Creative Team Helps Harlem Preservationists and Katrina Victims

As part of the 350th Harlem Anniversary Celebrations, Willex Brown, Jr. and Eric V. Tait, Jr., have joined forces with Diana Solomon Glover and David Easton to bring us "Melancholy Christmas," a brand new Christmas Song being used to help the Harlem Preservation Foundation (HPF) and the New Orleans ACORN Katrina Relief effort.

Said Tait and Brown: "We thought this would be a great way to help highlight Harlem's 350th birthday and also help others in need. We know that people like to help when they can, especially at Christmas time, and this is an easy, enjoyable way to do that. We ask that when they share this song with their friends after they've downloaded it, that they ask their friends to also download a copy and share it with another friend so it spreads virally and really becomes the song that keeps on giving."

Its a new, memorable Christmas Song that speaks to the issue of those not so fortunate among us who might need aid and comfort in the Holiday Season, being used to help a Harlem-based not-for-profit Historical Preservation organization as well as many of those still in need in the City of New Orleans. Not only does HPF have a percentage of ownership rights in "Melancholy Christmas" but HPF and ACORN, New Orleans will also share in the music download sales.

Three Cents of every download-purchase of any version of the song will be donated each to HPF and ACORN, New Orleans. In the words of the President of Louisiana ACORN, Beulah Labostrie, "We are honored by your gesture.  This is a wonderful Christmas gift of giving which demonstrates the brotherhood of men... as well as the indomitable human spirit.  Thank you for thinking of us..."

The last time Brown and Tait collaborated, they came up with one of the most memorable and well-regarded audience favorites at Rosetta Lenoire's AMAS! Repertory Theatre - the  '50s-based Musical "Sh-Boom!"  "Melancholy Christmas" is as fine a Holiday Song as any of the romantic ballads that made "Sh-Boom!" such an audience favorite.

This debut recording of "Melancholy Christmas" is sung by the multi-talented Diana Solomon Glover, with David Easton on keyboards. Diana's outstanding vocal and spoken-word contributions have enhanced a number of Mr. Tait's award-winning radio documentary works. "Melancholy Christmas" was recorded and mastered at Duke Markos Audio in New York City and is available at these Online Stores: iTUNES, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, GroupieTunes, Lala, Shockhound, and Amie Street.

For more information, visit www.evtproductions.com or
www.myspace.com/harlemthennowandforever.

ACORN and Lower 9th Ward homeowners in March celebrated a historic victory when New Orleans leaders announced the neighborhood, along with New Orleans East, would be the beneficiaries of $145 million in rebuilding dollars. The landmark announcement marked a 180-degree change of heart for city officials, whose planning consultant in November 2005 advised them to force Lower 9th Ward homeowners to sell their property and consign the flood-prone neighborhood to wetlands. Helping to influence that decision was ACORN's January report, "The People's Plan for Rebuilding the Lower 9th Ward," the result of a collaboration with ACORN Housing and Columbia, Cornell and Louisiana State universities that included thousands of interviews with residents, a survey of more than 3,000 structures, 300 businesses and 300 households.

Efforts continue to prevent bulldozing homes in storm-damaged neighborhoods. Meanwhile, ACORN members and their allies in July demanded equitable flood protection for all New Orleans neighborhoods by forming a mile-long “human levee” along the Monticello Canal, part of an ongoing campaign to ensure full and fair flood protection for all city residents.

ACORN and ACORN Housing are working to make a return to New Orleans possible for all hurricane survivors. ACORN in February handed the keys to the first new homes to be rebuilt in the Lower 9th Ward since Katrina to longtime neighborhood residents Josephine Butler and Gwendolyn Guice. The new energy-efficient, storm-resistant houses designed by professors at the Louisiana State University School of Architecture represented the neighborhood's rebirth, a process ACORN continues to champion.

Butler and Guice were not alone in moving back into permanent housing in the Lower 9th Ward this year. ACORN partnered over the summer with workers representing Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers to rehabilitate the home of Cleveland Turner, who celebrated his homecoming after nearly two years in a FEMA trailer. ACORN Housing is also set to redevelop about 150 adjudicated homes in low- and moderate-income New Orleans neighborhoods including the Lower 9th Ward. Work is expected to begin on the first group of properties in September.

In response to a post-Hurricane Katrina city ordinance requiring that homeowners gut and preserve their damaged property or face demolition, ACORN launched in December 2005 its Home Clean-Out program, matching volunteers with homeowners to gut homes throughout the city. To date, the program has preserved more than 6,000 homes with the help of 15,000 volunteers from around the country and beyond.

ACORN this year began a lawn maintenance program for displaced residents to protect them from city-imposed fines on overgrown yards and also launched a lead-paint remediation program. In recent months, ACORN has begun taking on small, short-term rehabilitation projects for homeowners with storm-damaged property. Whether hanging a door or installing a window, hooking up ceiling fans or mounting Sheetrock, ACORN volunteers provide free labor for New Orleanians in the process of rebuilding their homes and neighborhoods. ACORN has repaired hundreds of homes and built some brand new storm-proof houses in the lower 9th ward. Learn how you can volunteer with ACORN's home preservation programs.

Through a January lawsuit, ACORN forced the Federal Emergency Management Agency to better describe to Katrina victims why they were losing FEMA housing assistance and reversed FEMA's decision to cancel benefits to more than 1,000 households. Later, ACORN counted as a major victory the Bush Administration’s decision to transfer the jurisdiction of housing assistance funds for hurricane victims from FEMA to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Now, ACORN is fighting to ensure seamless delivery of this crucial funding to eligible Katrina survivors.

Meanwhile, ACORN is working to secure passage of the Senate's version of the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007. The bill would help eliminate funding shortfalls in the Louisiana Road Home program for homeowners seeking to rebuild, replace thousands of units of affordable housing, create new homeownership opportunities, help spur economic development, continue housing assistance to displaced New Orleaneans and beef up accountability for all funds spent. Click here to tell your members of Congress to support this important legislation.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf region, ACORN quickly began fostering communication among displaced residents and fighting for better disaster assistance. With the support of many friends and allies, we have preserved homes through our gutting program, organized for the right to return and rebuild and provided a national voice for displaced families through the national ACORN Katrina Survivors Association.

Click here to read a report about ACORN’s work to recover and rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

We ask for your continued support in these efforts.

ACORN has released the “Planning Principles for the City of New Orleans,” a detailed set of recommendations for policymakers and planners on how to rebuild “a New Orleans with a place for everyone.” The ACORN Planning Principles document is a result of an extensive, community-based research project conducted with the support of ACORN Housing, Cornell University, Pratt Institute, Louisiana State University, Columbia University and New Jersey Institute of Technology. ACORN Housing has recently been selected as one of the city’s official district planners to assist residents with developing neighborhood plans. ACORN Housing will be working closely with ACORN member neighborhoods.