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Brad Pitt Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is and Rebuilds New Orleans

In December 206, convened a group of experts in New Orleans to brainstorm about building green, affordable housing on a large scale to help victims of Hurricane Katrina starting with the Lower 9th Ward. He had sponsored an architectural competition organized by Global Green to generate ideas about how to rebuild sustainably.

Pitt, and the team he assembled chose to rebuild 150 homes in the  Lower 9th Ward using leading edge building techniques to build eco-friendly homes.

Through his Make It Right (MIR) project, Pitt said he eventually wants to build these home throughout New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Pitt credits his environmental awareness to his significant other, Angelina Jolie, who is also the Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N Refugee Agency.

The Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans is one of the richest cultural communities in the country and was, until Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, the kind of neighborhood whose porches and stoops were important places to catch up with one another and talk about everyday life.

Like Auburn Avenue in Atlanta or Harlem, New York, the Lower 9th Ward’s population is predominantly African American and is a virtual storehouse of civil rights history.

 What is referred to today as the Lower 9th Ward was so named after the industrial canal was dredged in the 1920's, cutting through the 9th Ward. it was distinguished in many ways, not least the fact that more residents owned their homes here than in any other part of the city.

 The MIR core team is a partnership between William McDonough + Partners, a world leader in environmental architecture; Cherokee Gives Back Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Cherokee; Graft, an international leading architecture firm that collaborates with Brad Pitt on projects around the world; and the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, a charitable institution established to aid humanitarian causes around the world.


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