One of the most positive outcomes from the challenges of the last 10 years is the community engagement that propelled our region’s recovery. After Hurricane Katrina, community members took ownership of the area’s recovery process. A diverse cross-section of residents used hyper-local ideas to inform the blueprints necessary to bring the area back. The same community-driven response occurred during the BP oil spill disaster of 2010.
The Community Voices Project was launched at the advent of the 5th anniversary of the BP spill and the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina as an homage to the spirit of community engagement that has fostered our recovery from these disasters. The Community Voices Project is essentially a forum of diverse community members engaging in a grass roots process that is part reflection and part outlining priorities and pathways for moving forward. The first phase of the project raises up the voices of people whose lives were impacted by the BP oil spill. The second phase of the project features a broad diverse group of New Orleanians reflecting on the recovery process in response to Hurricane Katrina, the levee failures and subsequent flooding.
We give profound thanks to the Surdna Foundation and the Foundation for the Mid-South for providing the resources for this work and to the brave and strong people of the Gulf Coast region who have spoken out.