Reuters reports that thousands of revelers turned out to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans today.

Drinking and dancing partiers jostled for sidewalk space to watch elaborately decorated floats as they passed near neighborhoods not fully recovered from the August 29, 2005, storm that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,300 people.Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, marks the end of the 12-day Carnival season that precedes Lent.

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As New Orleans rebuilds, many medical centers destroyed by floodwaters are still closed.

So that is why nurses opened a house at the corner of St. Claude Avenue and Egania Street opened for business, dispensing free health care to anyone in need.

The Lower 9th Ward Health Clinic is its official name now.

“A medical home,” Patricia Berryhill calls the facility offering primary care.

Before Katrina, this was Berryhill’s own home. The living room where her kids congregated after school serves as a waiting area now, its walls painted a peaceful powder blue. The bedrooms are exam cubicles, the kitchen a file room and office.

Berryhill, a registered nurse, still spends almost every day at 5228 St. Claude, working as medical director of the clinic, lording over it as she once did her household.

Another registered nurse, Alice Craft-Kerney, runs the business side as the clinic’s executive director. She grew up in the Ninth Ward, and rode out Katrina in her brother’s house a mere three blocks away.

This is just one of many post-Katrina New Orleans, clinics have cropped up in corner groceries and old department stores, where kind-hearted folks are offered their healing services.

For more info The Lower 9th Ward Clinic and how you can help visit http://www.commongroundrelief.org/node/242

Is New Orleans finally getting back on track? The city still has a long way to go to repair all the damage wrought by that awful trio of Katrina, incompetence, and indifference—but the locals are hailing the return of the St. Charles Streetcar as a sign that the good times may yet roll again in this battered city.

The St. Charles line still uses the same streetcars the city bought in 1923, and, were it not for Katrina, would be the oldest continuous-running streetcar line in America. Its riders don’t mind doing without the heat and air conditioning that newer streetcars have to offer. As NPR’s Melanie Peeples reported on today’s Morning Edition:

Winter’s really not too bad and in the summer, there’s nothing quite like putting all the windows down and catching a breeze as you roll under the canopy of giant, old oaks, passing the fabulous mansions of the Garden District.

A form of mass transit that doesn’t rely on fossil-fueled climate control! How energy efficient can you get?

So far the city’s only restored 6 ½ miles of the St. Charles line, half its pre-Katrina length. New Orleans transit officials aim to have the rest of the line up and running before the New Year. Here’s hoping they meet their goal; New Orleans needs all the momentum it can get.

By Giulia RozziNew Orleans just can’t catch a break. The New Times reported that the city is suffering from an acute shortage of housing. Nearly two years after the this national tragedy, suffering still remains as many are still without homes.To view the NY Times video on housing anxiety click here And here is a list of Huricane Katrina charities.

By Kerry TruemanNew Orleans’ Ninth Ward must be on cloud nine today with the unveiling of the 13 eco-friendly low-income home designs Brad Pitt commissioned from green architects for his Make it Right project. Instead of sitting around bemoaning the lack of leadership on rebuilding New Orleans, Pitt has ponied up $5 million dollars out of his own pocket, and teamed up with green design guru William McDonough, among others, to help create 150 sustainable, affordable homes for the devastated Ninth Ward.Pitt’s making it easy for everyone to pitch in and help the Big Easy; whether you’re a foundation, a corporation, or an individual, you can help build these cleverly designed, super-efficient and desperately needed homes by adopting “one house, several houses or a portion of a house,” as Pitt told the New York Times. “You can adopt a tankless water heater or a solar panel or a tree or a low-flush toilet”¦you can give it to someone for Christmas.”Now, there’s the kind of gift-giving that even the Reverend Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping would say “Amen!” to! You can make a contribution to Make it Right by clicking HERE.