Resurrection Project launched in 9th Ward
By Valerie Faciane

Josephine Scott-Brown and her husband, Charles, used all of their finances, including their Road Home money, to renovate their house in the Lower 9th Ward. Now that they are done, there’s no money left to buy furniture.

That’s where the Resurrection Project comes in.

The program, run by local grass-roots organization All Congregations Together in partnership with churches and other nonprofit organizations, distributes donated furniture and building materials to needy families in one of the most devastated neighborhoods in the city.


ACT Executive Director Mary Fontenot said for many storm victims, the money goes only so far.

“Many of the checks received through the Road Home program are not enough to restore families most impacted by Katrina,” she said.

The project was launched last month when the group began working with 29 families. To prepare their homes for the new furniture, volunteers painted the walls and made minor repairs.

Then rooms of donated furniture showed up on their doorsteps.

The Resurrection Project continues to offer eligible residents new and gently used furniture at minimal to no cost. It also provides free building materials and volunteer help with minor renovations.

To participate, residents must prove that they were impacted by the storm, but “we don’t want to become another entity that ties people up in red tape,” Fontenot said. “Our goal is to not have donated goods stacked to the ceiling, but to make sure that whatever is received is quickly moved into the hands of the citizens.”

The Resurrection Project will soon provide case management services, and hopes to eventually start workplace training and a consumer co-op, Fontenot said. The project also plans to expand to other hard-hit areas of the city, including the Upper 9th Ward and eastern New Orleans.

Partners in the Resurrection Project include Xavier University, the New Orleans Disaster Relief Insurance Program, Emergency Interiors, Furnishing Our Neighbors, the Unitarian Universalist Association/Unitarian Universalist Gulf Coast Volunteer Program of Cambridge, Mass., the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and A La Maison of California.

As for the Browns, they’re excited about the prospect of once again having a furnished home.

“We greatly appreciate it from the heart,” Josephine Scott-Brown said. “Words can’t express our gratitude.”

For information or to donate to the Resurrection Project, call ACT at (504) 304-2281.

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Valerie Faciane can be reached at vfaciane@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3325.