CSED Newsletter

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Aug 14, 2015 MRGO Press Conference highlights New Orleans' sustainability in the future Were you able to attend Tuesday's press conference: "10th Anniversary of Katrina: Making New Orleans a Sustainable Delta City for the Next Century"? If so, thanks for coming out to support this great event! If not, no worries...get a quick recap from media outlets that covered the event.  The Advocate's coverage WWNO coverage NOLA.com's report The Washington Times' coverageKSLA coverage (Shreveport, LA) Seattle post-Intelligencer Coverage  Labyrinth of Love Truly a labyrinth of love has been created for our community at the CSED Environmental Learning & Research Center on Florida Avenue, thanks to our volunteers from American Baptist Home Mission Society. They built the labyrinth, uncovered overgrown sidewalks, performed interior and exterior painting and repairs on residents' homes and churches, installed a pulpit, weeded gardens & gravel pathways, cleaned gutters, and engaged in many, many other home rebuilding projects last week.  Lower 9th Ward Water Wise Workshop Water Wise will be hosting its seventh workshop in the Lower 9th Ward on August 19th from 5:30pm-7pm at the Sanchez Center!  Everyone is invited to learn how we can collectively take action in reducing flooding in our neighborhoods while at the same time adding natural beauty through the use of rain gardens, planter boxes, bioswales, french drains, rain barrels, etc.   This event is free.  Please RSVP. Author Roberta Gratz to host book signing in Lower 9 About Roberta Gratz will be in Lower 9 to speak about how citizens are recovering in Lower Nine with little help from government. She'll also be signing copies of her new book "We're Still Here, Ya Bastards". All are welcomed to attend the event Thursday, Aug. 20, 6:30 p.m. at All Souls Church, 5500 St. Claude Ave. Special event to support Tekrema Center for Art and Culture A Night in Dakar, an annual performance benefiting Tekrema Center for Art and Culture, will take place Saturday, Aug. 22, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. at Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, 1901 Bartholomew Street. The cost is $35 general admission and $25 for young patrons and seasoned supporters.  The event will feature special performances by The Marlon Jordan Quintet, Ursula Rucker with Tim Motzer, Dr. MonaLisa Saloy and Greer Mendy. For more information, call 504-943-9779 or e-mail [email protected].  Get your tickets now.  Updates from Backyard Gardeners Network Volunteer opportunity The City of New Orleans is organizing a citywide day of service (Aug. 29) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Take this day to volunteer at the Guerrilla Garden, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., to help with painting,  weeding, planting and more. Sign up now to volunteer.  Register for Food as Medicine Food as Medicine, the weekly nutrition and cooking workshop series, will return to the Guerrilla Garden September 3. To register, call 504-875-2948 or e-mail [email protected]. Fall Programming Kick-off  Mark your calendar. Fall programming at the garden will kick-off Saturday, Sept. 5 with free food, music and activities for all ages.  Paid lawn care opportunity The Guerrilla Garden needs a reliable person to cut grass twice a month in Summer, Fall and Spring and once a month in the winter. Those interested in this opportunity should check out the garden, located at 600 Charbonnet, and call 504-875-2948 to give an estimate.  Artists commemorate Katrina with a special, featuring Lower 9 resident The 10th annual "Katrina Artistically Revisited" is a special multi-media commemorative event of films, art and music. It's free and open to the public on the 10th anniversary eve of Hurricane Katrina, Friday, Aug. 28, 9 p.m. - midnight, at The Theatres at Canal Place, 333 Canal Street. In the theater at 10 p.m., Lower 9 resident Robert Lynn Green, Sr. will be featured in a Q&A entitled "Katrina Story Never Told in Public Before." There will also be a short film by Rick Lavine, M.D., chronicling Mr. Green's second lines each Katrina anniversary.  In This Issue MRGO Press Conference Labyrinth of Love Lower 9th Ward Water Wise Workshop Author Roberta Gratz to host book signing in Lower 9 Special event to support Tekrema Center Updates from Backyard Gardeners Network Artists commemorate Katrina with a special event CSED featured in local exhibit K10 On The Levee New art exhibition opening this weekend CSED featured in local exhibit CSED was featured in last weekend's "Architecture of Recovery" exhibit from the New Orleans Chapter of The American Institute of Architects. The event commemorated the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  K10 On The Levee commemorates Katrina with yoga & music Community members are invited to stand on the levee as one strong New Orleans, ten years after Katrina. Join in a free day of yoga, meditation, music and art on the Holy Cross Levee, 500 Deslonde Street, Saturday, Aug. 29, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. If you'd like to volunteer to help with the event or get more information about participating, email  [email protected].    More information   New art exhibition opening this weekend The newest exhibition from Creative Alliance of New Orleans (CANO) opens this weekend, Aug. 15. The event, entitled "The People's Murals" is free and open to the public beginning at 6 p.m. this Saturday in the Myrtle Banks Building, 1307 O. C. Haley Blvd.  CSED Team  Chief Executive Officer  Arthur Johnson Program Manager Kathy Muse Volunteer Manager Warrenetta Banks Wetland Specialist John Taylor Energy Efficiency Assistant Charles Reddick Community Resilience Assistant Beverly Jackson Resiliency Manager for Coastal Restoration and Community Awareness  Rachel Pickens Stay Connected                                                  |                                             504-324-9955 |                                             [email protected] |                                             http://sustainthenine.org                                             5130 Chartres Street                                                                                                                                     New Orleans,                                            LA                                            70117

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Thank You Tulane City Center Students!!!

 

 

Come out and see the wonders wrought by the Tulane City Center / Tulane School of Architecture students on our properties at Caffin and Florida Avenues.

 

View more images on Facebook.

Join us this Friday at our Outdoor Wetland Education Center

Please join us as we celebrate the completion of the CSED Outdoor Wetland Education Center this Friday, May 8, 11:45 a.m., at Caffin & Florida Avenues. Tulane City Center students made it happen and will be on hand to share their incredible design/build process.

Check out the planting plan and building scheme. 

See photos of the design/build!

Join Us for Mother Earth Day Saturday May 9th

 

 

Please join us and celebrate

 

Mother Earth Day

Saturday, May 9th, 10am - 1pm 

All Souls Episcopal Church

5500 St. Claude Avenue

 

There will be free food and refreshments, a solar derby race, and much more. 

 

For more information

contact Rachel Pickens

504-324-9955

[email protected]

 

 

Support CSED on GiveNOLA Day, May 5, 2015

Support CSED for GiveNOLA Day, this Tuesday, May 5. Last year, we raised $6,009 for the Lower 9th Ward CSED. We've set our goal this year at $10,000 and 300 donors.

 

Your support will help us to continue our rebuilding work with Lower 9th Ward residents, in the Bayou Bienvenue Triangle, with food security through community gardens, and the renovation of our new office and energy efficiency/environmental education center. 

 

Donate to CSED for GiveNOLA Day.    We are most grateful for your support!

CSED & Tulane City Center Partner to Create Outdoor Wetland Education Center

CSED has partnered with Tulane City Center to create an outdoor wetland education center on two of our lots at Florida & Caffin Avenues. The project aims to raise awareness of coastal restoration efforts by creating a K-12 environmental learning space that will include exhibits on local plants, outdoor classroom space, a bio swale and rain garden, and access to kayaks that will encourage hands-on learning directly adjacent to the Bayou Bienvenue Triangle.  The existing cypress and red maple trees, the community orchard and the butterfly island will remain and be enhanced. 

You can view the entire project plan at our office at 5130 Chartres Street or just stop by the site.  As always, we welcome and value your comments as we "Sustain the Nine!"

Bayou Bienvenue Triangle

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/layoftheland/2014/08/restoring-our-urban-waters-a-spotlight-on-new-orleans-bayou-bienvenue.html

Connect the 9 Community Rides On

CSED Purchases NORA Properties

The Lower 9^th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement & Development (CSED) has purchased the vacant lots at 2639 Caffin Avenue, 5620 Florida Avenue, 2636 and 2640 Lamanche Street from the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA). 

The purchase of these properties will support and enhance our ongoing effort with partners to restore the Bayou Bienvenue Triangle into a healthly wetland which can once again serve as a natural surge barrier and a recreational haven for our community.  In 2007, we helped to build the Bayou Bienvenue Platform located directly across Florida Avenue from these lots.  The CSED acts as the caretaker of the platform site, provides tours by a Lower 9th Ward native bayou guide, and engages in community outreach and environmental education.  Use of these properties will further enhance our mission to reconnect Lower 9th Ward residents with the Bayou Bienvenue Triangle & the waters that surround them.

Current CSED plans for these lots include regular maintenance, soil sampling, fencing, tree plantings, and the development of a community orchard. We are honored to be able to give new life and purpose to these former homesites of displaced Lower 9th Ward residents. 

Environmental Justice in New Orleans: Dr. Beverly Wright [VIDEO]

Wonderful video that commemorates EPA's 20 years of working on environmental justice issues, featuring Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice - and friend to the Lower 9 and CSED.