Hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced many musicians to flee New Orleans. Jazz, blues, Dixieland and other genres that are the city's musical score, cannot return until the musicians return, and many have lost their homes.Habitat for Humanity International and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, working with Harry Connick Jr., and Branford Marsalis, honorary chairs of Operation Home Delivery, seek to change this. Plans were announced Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005 for a "Musicians' Village". Operation Home Delivery is Habitat for Humanity International's hurricane rebuilding program and this Musicians' Village is one of the many projects along the Gulf Coast.

The Musicians' Village, conceived by Connick and Marsalis, will consist of 81 Habitat-constructed homes for displaced New Orleans musicians. Its centerpiece will be the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, dedicated to the education and development of homeowners and others who will live nearby. Construction may begin as early as March, marking the first large scale rebuilding plans in New Orleans.

For more detailed information on this project click here.