‘Working-safely purpose’: New Orleans organization commits to rebuilding amid heat

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On this historically hot day, the work doesn’t stop because it can’t stop, and that’s true for nonprofits that aim to help homeowners.

Year-round, the Rebuilding Together New Orleans crew works to repair homes in vulnerable communities.

Senior Field Operations Coordinator Jonathan Holmes says historic temperatures have somewhat changed their routine.

“We’re working on 40 minutes of work, 20 minutes of break, and if we’re especially tired, we have a truck that we brought over to sit in the air conditioning for the 20 minutes so that we’re on and off,” Holmes said.

When it comes to staying hydrated, it’s all about teamwork.

“If we look at each other and you’re looking winded and you’re looking tired, then it’s probably time to drink water,” Holmes said. “We’re bringing five gallons of water a day, so it’s not like we’re going to worry about water, and we got the porta-potty, so AC and water.”

Holmes admits the heat is slowing them down a bit.

“That’s mostly not from a we-can’t-push-through-it purpose,” Holmes explained. “That’s a working-safely purpose, especially when we have volunteers. We don’t want us falling out. We don’t want them falling out. We don’t want the homeowner falling out when we’re working on these houses.”

Rebuilding Together New Orleans still finds a way to make houses habitable for homeowners even after receiving an influx of applications following Hurricane Ida.

“[We have done] right around 250 [homes] between just roofing and in-house projects ourselves,” Holmes said. “That’s not to count when Ida first happened, how many people we were doing emergency tarping for, emergency water, emergency gutting, and all of that.”

Anyone looking to donate to the organization, visit the Rebuilding Together New Orleans website.

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