Ramp Up LA

 XAVIER UNIVERSITY ANSWERS NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE CALL

The Phoenix of New Orleans (PNOLA), a non-profit rebuilding organization dedicated to supporting the recovery of New Orleans, is proud to announce their participation in Make A Difference Day, October 24, 2009. Students from Xavier University will join forces with PNOLA, Trinity Christian Community (TCC) and AmeriCorps to help build quality, affordable accessibility ramps and provide weatherization for New Orleans homeowners. Make A Difference Day, the national day to help others, is an opportunity for people to positively impact their communities through volunteerism.

This opportunity is made possible through “Ramp Up LA,” a program administered through the Louisiana Serve Commission. PNOLA’s Executive Director, Ryan Porcelli says, “This project has a particularly powerful and immediate impact on the people we serve as it gives them access to the world outside of their house, and can instantly renew their sense of independence. In each instance, the elderly homeowners we will work with have struggled so hard to rehabilitate their properties and pick up the pieces of their life after Hurricane Katrina, only to be confined to them once they are able to move back in.”

Families across New Orleans will benefit from the help of the Xavier volunteers. Lena and Myra Boudreaux of Braodmoor and Lilly Jones in the Hoffman Triangle are a couple of the deserving homeowners to receive help from PNOLA, TCC, AmeriCorps and Xavier University.

Kevin Brown, Executive Director of TCC says, “Rebuilding New Orleans requires collaborations from within the city as well as volunteers from outside, for the second year PNOLA and TCC have teamed up to do just that. What makes the difference is that this will alleviate the struggles of 3 families with disabilities going beyond the normal rebuilding process.”

In the four years since its inception, PNOLA has recruited 3,800 volunteers, gutted 200 properties, completely rebuilt or repaired 73 houses for families who could not afford to come back home otherwise and saved homeowners over $2,000,000 in labor costs. PNOLA, TCC, AmeriCorps and Xavier University look forward to truly making a difference in New Orleans on October 24, 2009.

If you are resident in need of PNOLA services, a volunteer looking for a project or a donor looking for a great cause, please call 504-322-3327 or visit www.pnola.org for more information.

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