Haircut and Empowerment, Fifteen Dollars

Doug Haywood is more than a barber - his shop is a rallying point for New Orleanians.

Music Therapy in New Orleans

Giving Katrina-affected kids a way to process their emotions - and at the same time transmit New Orleans' musical culture to the next generation - is at the heart of the agency's Gulf Coast recovery initiative.

It Takes a Neighborhood

Mercy Corps aid workers are building relationships with formal neighborhood organizations and loose associations - including residents of New Orleans' Holy Cross neighborhood - to help them organize and rebuild.

A New School Year, a ‘New Normal'

Mercy Corps and its partners helped teachers in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, replenish their lost supplies and comforted toddlers with stuffed animals and toys.

Aid Worker Among the Displaced

Eileen Ihrig, who has managed refugee settlements and is now displaced from her New Orleans home, is Mercy Corps' first on-the-ground responder to Hurricane Katrina.