Professor gets grant for New Orleans restoration

Portland State professor Hazel Denhart has received a $55,000 grant from Mercy Corps to develop a New Orleans-based service-learning program to help revitalize the city, which still has not recovered from Hurricane Katrina.

Denhart, an adjunct professor in communication studies, received the grant from the national nonprofit organization Mercy Corps last month to create a program for the University of New Orleans, an institution still ravaged by the hurricane, which hit New Orleans in 2005.

Denhart has been working with Mercy Corps in the city since just after the hurricane hit, she said. “What a life altering experience it was to come into the city in the late night hours, all of it dark, no electricity anywhere,” Denhart said of her arrival to New Orleans, just two months after Katrina tore through the city. “It was absolutely bone chilling. And amplified by the smell [of] death permeating the air.”

The program, which will engage University of New Orleans students to help in the local community, should contribute significantly to city repairs and clean up, Denhart said.

The University of New Orleans was hit particularly hard, she said.

“The impact of hurricane Katrina was catastrophic for the University of New Orleans. All of its buildings were damaged and two-thirds of the faculty did not return after the storm,” she said.

Getting the pool of local knowledge to contribute should help make up for the lack of government support, she said.

Students who choose to participate in the voluntary program will receive University of New Orleans credit, Denhart said.

Although her program is unlike most university service learning curriculums, Denhart said she wants students involved who have the drive and motivation to do the work–if service learning is mandatory, it can produce students who lack the motivation to work toward a cause, she said.

Denhart said she wants to address several areas. One example she gave is the support given to the local jazz community, where musicians can obtain assistance from those knowledgeable in the music business.

She also said she would like the program to reach a larger base than just the nonprofit sector, and reach out to the small business community in New Orleans.

Denhart also said she has been responsible for gathering work and support from other institutions to help with the program.

“The grant is also allowing me to build an advisory team with Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and Duke to provide peer review of my program design,” Denhart said.

Faculty mentoring and assistance in program funding will also be available when the program gets off the ground, she said.

“I think this is great, and something like this should have happened over a year ago,” said Leah Foster, a student of the School of Urban Studies and Planning. “They have needed help for some time down there.”

According to Denhart, New Orleans is looking to cities such as Portland as a sort of mentor in New Orleans’ rebuilding process. She noted that the city has incorporated sustainability into the city’s reconstruction; a concept Denhart noted is uncommon in the South. Another example is that New Orleans will be modeling their new bike transit system after Portland’s.

Denhart noted that some progress in the city’s restoration has been made since the Katrina first hit, but it has been very little and slow coming–precisely why she is instituting the program.

Denhart said she has been involved with Mercy Corps’ efforts in the city, partly through her husband Rick Denhart, who is the organization’s director for gulf coast recovery. After working closely with Mercy Corps over the past few years, Denhart said it was easier to gain the grant.

Mostly, though, Denhart is just thankful that she has been given the opportunity to make a difference.

“I remember two years after the storm people would come up to me, often times crying, and thanking me for coming–for remembering they are still here and still in grave need,” Denhart said. “Our Oregon Governor came in May of ’07 and it really gave a huge burst of energy to the community here. I want to keep that energy going.”