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New Orleans is Touched by An Angel
http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/4292/1/New-Orleans-is-Touched-by-An-Angel/Page1.html
Kevin McNeir
Award-winning journalist with over 12 years in the business as a news, features and editorial writer. Degrees from U of Michigan, Emory and Princeton with two first place awards for feature writing by Chicago Association of Black Journalist. Writing is my passion. Newest projects include J'Adore Magazine and National Black MBA Magazine.  
By Kevin McNeir
Published on 04/22/2009
 
Katina Parker's Labor of Love Exemplifies the Good in Humankind
Part Two
By Sr. Correspondent, D. Kevin McNeir

In part one of this story, we introduced our readers to Katina Parker, a talented visual artist whose work has garnered her industry awards and praise as well as a comfortable way of life. But her life took on a very different path when she took a group of students to New Orleans in 2007 for a one-week stay where they were scheduled to help rebuild homes and produce a podcast. What she didn't count on was God placing a new mission on her heart. Today she is the founder and executive director of New Orleans: A Labor of Love, an organization that continues to inspire and assist those who remain in need because of the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Gustav.

 

   
Katina Parker is a woman who sleeps very little these days, but it's not because she suffers from insomnia. Her often sleepless nights occur because as she explains, there is still so much work to be done in New Orleans. In August Americans will mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina - one of the worst tropical cyclones this country has ever faced. But the pain and anguish remain for far too many. And that's why Parker is "sleepless in New Orleans" and beating the pavement with a network of volunteers under the banner of A Labor of Love - making a difference one person at a time.

"Last year one of the things we focused on was negotiating our way through the maze of requests that we were receiving from people," she said. "Once you get into something like disaster relief and working with the underserved community, you discover that there are always requests that come to your organization that you really are unable to properly address. We had never dealt with the possibility that we might have to tell someone no. So we began using feedback to see how we could accommodate every kind of request. First, we had to categorize the requests then find the available tools online to fill the specific need. Once our new website is launched [early this spring] it will be much easier to make those connections."

Please continue to Full Story
Katina Parker's Labor of Love Exemplifies the Good in Humankind
Part Two
By Sr. Correspondent, D. Kevin McNeir

In part one of this story, we introduced our readers to Katina Parker, a talented visual artist whose work has garnered her industry awards and praise as well as a comfortable way of life. But her life took on a very different path when she took a group of students to New Orleans in 2007 for a one-week stay where they were scheduled to help rebuild homes and produce a podcast. What she didn't count on was God placing a new mission on her heart. Today she is the founder and executive director of New Orleans: A Labor of Love, an organization that continues to inspire and assist those who remain in need because of the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Gustav.

 

   
Katina Parker is a woman who sleeps very little these days, but it's not because she suffers from insomnia. Her often sleepless nights occur because as she explains, there is still so much work to be done in New Orleans. In August Americans will mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina - one of the worst tropical cyclones this country has ever faced. But the pain and anguish remain for far too many. And that's why Parker is "sleepless in New Orleans" and beating the pavement with a network of volunteers under the banner of A Labor of Love - making a difference one person at a time.

"Last year one of the things we focused on was negotiating our way through the maze of requests that we were receiving from people," she said. "Once you get into something like disaster relief and working with the underserved community, you discover that there are always requests that come to your organization that you really are unable to properly address. We had never dealt with the possibility that we might have to tell someone no. So we began using feedback to see how we could accommodate every kind of request. First, we had to categorize the requests then find the available tools online to fill the specific need. Once our new website is launched [early this spring] it will be much easier to make those connections."

 

 
Parker took her message to our nation's capitol during 2008, initiating meetings with members of Congress while drumming up support for and awareness of the challenging work that still lies ahead and which her organization seeks to provide.

"Each congressional member has specific interests they want to support, so it was validating to go to Washington, D.C. and have meetings with folks like Maxine Waters and others who said they had been looking for access points so they could get more involved. We felt like we were able to make an impression on Congress to maintain its commitment for post-Katrina relief. Again I point to our new website which will identify the needs of hurricane victims and allow anyone to get involved in assistance efforts."

Some might say that Parker must be a little "crazy." After all, she gave up a lucrative career in the City of Angels where she, because of her many skills, was not only in high demand, but where she frequently wined and dined with many of the rich and famous. Parker admits that when God gave her the instructions to take on the work that she now does in New Orleans, she was not fully prepared to accept. However, try as she may, she could not refuse her new calling.

"This work is the most challenging thing I have done in my life because it encompasses all my areas of expertise from guerilla marketing to communications," she said. "It's just good old-fashioned networking and it's both rigorous and fulfilling. Like when we go to a building that was damaged and clean it up, make it a livable dwelling again - that's intellectually fulfilling. See, you have to figure out how to make that happen and I like puzzles. I like to see things work again."
Parker has put smiles on the faces of hundreds of men, women and children. But she says it's more than just that - folks appreciate the fact that someone not only cares but is willing to do something to help them regain control of their lives.

 

 
"New Orleans has some of the best people in the world," she said. "They are so loving - I mean, I have made some amazing friends here. To tell you the truth, I feel like everything I have done prior to this has been preparing me for this moment. But I fought God for awhile even after it was clear that God wanted me to do this. It is strange how this has become a consuming passion for me. And I am no angel - that is to say, as an artist there is always the temptation to do things for my own selfish pleasure. But early in this mission, I recall a person giving me a call, a perfect stranger, who ministered to me and said that what I was doing was something very special and that he had received word from the Lord to help us financially. He continues to make fairly large donations."
Parker adds that at this point in her life, she feels compelled to "go beyond excellent" because of the complexity of the needs of her friends in New Orleans. And she is determined to do just that - even without the lights, cameras and action of her former home.

"I have been excellent all of my life because my grandmother taught me to be that way," she said. "But here in New Orleans I have made the commitment to realize my own greatness through this project. When I first became involved I saw so many people who had lost hope. It would appear that they were getting back on their feet but then something would come along to snatch away their stability. Labor of Love is all about doing whatever we can to insert some sense of dignity into people's situations.

"A few years ago I was watching some little black boys in their football gear and they were playing in this grass that was so high that you could barely see them. The girls were standing nearby cheering them on and their families were there too. But the football gear the boys were wearing was too heavy for them and so they would run but then fall down. A colleague was with me and they thanked me for showing them scenes like this because we could see that things were slowly getting back to normal - children were playing and doing what children do. And they deserve that chance."

If you want to find out more about the ministry of Katina Parker and A Labor of Love, go to the organization's website at www.nolaboroflove.org/donate/donate.html.