Update from Levi Holiman

Hello All. Levi saying hey and I hope all of my new fellow dirty hands friends are doing well.

I have kept a dialogue going and am exchanging ideas with "Dan" from the 9th Ward. Dan spoke to some us on our last night as a group in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) on the front porch of Noah's Ark Church. Dan is a real man with honor and a true love for doing the right thing. He thanks me every time we are on the phone. When he does this, all I can do is think to myself "he has no idea that I don't do this for a thank you. I do it because it feels good and it's just the right thing to do." At this point, I am just honored to know him and hope to be considered as honorable as I grow in life.

So Dan calls me yesterday, Tuesday May 25th, 2008. He tells me that they are looking to build a music stage in the 9th for concerts to be played there. It's purpose will be to breathe some creative life into the neighborhood while creating jobs and bring money in so this community doesn't have to live or die based on donations. They intend to rebuild to stand on their own two feet.

So I started calling everyone I knew that builds stages or has access to materials to build stages, or people who know how to build stages. The calls and emails are out and now I pray for some answers. I fell asleep last night with this situation on my brain.

When I woke up this morning, I had a little bit of an epiphany. I somehow managed to forget that I am really great friends with a guy who makes huge concerts happen all over the world including war torn Iraq. (3 trillion plus spent so far. Thanks Bush!) Anyway, I have emailed and called this buddy of mine and for lack of better words "pitched" an idea that would make the 9th the next Woodstock. I'm sure it has been mulled over before and there are a million hoops to jump through but if it is possible, this guy can do it.

We'll call the Woodstock in the 9th our Plan B because it requires so much. Plan A is to get people to donate time to volunteer. If they just can't pry themselves away from their cubicles for a week or two, then people can donate money. Valerie (my girlfriend) and I will be there on or around June 23rd for a week or two. We will be staying at the Dirty Hands house with Vince, Sarah Cooly and the rest of the folks. There will be 3 other spots to stay there and I hope some of you get on it and come back out.

There is a HOME DEPOT right across from the Super Dome in NOLA. I was there a handful of times on the last trip. I spent my own money, Mariska spent more of her own money and Pam, Vince's mom spent even more money to buy tools and dust masks for our church project. The point is we can do things as simple as buy HOME DEPOT gift cards for the folks who are there. Send them to me or the Dirty Hands folks that are there right now. We can go into projects with the ability to work. A card to a place like Home Depot will give us the ability to do it well and with the right tools.

I'm not much for blogging but I am for making NOLA a better place. Please, just because most of us aren't there anymore, doesn't mean it isn't in need. Keep giving. Spread the word. That is a great form of giving. Sean and Oscar and Allison did it with us. Look how much good has come out of that.

Another thing we really need is a person to ORGANIZE in the DIRTY HANDS CLAN. We have man power. We have access to the Internet and potentially anyone across the globe. We need a person who has the skill set, mind and passion to really keep this thing going in an organized manor. We need to know who is in NOLA at what times so that they can be supported. We need to know what projects are on the table. We need pictures and videos of these problems to get people immersed in what we are fighting for. Let's recruit NEW MEMBERS OF THE DIRTY HANDS.

If you are that person or know that person that can organize this, please speak up. We need someone who can send out daily emails to keep people informed. Someone who will update all of our projects and keep the info flowing. That is our key. Maybe it's a handful of people who will spread the work out so it isn't more than an hour or two of work per day.

Let's make a task list. Then let's have people volunteer to do that task. Put their name on it and a projected completion date so they know that they are accountable.

I also believe we should start a board of members and leaders. Most of them should be people who are in NOLA the most. They will take in ideas, figure out what is possible, compile a list of goals both short and long term. These members will be the lifeblood in the growth of THE DIRTY HANDS PEOPLE.

We should also take heed to organizations who have gotten too big for their britches and gone the wrong direction like THE RED CROSS who spends over 1.3 BILLION in employee salaries every year. An organization who never even went to the 9th ward to help when people were dying yet spent 120 million in Katrina "help us" advertising and 80 million in thank you cards. Those people should be held accountable for at least some of those deaths because they were put in a place where they could have helped but didn't. SHAME ON THE RED CROSS.

Anyway, I'll step off of my Soapbox. I hope to see as many of you as possible in NOLA around June 23rd. I wish you all the best and let me know your thoughts.

Respect.

Levi