Volunteer of the Week – Adam W., New Orleans

Meet Adam Weingarten, our first Volunteer of the Week

We met Adam in New Orleans last November where he was serving a year with Rebuilding Together New Orleans through AmeriCorps as a Housing Captain. By that time, he’d already helped rebuild several homes that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Since then, he’s had a hand in finishing many more and witnessed their owners return.

Adam’s featured in our trailer – second volunteer profiled, red Rebuilding Together sweatshirt – and his experiences exemplify what thousands have felt while helping rebuild NOLA:

I was originally working for an accounting firm in Chicago. I’ve never been to New Orleans, I just wanted to help people. I knew it was bad down here, but until you come and experience it, you don’t know how bad it is.

Adam started his AmeriCorps year in late August, leaving his accounting job with Ernst & Young in Chicago for the Big Easy. Here’s what he had to say in late December about the experience:

It has been over four months … since I’ve been gone and I can honestly say that joining AmeriCorps and moving to New Orleans was the best decision I’ve ever made. Every day here is a new day and I’m having experiences that I never imagined.

Not only is Adam managing teams of rotating volunteers from City Year, local universities, and schools, he’s also an amateur musician. After scraping off the paint and bandaging sore hands, he’s enjoyed the swingin’ sounds of Bourbon Street on the weekends. To read more about Adam and his experiences, check out his blog and drop him a note.

For you Chicagoans, Adam has a special request:

If anybody wants to send me a couple of frozen deep dish sausage pizzas from Lou Malanatis, send them to Adam Weingarten, 5836 Willow St., New Orleans, LA 70115.