Wentworth Institute of Technology will be one of the first schools to help restore the city of New Orleans by working directly with the local community and environmental groups. This week, seventeen students, three faculty, three service-learning leaders, and one parent will spend Wentworth’s spring break gutting a donated building to prepare for the future development of a community center in the historic Treme neighborhood of the 6th Ward.
The Wentworth team will also lead a design charrette with residents and local community leaders to consider options for the surrounding site known as Ujamaa Square. This event will initiate the design of a new environmental laboratory and community center. The team will contribute to developing a center that provides environmental training, free legal clinics, child-care, counseling, homebuyer workshops, how-to workshops, and other educational events to serve residents.
Wentworth is now collaborating with a coalition that includes Ujamaa (a community development corporation and owner of Ujamaa Square), People’s Hurricane Relief Fund, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, Common Ground, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, the Tulane City Center, DESIGNbuild Consortium, PerkinElmer Inc., Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and faculty from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
This project is one of many that achieves all three of Wentworth President Zorica Pantic’s goals of academic excellence, community involvement, and economic impact. The Alternative Spring Break is more than traditional community service. “We are approaching this in the same way we reach out to our own neighbors. If we work well as a group, we can put our heads together and achieve remarkable goals,” said Sean Bender, Director of the Center for Community and Learning Partnerships at Wentworth.
The project represents an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental initiative (architecture, civil engineering, service learning) that applies the resources of Wentworth to a pressing series of challenges, including the need to educate the people of New Orleans about safely remediating their land and homes.
“Right now people who live in New Orleans don’t know what is toxic and what is safe, which plants are good for restoration, or how to safely rebuild their lives,” said Lora Kim, a Wentworth architecture professor who teaches a course called Tactical Responses to Hurricane Katrina. Professor Kim’s class has been preparing to do work on the 6th Ward during the spring semester. Six of her students will work in New Orleans on the designs for the new community center with Ujamaa, after gathering input from local residents during the design charrette on Monday, March 6.
The project will continue long after spring break has ended. The Wentworth architecture department is modifying its sophomore curriculum so that over 160 students will continue the work begun in New Orleans. “This is a great chance for our students to help New Orleans recover, and for them to test their creativity in response to the real-world problems of the 6th Ward’s community,” explained Wentworth Architecture professor Mark Pasnik. This summer, when the needs of the project move from designing to preparations for construction, upper-level Wentworth courses will prepare a further refined round of drawings and models. Wentworth students will later assist in the construction of the center.
In preparation for spring break, students have spent the last few months raising money through activities that range from selling homemade cheesecakes to handing out fliers on the street. Planning the trip has been a challenge because of the dire situation in New Orleans. Students have received specialized safety training, were required to have a series of vaccinations, and will use respirators because of mold and toxins in the area.
Natalie Bogdanovich, a freshman in the Wentworth architecture program, is eager to face the challenges and to be part of something with such high-impact rewards. “I’m excited. It’s something completely different. I’ll be able to see first-hand what happens.”
The students have also received generous support. When one spoke with his family about the trip, his father brought it to the attention of his employer, the insurance company Allianz. “Allianz has already completed a money-matching program for us,” noted Suzie Brander, student initiatives coordinator at Wentworth and Massachusetts Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA. The employees of Allianz raised over $1,000 for the trip, which the company matched for a total donation of $2,550. The German-based company is currently considering Wentworth for a grant to fund future projects in the 6th Ward.
Brigham and Women’s hospital of Boston also donated first-aid kits and masks for the trip.
With the continued support of the Boston and New Orleans communities, the relationship between the 6th Ward and Wentworth will be a long one.
