September 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 74

M U LT I S E R V I C E C E N T E R

says 74-year-old Mary Thomas.
Before Katrina, the neighborhood
had some of the highest African-American homeownership rates in the city.
Now, both Thomas and her good friend,
Yvonne Johnson, 84, live on blocks where
only two or three houses are occupied.
Less than 40 percent of the pre-Katrina
population has returned to the Lower 9.
" My biggest regret is that our neighborhood didn't come back like it was, "
says Vera Fulton, 93, who remembers
when the Lower 9 was filled with neighbors, who often left fresh garden produce
on your front porch in the morning. Every morning, these women head to the
senior center, which serves a vital role in
the disaster-struck area. " Our blocks are
too quiet, " Fulton says. " We come to the
Sanchez Center because it's full of life. "
Holistic Health
" It seems like the Lower 9 was always a
place for innovation, perhaps because of
its isolation, " says New Orleans Health
Director Marsha Broussard, noting that
the city has long tried to ensure that Lower 9 neighbors didn't have to cross the Industrial Canal to receive assistance: they
can see a doctor, a lactation specialist or
a child-development counselor at Sanchez. The city uses Sanchez as a base for
Healthy Start, its program for pre- and
post-natal care, and for Women Infants
and Children (WIC), the supplemental
nutrition program.
Dr. Elizabeth Goodly, who works at
the Sanchez health clinic, knows multiple
generations of the same family. " Often,
I'll see entire extended families: grandparents who come with their children,
their grandkids or their great-grandchildren, " she says.
" The clinic is unique in the city because of its location in a community
center, " says Jeremy Simmons, director
of community outreach for Baptist Community Health Services, which operates
the clinic. " And that's great for our providers, who can go beyond mere medi72

Parks & Recreation

The Sanchez Center's
spacious two-story atrium.

cation management to recommending a
cooking class or suggesting that a patient
swim or walk in the center, " he explains.
" We can help our patients improve their
lifestyle in a way that can really impact
chronic conditions like high-blood pressure or diabetes. "
Monica Williams is a good example of
that philosophy at work. She lives nearby,
but it was a doctor who first recommended that she try the pool at Sanchez about
a year ago. Now Williams, 59, can be
found there every weekday for the 8 a.m.
water aerobics class. With her neighbor,
Gilda Wyble, 66, she also takes weekly
cooking and nutrition classes offered by
the Backyard Gardeners Network. With
the help of water aerobics and healthy
eating, she's now lost 27 pounds, shed 6
inches from her waistline and brought her
A1C blood-sugar levels from 9 to a much
healthier 6. That makes her doctor happy.
" And I feel really good, " Williams says.
The Sanchez is a true multi-service
center, able to connect with residents in
social, cultural and physical ways, " Richard says. " This center has shown that it
can build resilience and community in
the Lower 9th Ward. It serves as a model
for the rest of New Orleans and for the
entire nation. "

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Designing the New
Sanchez Center
The design for the new Sanchez Center
was complicated by its funding sources.
Because the natatorium that holds the
pool was funded by Community Development Block Grants and the larger
community center was funded by FEMA,
these amenities had to be housed in
separate buildings, but those buildings
could be attached. In addition, the municipal building codes changed after Hurricane Katrina, so the building had to be
much stronger than the one it replaced:
the glass in the windows had to be able
to withstand 150-mph winds, the building had to have greater energy efficiency and be raised to a higher elevation,
above the base flood-elevation levels determined by FEMA. Because FEMA funding can only be used to replace what was
in place before the storm, the number of
windows in the new building also had to
match the number in the original building. The resulting $20.5 million building
blends turquoise and gray and other natural shades, with an entrance that skews
toward the Dr. Martin Luther King Charter school across the street, where many
of its young patrons attend classes.
Katy Reckdahl is a Journalist and New Orleansbased Freelance Writer (katyreckdahl@gmail.com).

September 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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