President Obama heads to New Orleans tomorrow — his first trip to the Big Easy since becoming president. His plans include a visit  to a charter school and holding a town hall meeting while he’s there. But some residents think the four hours he’s spending in their city is too short a time to hear the problems facing the city. Today we ask some New Orleans locals what they want the president to address. We hear from Clarence White, a social worker with Unity Welcome Home, a homelessness outreach organization; Diana Pinckley, with Woman of the Storm, a coastal rebuilding group; Eric Jensen, director of youth engagement for the Afterschool Partnership; and Bill Barrow, staff reporter for The Times-Picayune.

Four years ago, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, sending an enormous storm surge into the Mississippi river delta. By the time the winds died down, hundreds of thousands of residents of New Orleans were displaced and whole neighborhoods were destroyed. This week, we’ll be looking at New Orleans four years later. It’s now the fastest growing large city in America, and today we talk to three residents who are making new beginnings in the city.  

Clarence White was forced out of his Gentilly home during Hurrican Katrina. He was evacuated to Michigan, lived in a FEMA trailer for a time, and this month is finally planning to move back into his old house.
 
Allen Darnell is the COO of iSeatz, a software development company based in New Orleans. The company had to move to New York after the storm, but has now returned to New Orleans. 

Duke Bradley took over a failing public elementary school in the Ninth Ward and started Mays Prep Academy, a charter elementary school. This is the school’s first year, and he’s the principal.