March 16th 2008
Brad Pitt And Bill Clinton Formally Break Ground In New Orleans
Filed under: buildings and construction, campaigns, cars-houses — michael @ 6:01 pm
Those little pink houses were only the beginning. Today, Bill Clinton joined Brad Pitt — along with 600 students from around the world — to formally break ground on Pitt’s Make it Right project. 150 sustainable and affordable green homes will be built in New Orleans devestated Lower 9th Ward as a result of donations and grants from people and organizations. Along with President Clinton, Pitt and residents from the area, the students cleaned and prepared more than 10 blocks of the neighborhood that will welcome the first returning residents to the area. Said Pitt of the occasion,
“We are so appreciative of the support we have received from the Lower 9th Ward Community, the Clinton Global Initiative, and university students from around the country at our groundbreaking today,” said Brad Pitt. “I especially want to thank former President Bush and President Clinton for their early support of Make It Right. We are excited about today, but need to remember that our project is one small part of addressing a much larger need. Thousands of people still need help in order to return home.”
Clinton was equally impressed, and stressed commitment to the area for the long term as key to getting people back up and running. “The way to really get New Orleans all the way back and all the way back in a hurry is to rebuild in the right way and make it a long-term, five- to six-year commitment, to create a much higher base level of jobs through this whole energy efficiency endeavor.”
Frankly, it’s rather disturbing that Katrina happened almost three years ago and we’re still talking about rebuilding. If it wasn’t for people like Pitt driving attention to this issue, would these residents still be waiting?
So far, 80, of the 150 homes planned have been sponsored. According to the website, each home costs $150,000. To support the effort and help get the people of the Lower 9th in homes before the next anniversary, click here to donate.
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You’re absolutely right. Three years after Katrina, no one would pay any attention to rebuilding efforts in N.O. if Brad Pitt and other celebs weren’t involved.
This is the perfect example of why I feel that celebrities have a responsibility to speak up and be active.
Good for them!
What a wonderful thing you’re doing. God bless you. New Orleans is a unique and special city in America.