Brad Pitt made an appearance this week on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” to discuss his Make it Right initiative. As a project aimed to help rebuild New Orleans, the name Make it Right was born after Pitt heard former residents of the city plea to help “make this right.”
Pitt’s first visit to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina left him shocked by the destruction and especially by the lack of a plan to set things in motion to fix the situation.
Residents of the Lower 9th Ward informed Pitt, through a series of community meetings, of their concern over the environmental issues they now faced as well as their fear of whether or not the area would even ever be re-built. The community’s courage and spirit inspired Pitt enough that he teamed with Global Green in an effort to tackle this issue.
It was then that, through an architectural competition, several designs – which are currently under construction – inspired Pitt to expand on this idea.
Pitt and his crew were motivated to put together a redevelopment project that would focus on green housing, with a system that was affordable enough to be replicated. Realizing that this project could be a wonderful catalyst for redevelopment across the entire city, they selected the Lower 9th Ward – one of the most devastated areas after the hurricane – to make a point that safe homes could still be rebuilt in that very area.
Hoping to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward, while still maintaining the spirit of the culture, Make it Right is aiming to build 150 homes over the next two years – all eco-friendly with high quality design and still affordable.
A core team of experts assembled by Pitt to help with this initiative include: William McDonough and Partners (a world leader in environmental architecture); Cherokee Cherokee Gives Back Foundation (a firm that specializes in remediation and redevelopment of environmentally impaired properties); Graft (a leading international architectural firm which collaborates with Pitt on various projects across the world); and advisors to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, Trevor Neilson and Nina Killeen.
While Pitt has already pledged $5 million of his own money to help with this project, he’s asking the public to donate to the families and residents of New Orleans as well, no matter how small a donation. The small donations will help for needed elements including trees, appliances and bulbs.
Through the “Adopt a House” campaign, as he has called it, foundations, corporations, church groups and even individuals can also adopt a house or adopt a corner, a tree, anything to make a difference. For every $150,000 that comes in, one family will have a new, affordable, intelligent home to live in.
An excerpt from the broadcast:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Our Voice this week, Brad Pitt. His passion for
architecture and compassion for the victims of Katrina has inspired
the Make It Right initiative, a new drive to rebuild the Big Easy.
PITT: These are people who did everything right according to the
American Dream. They got jobs, and they saved their money. They
bought homes. They raised their kids in these communities, and it’s
all been wiped out.
Wiped out, and they’re in this state of limbo, and it is dismal.
The pink houses, the art installation right now symbolically
represents the destruction and the chaos after the storm, which
continues today.
We chose pink because it screams loud and we want to get
attention and to say that we can actually turn this around.
And we’re asking people to join in with us on this "Adopt a
House" campaign. We’re asking foundations, corporations. I would
love to see church groups, individuals come in and adopt a house,
adopt 10 houses, adopt 100 houses, adopt a corner of a house, adopt a
solar panel, adopt a tree — whatever you’re comfortable with.
For every $150,000 that comes in, I guarantee a family will be
returning to their home, and not just any affordable home but a home
that’s intelligent, that respects your hard-earned money, that
respects your health and respects the health of the environment.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You can learn more about "Make it Right" by
going to our Web site at abcnews.com.
All excerpts attributed to ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
Visit the “This Week” website to read more about the program at: https://abcnews.go.com/politics
Katherine O’Hearn is the executive producer of “This Week” and George Stephanopoulos is the anchor. The program airs Sundays on the ABC Television Network (check local listings).
For more information about Make it Right, visit www.abcnews.com or , which is also where you can make a donation to this cause.
