Humanitarian Aid |
Born with the music “ I had tears in my eyes ”
| Calvin Johnson Chad Cramer |
Calvin Johnson comes from a family of New Orleans musicians . At age seven , one of his uncles gave him a saxophone . He played it on stage at the famous Tipitina nightclub at the age of 12 .
It was registration week at the University of New Orleans when Katrina hit . Johnson had not yet attended classes , but had moved half his stuff into his new dorm room , leaving the other half in his parent ’ s house . The storm flooded their home with over 12 feet of water , destroying everything — including his saxophone . His dorm was not flooded but looted . “ They broke into everything and took what they could ,” he recalls .
Doubly homeless , Johnson became a nomad , traveling across the country from place to place . When he returned home , he found it nearly impossible to find affordable housing .
Then he heard about Habitat for Humanity , a charity that was building homes in New Orleans East in a development called “ Musicians Village .” The sixblock Village , now complete and home to 80-some local performers and their families — including Johnson — was largely funded by a $ 4 million gift from the Qatar Katrina Fund .
Chad Cramer knew he would return to Louisiana to go back to school . He just didn ’ t know Hurricane Katrina would hit the day he was supposed to start his first day at Tulane University .
Just three days later , Cramer was back in New Orleans . His home had been flooded , but he went right to work cleaning up and helping others . “ We met everyone from every demographic you can think of and heard their stories … it was really emotional ,” he recalls .
When Tulane reopened , Cramer had no financial plan . Luckily the university had established the $ 10 million Qatar Tulane Scholars Fund . This provided scholarships to students hit by the hurricane — including Cramer , whose five years of architecture studies were covered .
“ To have someone come in and say , ‘ We are going to pay for your education ’ was just amazing ,” he says . “ I remember when I got the letter saying that I had received the grant , I had tears in my eyes .”
Cramer was the first person in his family to graduate from college ( and he did so with honors ). He is now an urban designer with the City of New Orleans .
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