About Me
My name is Veer Walia, and I am a student at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, Louisiana. I grew up falling in love with New Orleans: the food, the second lines, the way this city carries centuries of joy and grief at the same time. I’ve lived here my whole life, and I want to still be living here decades from now. But there’s a real chance parts of South Louisiana will be underwater by then.
That possibility doesn’t paralyze me. It makes me pay attention. I coded ShoreSafe as one response to that reality, and I made this site as another. Root4LA is where I put everything I’ve learned about Louisiana’s land crisis and the communities affected by it. It’s a place to understand what’s at stake, find ways to help, and stay connected to the people already doing the work.
Why “Root4LA”?
It’s a pun, yes, but it means both things. To have roots in Louisiana is to belong to a place with one of the richest cultural ecosystems in the world. And to root for Louisiana is to believe it’s worth fighting for. This site tries to honor both.