, LA 70115

FREE LIVE MUSIC
Fredy Omar at Noon
Billy Iuso at 1:45
New Orleans Moonshiners at 3:30



The Freret Market is held the first Saturday of the month, except July and August, at the intersection of Freret Street and Napoleon Avenue.

The market is split up along three category lines: food, art, and flea. Besides all of the great shopping every week, the market also hosts local restaurants serving up their unique cuisine, live music, and a kids area.

It is a place for neighbors to meet, a place to relax and find a unique item, and an important part of the renaissance on Freret Street.

Come sell your stuff. Come shop. Most importantly, come enjoy yourself!

http://freretmarket.org/

Monday, September 28, 2009

Free Immunizations - October 7th

Greater New Orleans Immunization Network presents free immunizations for children up to 18 years of age.

Wednesday, October 7th. 2 pm to 6 pm

New Orleans East Walgreens at Lake Forest and Bullard. Bring child's immunization record.

For more information call 504-733-3268 or go to:

http://www.gnoshots4kids.com/index2.html

NORBP presents free seminar on financial strategies

New Orleans Regional Business Park (NORBP) presents free seminar on financial strategies for business owners.

NORBP Business Assistance Center
13801 Old Gentilly Road
New Orleans East

To register, call 504-254-4603 or email ssumas@norbp.net

Volunteer Opportunity: free Hornets tickets!

The New Orleans Hornets and United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area believe in our community's revitalization. With passion and pride, we are committed to this purpose.

We encourage you to participate in our Volunteerism Day on Saturday, October 3rd. See the website (link below) for a detailed list of volunteer opportunities throughout the greater New Orleans area and for more information on making a donation.

To thank you for your commitment to our community, the New Orleans Hornets will provide each volunteer with two free tickets to the October 10th pre-season game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. We will collect your contact information at each volunteer site and send your tickets soon after our Volunteerism Day!

http://www.unitedwaynola.org/hornets/

Crescent City Celebration: A Taste of New Orleans Neighborhoods

The annual Crescent City Celebration will take place Saturday, November 7th at Harney Elementary in Central City (map: http://tinyurl.com/yaa973o) from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. We will have live music and other entertainment, vendors, a raffle, and a cook-off.

The cook-off is open to the first fifteen neighborhood associations to register (although registration officially closes on November 2nd). Teams may enter any or all of the following categories: entrees, side dishes or desserts. Prizes will be awarded in each category. The grand prize will be awarded to the best dish of the entire cook-off. There are even rumblings of an article featuring the winning recipe/neighborhood in the January issue of the Trumpet.

Additionally, the Trumpet Awards will happen at this event. Please click on the following link to nominate your favorites for The Trumpet Awards: http://tinyurl.com/y8pot72 . Some of these year’s categories are as follows: Good Neighbor of Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Phoenix, Best City/Neighborhood Partnership, and Model Citizen. Click the link to see the rest and make your voice heard.

For more information, or if you have interest in performing at, vending at or sponsoring the Crescent City Celebration: A Taste of New Orleans Neighborhoods, please contact Kelly at either Kelly@npnnola.com or (504)940-2207.

October 14th, Fall Membership Meeting

On Wednesday, October 14th, NPN will hold its fall membership meeting at the Urban League of New Orleans, 2322 Canal St. (map: http://tinyurl.com/ybvr4ou). The meeting will start at 5:30 pm. We will hold Board Elections, each NPN committee will give a report and kick off registration for the “Taste of New Orleans Neighborhoods” (to happen at the upcoming Crescent City Celebration) cook-off at this meeting. Refreshments will be served, and there will be an opportunity to network with other members of NPN while the votes are being counted.

If you are not a member and would like to be, there will be membership applications at the door on October 14th (or you can download it from our website: http://npnnola.com/about/view/220/membership ). Remember, only Neighborhood Associations are allowed to vote in board elections, but we welcome all members to the membership meeting.

See you there!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Rebuild Seeks Volunteer Team:

Rebuilding Together New Orleans’ Annual October Build Project is a volunteer opportunity exclusively for local organizations, corporations, families and friends to, join hands, pick up a hammer or a paint brush, and make a difference in the lives low income elderly or disabled homeowners.

When: Friday and Saturday, October 2nd, 3rd and 9th, and 10th (with rain dates on the 16th and 17th)

Teams of 10 people or more are encouraged to sign up to participate. Volunteers are asked to provide their own lunch and transportation and must be at least 15 years or older. Each team will self appoint a House Captain, who will take ownership of the project, creating supply lists, overseeing the workscope, and working directly with RTNO House Captains and Construction Managers.

To sign up, contact Rebecca at:

Rebecca Crenshaw
Special Projects Officer
Rebuilding Together New Orleans
923 Tchoupitoulas Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
rcrenshaw@prcno.org
Fax: 504-636-3072
Please call 504-636-3383 for questions.


*To be included as a project sponsor in media outlets and t-shirts, please sign up by July 31st, 2009

Monday, September 21, 2009

Contractor Fraud Forum, Wednesday September 23rd


On Wednesday, September 23rd NPN and Galante & Bivalacqua, LLC present an informational round table entitled "Preventing and Recovering from Contractor Fraud".

The event will be held at The Urban League of New Orleans, 2322 Canal St at 6:30 pm.

Please email Kelly@npnnola.com for more information.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Re-Enforcing Code Enforcement:

Re-Enforcing Code Enforcement:
NPN Advocacy Task Force Meets

September 17th 2009
In order to coordinate a strong neighborhood message about the need for a world-class Code Enforcement initiative, nine (9) members of the Advocacy Task Force met to plan an October strategy forum.

"How can we hold the City Council, Administration and mayoral candidates accountable to ensure that we have an effective and transparent Code Enforcement system?" asked Jennifer Farwell, Mid-City Neighborhood Organization.


Want to make sure our elected officials get the message? Join the NPN Advocacy Task Force or submit your suggestions by emailing advocacy@npnnola.com or calling 504-940-2207.

When the neighborhoods speak, people listen.

Trumpet Release Party Photos!

Photos by Ray Nichols and Kelly Landrieu






















Friday, September 11, 2009

NPN Newsletter Survey

Please click here to participate in our short survey:



Your answers and comments will help us make the NPN Newsletter even better!

Oprah Winfrey and President Obama pulled into battle over Discriminatory Housing Laws in New Orleans area

By Jordan Flaherty
www.leftturn.org

Rebuilding efforts in St. Bernard Parish, a small community just outside New Orleans, have recently gotten a major boost. One nonprofit focused on rebuilding in the area has received the endorsement of CNN, Alice Walker, the touring production of the play The Color Purple, and even President Obama. But an alliance of Gulf Coast and national organizations are now raising questions about the cause these high profile names are supporting.

The dispute focuses on the responsibility of relief organizations to speak out against injustice in the communities in which they work. Since September of 2006, St. Bernard Parish has been aggressive in passing racially discriminatory laws and ordinances. Although these laws have faced condemnation in Federal court and in the media, rebuilding organizations active in the parish have so far refused to take a public position.

Racial discrimination has a long history in St. Bernard politics. Judge Leander Perez, a fiery leader who dominated the parish for almost 50 years, was known nationally as a spokesman for racial segregation. The main road through the Parish was named after Perez, and his legacy still has a hold on the political scene there. Lynn Dean, a member of the St Bernard parish council told reporter Lizzy Ratner, "They don't want the blacks back… What they'd like to do now with Katrina is say, we'll wipe out all of them. They're not gonna say that out in the open, but how do you say? Actions speak louder than words. There's their action."

The action Lynn was referencing is a “blood relative” ordinance the council passed in 2006. The law made it illegal for Parish homeowners to rent to anyone not directly related to the renter. In St Bernard, which was 85% white before Katrina hit, this effectively kept African Americans, many of whom were still displaced from New Orleans and looking for nearby housing, from moving in. The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center sued the Parish, saying the ordinance violated the 1968 Fair Housing Act. A judge agreed, saying it was racially discriminatory in intent and impact.

The story doesn’t end there. St. Bernard’s government agreed to a settlement, but the illegal ordinance was followed by another, blocking multi-family construction in the Parish. Last month, U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan found the Parish to be in contempt of court, saying, “The Parish Council's intent…is and was racially discriminatory." An editorial in the New Orleans Times-Picayune agreed, saying, “This ruling strips off the camouflage and reveals St. Bernard's actions for what they really are: an effort to keep lower-income people and African-Americans from moving into the mostly white parish.”

13 Nonprofit Organizations in St. Bernard Parish and Algiers

New Orleans – The Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) announced today that it has distributed $61,000 in grants on behalf of Exxon Mobil. The Exxon Mobil Fund aims to improve the quality of life for people in Algiers and St. Bernard Parish.

The 2009 Algiers recipients of grants are the following nonprofit organizations: Nattie’s Creative Arts Therapy, Inc.; Parkway Partners Program, Inc.; Project Grad; and Start the Adventure in Reading.

The 2009 St. Bernard recipients of grants are the following nonprofit organizations: Canary Islands Descendants Association of St. Bernard; Chalmette Vista Neighborhood Association; Louisiana Institute of Higher Education; St. Bernard Battered Women’s Program, Inc.; St. Bernard Kiwanis Foundation, Inc.; St. Bernard Parish Library; St. Bernard Parish School Board; St. Bernard Wetlands Foundation, Inc.; and Voices Foundation.

The Greater New Orleans Foundation is the community foundation serving the 13-parish Greater New Orleans metropolitan area. We design and lead initiatives that improve the region, connect donors to community needs, identify and support great nonprofits, and strengthen civil society.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Trumpet Subscription Poll


Survey Results - GlowDay.com

Mid-City and Bayou St. John Want Their School

Morris Jeff School has sat abandoned and boarded up since its last use as a shelter during Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, the Recovery School District determined under the School Facilities Master Plan that the damaged elementary school would be rebuilt, at the earliest, in 2012. In response, parents and neighbors galvanized, formed a planning group, and persuaded the RSD to allow them to open a community school at a temporary location until the larger RSD defined facility could be built in the area. The group plans for Morris Jeff Community School to be open access (it hasn't yet been determined if it will be a charter) and governed by a community board and a steering committee of neighbors and parents who live in the Mid-City and Bayou St. John area. The school is expected to open in Fall 2010. Stayed tuned to SOSNOLA for future updates.

Save Our Schools New Orleans
http://www.sosnola.org/

How to be a member of The Trumpet Editorial Board

Do you read The Trumpet?

Do you or someone in your organization enjoy writing?

Do you ever find yourself thinking "this issue needs attention - someone needs to write/talk about this?"

Do you have an open two-hour time block every two months?

Are you a member of NPN (and if not, would you like to be)?


If you answered yes to all of the above questions, then you might be an excellent candidate for the Trumpet Editorial Board. This emerging publication is quickly gaining momentum, and YOU can be a part of it!

How to apply:
Send you name, phone number and e-mail address to: thetrumpet@npnnola.com
Include the name of your neighborhood association or non-profit organization, and tell us why you'd like to be a part of The Trumpet. Feel free to ask us questions as well!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

FAIR HOUSING CENTER VOICES GRAVE CONCERNS ABOUT HANO'S SECTION 8 VOUCHER WAIT LIST; URGES HANO TO AMEND PROCESS

The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center (GNOFHAC) has grave concerns about the process by which the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) is opening its Housing Choice Voucher ("Section 8") wait list. The wait list is available for application from September 6 to 12, 2009. This is the first time the application process has been opened in six years. HANO is using its website, the Times Picayune and the Louisiana Weekly as its sole means for marketing the opening of the wait list.

Because many low-income residents don't subscribe to the Times Picayune and don't have internet access, GNOFHAC is urging HANO to conduct TV and radio advertising to give the public adequate notice that the wait list will be open. Additionally HANO should keep the wait list open for a minimum of 30 days rather than a mere six days. Finally, HANO should accept voucher applications that it received as early as August 23rd, because its public notice regarding the waitlist opening has been confusing and misleading.

GNOFHAC Executive Director James Perry remarks, "Despite the intense need for affordable housing in Orleans Parish, the Section 8 wait list is opening up for the first time in six years. HANO is doing so in a manner that fails to properly notify New Orleans low-income residents. HANO must do a better job of tending to the needs of those of it serves."