Thanks to Brad Pitt, One Homecoming, One Reunion in New Orleans

This weekend, Robert Green slept in his own home in the Lower 9th Ward for the first time since Hurricane Katrina flattened his neighborhood and killed his mother and infant granddaughter.
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First published at WashingtonTimes.com

I've spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and it's fantastic to hear those (sometimes rare) bits of good news.

A man I've written quite a bit about, Robert Green, came to Washington last week to share his good news.

Green's past four years haven't been easy. He lost his mother and infant granddaughter during Hurricane Katrina and he's lived in a trailer ever since. Until last weekend.

I wrote about Green's homecoming in today's paper, along with an unexpected family reunion in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Just as Doctor John croons in his tribute to the Crescent City, it's "sweet home, New Orleans" for lifelong resident Robert L. Green Sr.

This weekend, he slept on a bed in his own home in the Lower 9th Ward for the first time in the four years since Hurricane Katrina flattened his neighborhood and killed both his mother and infant granddaughter.

"I will put a sign up that says, 'There's no place like home,' because it's true," Mr. Green told The Washington Times during a recent visit to Washington. He has previously appeared on the newspaper's front page for a story on President Obama's Katrina policy.

Mr. Green's home is a brand-new, 1,800-square foot, four-bedroom, two-bathroom house, built as part of actor Brad Pitt's Make it Right program in New Orleans.

Four years after the storm, more families also are finding their way.

D.C. public housing authorities recently reunited a 73-year-old New Orleans man with his brother, thanks in part to Google and the publicity surrounding the Pitt project.

Read the full story here.

I last wrote about Green in March, and Rod Lamkey captured some great videos of his story. They are three minutes each. Here are part one, part two and part three.

Green is well-known to Ninth Ward visitors and collects buttons from all the groups that have come down to New Orleans to help.

Christina Bellantoni, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

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