Phi Sigs Serve In New Orleans

Executive Director Michelle Snyder Ardern, Membership Managers Catherine Udell, Lisa Wallace and Nicole Westerfer attended the Association of Fraternity Advisors meeting in New Orleans in early December. They participated in AFA's Service Plunge with Habitat for Humanity during the Annual Meeting, working on houses in Musicians’ Village.

Located in the city’s Upper Ninth Ward, the Musicians’ Village project was conceived by Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. and will consist of homes constructed by Habitat in partnership with displaced New Orleans musicians and other qualifying homeowner families of modest means. Its centerpiece will be the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, dedicated to music education and learning opportunities for homeowners and others who will live nearby. The center is named for the patriarch of the Marsalis clan - a modern jazz pioneer and native New Orleanian. New Orleans Habitat purchased 8.1 vacant acres that eventually will house 75 single-family homes, six elder-friendly doubles, and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. The property will be considered the core of the Musicians’ Village.

Lisa Wallace commented,

“We were humbled by the work being done in New Orleans by Habitat. There is still so much to do. We had the opportunity to work with other fraternity and sorority staff members, Greek Advisors and other volunteers on a very worthwhile project.”