The Fish Foundation news and events

The Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (NENA) is a grassroots organization formed after Hurricane Katrina in the Lower 9th Ward. Tricia Jones, who runs the organization, leveraged her experience in the legal and accounting professions to step into the vacuum of community leadership created by the storm. We learned about them via word of mouth from other organizations operating in New Orleans. NENA is doing exactly the kind of work The Fish Foundation is trying to support through FISHNET.

NENA is working in four distinct but equally important areas.

1) Outreach and advocacy
NENA is collecting and disseminating information for people who have returned to the Lower 9th Ward, and for people who are trying to get back to their homes from out of state. This information includes rebuilding resources, including grant programs and donated materials and labor, and employment opportunities for returning residents. NENA is organizing 'neighborhood captains' among Lower 9th Ward residents to spread information and organize local resources so that people can help each other more effectively.

2) Case management
NENA is one of the only organizations (to their knowledge) who is doing case management in the 9th Ward. Currently, they're assisting 1200 households in issues ranging from housing to employment to rebuilding construction to title issues.

3) Housing
As we've noted before, it's very difficult for Lower 9th Ward homeowners to get the funds together to rebuild their homes, leaving much of the area barren two years after the storm. The costs of private contractors and insurance policies are high, and insurance and Road Home money is barely enough to support these expenses. NENA is currently gathering funding to set up a housing loan fund, so that Lower 9th Ward residents can borrow forgiveable loans to rebuild their homes.

Architecture for Humanity is helping NENA to develop new, sustainable housing models in the Lower 9th Ward. This summer, NENA established a Community Design Studio which provides pro bono on-site architectural, construction administration, and permitting assistance to residents as they rebuild their homes. The Studio’s work is integrated into NENA’s case management services for both rehabilitation and new construction projects, assisting residents with property assessments, building design, preliminary cost estimating, contractor identification, and the ongoing administration of construction work. You can read more about AFH's Gulf Coast programs here.

4) Economic development
NENA is fixing one of the big problems we saw in the 9th Ward and other unrecovered New Orleans neighborhoods -- no small businesses. NENA is creating vocational training opportunities as well as business planning and entreprenurial classes so that local residents can rebuild new, vibrant community businesses.