MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
When New Orleans flooded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, one of the hardest-hit areas was the Ninth Ward. Over the last 20 years, much sweat and tears have gone into this community's rebuilding. And much of that is due to the people who never left, including the young people - people like Brittany Penn. She was just 16 years old when Katrina hit. She remembers returning to her house with her parents.
So you had no power, but was the house standing? Or what...
BRITTANY PENN: The house was still standing. We had plaster walls. So basically, we were all in there, me, my mom and my dad. And we were just with the bleach and just bleaching walls and bleaching walls and throwing out, you know, all of our furniture, all of our belongings.
MARTIN: Today she still owns that house, along with a hair salon and barber shop located in one duplex and multiple housing units that she's turned into rentals, whose renovations she directed or did herself. Enter her shop on Desire Street, and you can see that it's thoroughly infused with her energy and optimism.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOOR SQUEAKING OPEN)
PENN: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hi.
PENN: Hey. How are you?
MARTIN: The barbershop side features sleek black and white decor. On the salon side, the walls are bright pink, and sparkly chandeliers hang from the ceiling.
PENN: So this is Lace Xclusive Salon Barber & Spa.
MARTIN: Penn remembers the hard work of reclaiming her family home from the flood damage. But somehow, instead of turning her off to renovating and rebuilding, it lit a fire in her to do more.
PENN: So this is the barbershop area. That's Calvin, our barber.
CALVIN: Hello.
MARTIN: In the barbershop, Joshua Holmes is waiting his turn. He's a loyal client.
JOSHUA HOLMES: I had hair, and now I don't have hair. So, yeah (laughter).
MARTIN: But he still comes in for a clean shave and to support a local business.
HOLMES: I mean, it's a beautiful thing to come back and give back to the community. That's what everybody wants to do, especially after Katrina. And when you got people like her that comes around, you don't have to go outside the Ninth Ward. When you from it and you got things you want and you don't have to leave, it's a beautiful thing.
MARTIN: Penn still lives on Desire Street, a few doors down from her shop, but on a street still pockmarked with empty lots. She's watched homes and local businesses disappear after Katrina, and she wants to change that.
PENN: So what I've been doing is just reinvesting into my community. So even though, like, you know, I'm able to move anywhere. I choose to stay here in my community. Like, I'll still live on Desire Street.
MARTIN: She's on her way. In addition to the rental homes she's renovated, she's looking at commercial properties now, to give other entrepreneurs like her a place to build their dreams and give back, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG SONG, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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