Two
prototypical pieces of furniture were developed during workshops
in the summer of 2006 which hold promise for further development.
Step stools, which could be marketed through a number of retail
outlets and direct marketing through the Katrina Furniture Project
website were conceived as easy ways for New Orleans’ neighborhood
entrepreneurs to get involved in design and construction with a
relatively quick learning curve. These step stools, made from second
harvest lumber salvaged during deconstruction and debris threshing,
would bear the hot-branded signatures of the craftspeople who made
them, as well as a symbol indicating from which neighborhood the
stools originated. The stools may also bear meaningful quotations,
such as:
“Take
the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase,
just take the first step.”
Martin
Luther King
Other
inscriptions might include, “Step-by-Step”
or “The
journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”
and, “Sometimes
you need to reach a little higher.”
The
second prototype for the manufacturing of church pews grew out of
conversations with representatives from the National
Council of Churches
sponsored by Enterprise
Community Partners
and their Green
CommunitiesTM
program.
With close to 1,000 churches destroyed in the region, this meaningful
opportunity to rebuild the region’s churches with materials gathered
from a second harvest would help reduce building costs, employ residents
and pay them a livable wage, and provide a meaningful story to parishioners
about the role of stewardship in preserving and honoring our natural
resources.
