Forget about the movies. Brad Pitt is all about resurrecting New Orleans. The actor says he's putting his Hollywood career on hold while doing all he can to help the city recover from Hurricane Katrina. "This is my project," he said, sitting at a table on a tiled slab where Katrina's floodwater pushed a Lower Ninth Ward home off its foundation more than two years ago.
Katrina's destruction attracted many celebrities – especially shortly after the August 2005 storm. But few stand out as much as Mr. Pitt, who has made a personal and financial commitment to rebuilding shattered neighborhoods. He and companion Angelina Jolie have made a Creole mansion in the French Quarter their home. And Mr. Pitt has pledged more than $5 million to rebuild one of the city's most devastated neighborhoods and spent countless hours listening to residents' needs. "I believe in what's going on down here," he said after this month's launch of Make It Right, the Pitt-backed project to rebuild 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward.
The Lower Ninth Ward, one of New Orleans' most impoverished areas, was blasted by Katrina. Less than 10 percent of its population has returned, one reason Mr. Pitt has launched two projects to build affordable homes. Make It Right calls for construction of the first house to start by next summer. Mr. Pitt is asking for donations and has pledged to match up to $5 million in contributions. So far, more than $3.5 million has been raised.
Mr. Pitt, 43, was born in Oklahoma and raised in Missouri, but is no stranger to New Orleans. He filmed two movies here – Interview With a Vampire in the 1990s and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2006 and early 2007. That film is due out next year. Mr. Pitt says Katrina "illuminated the fact that there's a portion of our society that we're not looking after." That, he says, is why he chose to help rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward. "We started here because it really looked like the least likely to come back, and it needed so much help," he said. "It's going to take a long time to address the issues here, but this is a viable, viable start."
Mr. Pitt said Make It Right and another project he launched last year with Global Green USA will help fill the need for affordable housing while also rebuilding "smarter" with energy saving, environmentally friendly materials. Both projects have generated national supporters, including Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Mr. Pitt said he hopes the city's recovery will be a focal issue of the 2008 campaign. "I don't want it to be used so much as a whipping boy for past mistakes, but as a real proving ground for policies set forth, meaning education, health reform," he said. "If it's going to work, it'll work here, and this place certainly needs it."
New Orleans' recovery director, Ed Blakely, said Make It Right could help dozens of families return to a part of the city many thought couldn't – or shouldn't – be rebuilt. "This sends a signal that we're going back into the Ninth Ward," he said.
Source: AllHeadlineNews.com