MUSICIAN’S VILLAGE
Thank you for the extensive coverage on the Musicians’ Village which appeared in the July 2006 issue (“They Got It Bad” by Katy Reckdahl). As the article points out, we strongly support Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to be at the forefront of New Orleans’ important recovery efforts, and OffBeat’s article highlights many of the great things Habitat is doing in the Upper Ninth Ward with this project.
We write to address some important issues raised by the article. Your writer suggested that Habitat should be focusing on musicians’ credit problems that are disqualifying applicants for the Musicians’ Village. To help set the record straight, we need to clarify how Habitat works. Habitat works carefully with its partner families to put them in the position to buy simple, decent houses that they can live in for a long, long time. We decided to work with this particular charity because we like the fact that Habitat does not build transient communities—instead, it uses homeownership as a vehicle for building stable communities. Applicants with liens or judgments that are not cleared up cannot qualify for a house because creditors can go to court and enforce the debt and threaten a homeowner’s ability to keep the house he or she worked so hard to buy. Putting Habitat homes in the hands of creditors defeats the whole purpose of building the Musicians’ Village. We know that there are musicians in the applicant pool with bad debts, but many of them are trying to clear up these issues so that they can qualify. To this end, we (as concerned musicians ourselves) have recruited a number of people in the legal community who are volunteering their time to help musicians who find themselves in this predicament.
Some of the musicians in the article wondered why Habitat can’t use the funds raised to help them pay off their debts. You should know that Habitat is prohibited by law from using the funds that it raises for anything other than its mission—“to build houses in partnership with sponsors, volunteers, and homeowner families, whereby these families are empowered to transform their lives.”
We are deeply saddened that the Village will not accommodate all the musicians who need help. The housing problem in New Orleans is just overwhelming. We are keenly aware that this Village is just a drop in the bucket, but we believe it is important to make a start, no matter how small.
And while Habitat may not be perfect, it has worked tirelessly to bring to life a vision that we both share. In addition to the musicians who have already qualified for houses in the Village, a few non-musician families, who are just as deserving as our musician friends, are busily hammering nails in their future homes. And—who knows—one of their kids might just be the next Louis Armstrong!
With deep love for Our City and its music.
—Harry Connick, Jr., Branford Marsalis, via Ann Marie Wilkins, Cambridge, MA
I just want to thank you for the excellent story by Katy Reckdahl on the musicians’ village. I’ve been hearing some noise about it but haven’t had time to check into it, so the story for me was both timely and helpful in terms of getting a better perspective. This is a terribly important issue and your reporter treated it with the care it deserves.
—David Freedman, WWOZ, General Manager, New Orleans, LA
Although, as you know, I have no official connection to the Habitat for Humanity organization, I felt I needed to respond to Katy’s article on the problems that the Musicians Village is having. I read it over several times to make sure I wasn’t seeing a negative bias where one didn’t exist, and I have to say it reads as though it was written to discourage musicians from applying to the program. Nowhere in the article did I see an explanation of what the program actually is—an opportunity to purchase a home with “sweat equity” instead of a cash down payment and an interest-free, 20 year home loan. It is an opportunity to change from a rent-payer to a homeowner—the first step in building any personal wealth and financial stability. I have worked with many local musicians here at Tipitina’s Music Office Co-Op, some of whom have applied to Habitat and are having a successful experience with the program. Normally the interest paid on a home loan over 20 years will greatly exceed the “price” of a home—having access to an interest free version of that is a rare opportunity, and one that requires some difficult steps to attain. It is unfortunate that so many musicians, artists and others have been victims of the predatory credit card and other lending schemes over the last decade, but one of the realities of home loans is that you have to deal with your financial situation, however painful it might be. I think that it would have been more useful to the New Orleans musicians community if Katy had included some information about organizations that help people work on resolving their financial problems as well as an explanation of the specifics of what the Habitat program offers. It is always a daunting task to deal with one’s financial problems, but it is not impossible if one takes a long-road view and keeps at it.
—Mark Fowler, Tipitina’s Music Co-Op, New Orleans, LA
A DISSERVICE
I can’t believe the Essence Music Festival was held in Houston this year. The people that run that festival did such a disservice to the people and the city of New Orleans.
At a time when NOLA needs visitors the most, the Essence people turned their backs. If Jazz Fest could be held successfully in 2006, why not the Essence Music Festival? An event like that would have brought many people and many dollars into the city.
I realize that the Superdome isn’t ready yet, but what about the Fairgrounds? What about City Park?
Even the American Library Association showed their support by holding their 2006 conference in New Orleans.
The Essence Festival people should be ashamed.
—Ann Granatelli, Oceanside, NY
CORRECTIONS
In "The Grand Piano" in the July issue, we incorrectly identified the singer who performs with John Autin. Her name is Julie Jules. We also incorrectly located Grand Forks in South Dakota in "Looking for the Silver Lining." It is in North Dakota, not South Dakota as we reported. We regret the errors and apologize to those affected by them.
