I'm a sharer. Always have been. I'm one of those people who always has a story (that you may or may not be interested in hearing) or a fun fact (that you may or may not care about). One of the best parts of this blog for me, then, is that I can write about all of the news items and fun tidbits in a venue that doesn't clog the email boxes of people just wondering when the next fundraiser is or how to donate to our cause.
Late last spring, I linked to a 60 minutes piece on NOLA Mayor Mitch Landrieu, in which he described his affection for New Orleans and his promise to eliminate 10,000 blighted properties. It's great to see New Orleans get positive attention on the national media stage, so I was excited to send the clip out to our team. Now, though, I can post both the original video, and this follow-up article, describing the progress that has been made in getting rid of blighted properties, including implementing a system called BlightStat to give transparency to the blight reduction process.
In reading the article, I am concerned that of the thousands of blighted properties that have been dealt with, only a few hundred were able to be repaired by owners. While we, as volunteers, can't control the local government actions regarding when properties are seized and demolished, we all hope that we can make a real difference by helping to rebuild for those homeowners who might not otherwise be able to do so without our assistance. I know that I, for one, hope that the volunteer efforts will be able to keep up with the number of homeowners who would like to rebuild, and that with each BlightStat meeting, we will continue to see a number of homes rebuilt instead of cleared away.
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