Hands On New Orleans has developed holistic programs through critical need assessments within neighborhoods.

Hands On New Orleans offers opportunities for individuals, groups, and families lend their hands to address critical community issues:

Neighborhood Development

Hands On Homes

Dedicated to quality craftsmanship, preservation, and sustainable building practices, the Hands On New Orleans construction program helps preserve the existing homes of New Orleans residents who are committed to rebuilding.

Hands On New Orleans has developed a construction program which incorporates a Neighborhood Block Model that will allow volunteers to continue renovating and rebuilding area homes devastated by the 2005 hurricanes.

The Lower Gentilly area, specifically the Fairmont Block where we had previously focused our work, will be Hands On New Orleans’ area of concentration in 2008. Led by our Construction Site Supervisors, volunteers, both skilled and unskilled will assist qualifying home owners in their rebuilding efforts. The projects will vary depending on the need of each homeowner and what the next phase of the construction process is for their home. The volunteers will help to stretch the resources of the community, and help individuals get one step closer to moving back in their homes.

Neighborhood Block Model – The strategy behind our construction program is to concentrate daily volunteer efforts into a single geographic area. The goal is to make New Orleans a healthy, livable city for the displaced to return, and to help foster the rebuilding of communities and not just individual homes. In order to do this we have taken the Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP), the work of other local nonprofits, and our previous concentration of efforts into account prior to selecting concise neighborhoods of which we can leverage resources to make the greatest impact. By collaborating with local neighborhood associations, residents, and other organizations, Hands On New Orleans hopes to fuel the rebuilding process and make a deeper, more meaningful impact.

How It Works - First, the construction team identifies the rebuilding needs of the neighborhood. Second, residents apply for assistance. Third, applications are reviewed and it is determined who qualifies based on a criteria created by Hands On New Orleans. Following the selection process, the construction team determines the scope of work, timeline, and resources needed to complete the repairs. Finally, skilled site supervisors lead crews of volunteers into the neighborhoods to accomplish the tasks.

Resident Participation – Part of the criteria to qualify for the program requires that the homeowner is willing to commit time and energy into the project. They are required to participate, interact, and support the volunteer efforts in a capacity that is comfortable for them. This could include working alongside the volunteers in their home, cooking for the volunteers, providing administrative support for the Hands On New Orleans office along with numerous other opportunities.

For More Information Contact:

Nicholas Bonsell
Hands On New Orleans
Construction Manager,
nbonsell@handsonneworleans.org

Youth and Education

Hands On New Orleans strives to engage local youth in service to their communities. Each year Hands On New Orleans supports youth leadership and service through Global Youth Service Day, school renovations and partnerships. Through its involvement in the New Orleans Kids Partnership, partnership with Kaboom!, and continued work with the numerous charter and Recovery School District Schools, Hands On New Orleans is helping to improve the quality of life for young people. Cultural preservation and issue education

Animal Shelter

Like much of New Orleans, many local non-profits have been impacted by the low population to return to New Orleans. We help local non-profits like Animal Rescue New Orleans, (ARNO) by assisting with the care and cleaning of animals. ARNO is the only no kill animal shelter in New Orleans.

Environment

Hands On New Orleans works to improve the environment! By working with other local non-profits we help to lesson the effects of energy efficiency by working with organization such as Green Light New Orleans. The goal is to replace yesterdays incandescent light bulbs with the new environmentally friendly compact fluorescent lights, (CFL)

Additionally we work to improve wetland restoration! Our volunteers work with the National Wildlife foundation to help restore our natural wetlands.

Cultural Preservation

New Orleans is one of the most unique cities in the world! Hands On New Orleans works to preserve, restore, and celebrate cultural spaces throughout New Orleans. In celebration of the rich musical and cultural heritage of New Orleans, Hands On New Orleans has strong partnerships with the Tipitina’s Foundation and Sweet Home New Orleans. Our past work through these partnerships included renovations at the legendary Mother-in-Law Lounge. Our work in cultural preservation will also support rebuilding efforts aimed at getting area artists back to New Orleans and back into their homes.

Disaster Preparedness and Response

Hands on New Orleans will serve as the lead agency in establishing a Volunteer Reception Center in times of disaster. A Volunteer Reception Center is a system to coordinate spontaneous volunteers in disaster when LOCAL resources are unable to handle the influx of such volunteers.  VRCs are not opened in every disaster--but are opened at the request and on coordination with local Office of Emergency Preparedness, OEP.  The center can be anywhere--even under a tree, but it is a localized place to send spontaneous volunteers in large disasters.  If a VRC is opened, local nonprofits responding to the disaster can call in their needs for volunteers--number, location, shifts, etc.  The VRC will process volunteers who come in and assign them to the various needs.  This system/process has been used successfully in North Carolina, in many FL hurricanes, the FL Groundhog Day tornadoes, in Alabama for the Enterprise tornadoes, in Ohio for the floods, etc.  The Volunteer Center/Hands On New Orleans would be responsible for coordinating with OEP to open and operate the center. 

Absolutely, LTRC orgs are the orgs who would post their needs in such a center. It is merely a way to localize, coordinate and REFER volunteers to orgs who need help.  The Volunteer Reception Center does not manage them, but merely processes them for orgs needing help.  Volunteers referred to a particular organization actually "own" those volunteers when they arrive and are responsible for training them, managing them, etc. 

Corporate Social Responsibility

Hands At Work offers opportunities for corporations and business leaders to impact the community.

Corporations can participate in customized service projects, sponsor service events, join the Corporate Volunteer Council, and receive consultation on developing and expanding Employee Volunteer Programs.

Volunteer Leadership Academy

Equipping Volunteers - Hands On New Orleans has refined the “full service” volunteer approach to include volunteer recruitment, training, and activation, with a special focus on volunteer leadership. We have trained and equipped many of our long-term volunteers to identify community needs, develop volunteer projects, and motivate and mentor newer volunteers through their three month experience.

Our Goal - The goal of this program is to sustain a Volunteer Leader program as part of Hands On New Orleans’ long-term commitment to the community. It is our plan to:

• provide a sustainable program model for Volunteer Leaders’ service, including both visiting and local leaders.
• establish an ongoing training program for Volunteer Leaders to enable them to mobilize volunteers and engage community members effectively
• establish a locally-focused volunteer leader recruitment program focused on skilled labor, with strong linkages to New Orleans community.

Volunteer Leaders At Work - Our Volunteer Leaders are an integral component of our operations at Hands On New Orleans. Each manages an average of 15 volunteers per day in the field, acting as the on-site supervisors for all of our projects. Projects may include working at food distribution centers, assisting at local animal shelters, wetland restoration, rebuilding homes with our construction program, collaborating with other local non-profits and much more.

Volunteer Leaders will develop one community project reflecting their focus area. We suggest that this project be in the form of a partnership with another non-profit in New Orleans.  Leaders will be responsible for the planning, recruiting, execution, and sustainability of their project.  The project should meet a critical community need, and engage locals in their own recovery. 

Service Learning - Volunteer Leaders will engage in service learning activities which include discussion panels with homeowners and citizen leaders in the community, as well as attending neighborhood, grassroots, and city council meetings. We encourage Volunteer Leaders to examine deeper civic issues affecting the community and to develop at least one service learning presentation that they can share with our staff, the volunteers and the community.

We want Hands On New Orleans to be a place that funnels passionate energy into the rebuilding of our city and is every three months sending leaders back to their respective homes, who are equipped and ready to spread a volunteer movement throughout the nation and spread that spirit throughout our city.

How do I apply?

Please visit our website and submit an application.