Testimonials |
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The New Orleans Welcome Home Center is staffed by case managers who will develop individualized plans to assist displaced citizens with the rebuilding process.
Send all Love Letters to:
"You feel compelled in New Orleans to look at the past to understand some mystery for the future. These are where people gathered to live and work. These are where dreams began. These are where people have lived, loved, fought and died. These are where communities gathered, families reunited, and lovers embraced. Just imagining all this life lived makes the heart sing. This courage the city has, to respect its past, is valuable. It profits the soul. We are invited to meet a city with character." Montreal, Quebec
"At the corner of our block was a Philippine bar, across the street from the bar was an Italian grocery where you could buy a live chicken (they were outside of the grocery waiting to be "selected"). We had a drug store around the corner, where you could get "real" sodas and sundaes. Two blocks from our house was millinery, where the ladies in the neighborhood could have a cat custom made. THAT WAS A NEIGHBORHOOD! Everything you needed was within WALKING DISTANCE from your home." "I want to step out of my door and see the cultural mix of the people, the character of a real neighborhood. I want to walk to church on Sunday! I want the sounds, sights and scenes of New Orleans. New Orleans I want to come home!" Chalmette, LA
"One of the benefits of living in a city is being able to walk where you want to go. If you spend time in New Orleans on foot, you are able to experience all the things that make New Orleans as unique as it is. In the spring, the scent of flowers, beignets and coffee fill the air. Oh, okay, sometimes (particularly around Mardi Gras) it's the scent of stale beer, but that's how we know we're in a certain city. I can't think of another that offers stale beer and beignets scent. In the summer, it's sure hot, sure, but where else offers such an open and inviting sauna. Great for your skin. And in winter, you rarely walk in the snow, and you never wear a real winter coat. It would never be necessary to work inside again. Free exercise!" Metairie, LA
"New Orleans is built on its diversity the way that old mortar which holds many of the brick townhouses and storefronts on Magazine Street together is made of the combined bits of native seashells dug from the riverbanks. No race or ethnicity is separable here. We're all equally essential to the character of the city. Polyglot is our native tongue French, African, Greek, Creole, Vietnamese, Guatemalan, Spanish - like goods from around the world checked in at the customs house, the city takes all of us in with equanimity and builds itself on us." Pass Christian, MS
"If hunting and fishing are your vice, the greater New Orleans area offers what can be described as the richest, most plentiful and most spectacular fishing and hunting anywhere in the world. This speaks to the great geographical phenomenon found in New Orleans. You have a first-class city sitting in the middle of mostly undeveloped land, when you live in New Orleans, you can truly have the best of worlds as for rural and urban living go." New Orleans, LA
"After 23 years of bouncing between New York and the West Coast (and all points in between), this "prodigal Tulanian" finally returned to New Orleans for a short business project with Trumpet Advertising...the weekend of Hurricane Isabel. Despite such a long absence and dramatic return trip, New Orleans crept back into my imagination and I couldn't readily shake it. A quick trip from Manhattan to last year's Jazz Fest pretty much "sealed the deal" for me to "repatriate" myself with the Crescent City and within two months, I'd pulled up stakes and returned here to make New Orleans my permanent home." "As an advertising and marketing writer/consultant/producer, I have the luxury of working and living where I choose. But a few factors made this an ideal choice. In short, I wanted to reduce my cost of living (priced New York real estate lately? A cup of coffee at their Starbucks?) while dramatically improving the quality of my life. And the latter was the priority." "The last year has been one of fantastic reunions with old friends, a surprising wealth of new business opportunities and, best of all, has enabled me to build new friendships and business relationships with a surprising number of incredible people I now count among my nearest and dearest." "Thomas Wolfe was only partly right. Maybe "you can't go HOME again." But you can sure as hell go back to your college town!" New York City, NY
"I'm a teacher who lived living in France for 27 years .... Spent my sabbatical year in New Orleans and stayed .... Adore Jazz Fest, the culture, and cuisine, general kindness of the people and sense of hospitality." Strasbourg, France
"The city's whimsy and quirkiness .... Its friendly people, rich history, culture, music and food." Chicago, IL
"Fell in love with the city during a Jazz Fest visit. The lifestyle .... Love the city's diversity - small, but provides everything you need." Kentucky/Virginia border
"I am launching a specialty printing business .... Moved to the city because of affordable housing." Los Angeles, CA
"I could NOT live in NOLA! Enjoy the music and food." Jackson, MS
"My job - to begin a business and invest locally .... Like the food and the cultures - lots of opportunity to take advantage of both!" Dallas, TX
"The people are what I like most about living in New Orleans." Nashua, NH
"Like the lifestyle: warmth, friendless and food!" Bridgeport, CT
"Came home for an easier lifestyle. Like the multicultural mix .... Festive atmosphere .... Less traffic." Los Angeles, CA
"Retired and returned home. Like the food, weather, horse racing, and the people." Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina
"Retired from LSU and moved to New Orleans because of urban lifestyle and funky atmosphere, the cultural activities - music, art museums and theatre, history, streetcars, architecture, and the folk life ...." Baton Rouge, LA
"The lifestyle .... There is always something to do." Arkansas
"We are religiously local, religiously tied to New Orleans." Drew Ramsey, Plant Manager
Simon Hubig Pies "In New Orleans, [the cuisine is] it's part of the place, obviously. It's not a question of being in or out." Allison Vines-Rushing, James Beard Foundation 2004 Gallo of Sonoma Rising Star Chef Award
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