NEW ORLEANS — From the outside, the abandoned Family Dollar store in the Lower 9th Ward looks intimidating. It’s covered in graffiti, with aluminum cans and trash dotting the parking lot. It sits on a street with other empty lots and decayed buildings — symbols of the lasting devastation this neighborhood, one of the city’s poorest, has endured since Hurricane Katrina.
But inside, the store is a welcoming oasis. Twinkly string lights adorn racks of donated clothing. Shelves and bins overflow with children’s books, allergy medications, and toiletries. Curtains cordon off one side of the room, where there’s a stage for musicians and a neon sign depicting roller skates for weekly free skate nights.
The space is part free thrift store, part over-the-counter pharmacy, part punk show venue — and wholly “a radical community center,” said Dan Bingler, who runs the place.
Bingler is a waiter and bartender in the city who founded a mutual-aid organization called the Greater New Orleans Caring Collective. He said the building owners allow him to use the space as long as he pays the water, electricity, and trash bills.
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On Monday evenings, volunteers from other community organizations show up — some used to set up in the parking lot before Bingler opened the store. They offer free testing for sexually transmitted infections, basic medical care, hot meals, and sterile syringes and other supplies for people who use drugs.
The purpose of the space is simple, Bingler said: “We’re going to make sure we provide for the community.”
Although …