My Life. My neighborhood. My world. Mike Richards.

The Flood of 2008 in Cedar Rapids devastated the older core neighborhoods around Downtown Cedar Rapids. For one hundred years, these inter-generational, tight knit neighborhoods have provided modest, yet pleasant affordable homes. These are our working class, historic neighborhoods. Our City never officially designated these neighborhoods as historic districts, but the real fact is, the hands that built these historic homes are the very same hands that built the economic base of this City in factories, mills, machine shops and foundries.
 

One of the things that we heard from all six of the disaster recovery groups that we met with in New Orleans was the importance of gutting and sealing up neighborhood buildings, regardless of their anticipated future.

Lynette and I are about to wrap up our extraordinary week here in New Orleans. We're completing an intensive training/mentoring experience organized for us by the good folks who created and run the Beacon of Hope Resource Centers. Although many of these wonderful people we've met this week were unknown to us just days ago, we can't help but feel comfortable among our new friends.

UPDATE: To learn more about our mentors and what we did while in New Orleans, please read my mentoring experience report.

On our first day with the folks at Beacon of Hope Resource Centers has already convinced us more than ever that we are in good hands for our crash course in neighborhood disaster recovery.

This morning Lynette and I left Cedar Rapids for the Big Easy! New Orleans and Cedar Rapids now have a connection that transcends so many other experiences. The Katrina Disaster and our Great Flood of 2008 have wrecked natural disaster on both our beloved cities. Now, like the good folks who founded and operate the Beacon of Hope Resource Centers, we have to be vigilant and engaged to make sure that we don't follow a natural disaster with a man-made one.