Michelle D’Onofrio, Volunteer Coordinator

February 2011 marks the five year anniversary of Rebuilding Together New Orleans’s RT Work Week. In the chaos of post-Katrina New Orleans, the work week brought volunteers with vital skills to the city, allowing RTNO to reorganize itself during a difficult time. Beginning in 2006, Rebuilding Together New Orleans held work weeks once every three months due to the extreme need in the city. As time has passed, the frequency of the work weeks has decreased from twice a year to around once a year due to economic costs. These work weeks bring together Rebuilding Together affiliates from across the country to aid in the post-Katrina rebuilding and revitalization efforts. We are truly indebted to our affiliates for volunteering to be a part of the latest Rebuilding Together Work Week more than five and half years after the storm!

In past years, our work week volunteers have worked on multiple homes in the Mid City, Treme, St. Roch, Holy Cross, and Broadmoor neighborhoods. Volunteers have painted, weatherized, framed, and landscaped over ten homes across Orleans Parish. Work weeks remain extremely important to Rebuilding Together because they have the ability to impact multiple neighborhoods throughout the city of New Orleans.

This February, our RT Work Week will take place between Monday, February 21st and Friday, February 25th. We are proud to work with our Rebuilding Together Metro Denver affiliate as well as our Rebuilding Together Montgomery County affiliate, both of whom are returning partners. This February’s group leaders are Kathy Parker of RT Denver and Paul Sciannella of RT Montgomery County. These group leaders have recruited over 30 volunteers to work on homes across Orleans Parish. Many of their volunteers come with vital carpentry and construction skills, making these individuals indispensable to the rebuilding effort. This year has also brought together some local volunteers to join in the Work Week effort.

February’s volunteers will be lodging with our partners at the Annunciation Mission in Broadmoor and the United Saints Recovery Project in Central City. RT Work Weeks cover lodging, transportation, and three meals daily for the cost of $285 per volunteer.

We want to thank our affiliates for all their support and hard work in making the Rebuilding Together February 2011 Work Week a reality five and half years after the storm!

Interested in volunteering? Contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Michelle D’Onofrio at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or at 504-636-3058. We welcome groups of all sizes as well as individuals, skilled or unskilled.