This Juneteenth, while much of the city paused to celebrate freedom, more than 20 brothers of the Gamma Rho Chapter picked up hammers, paintbrushes, and stacks of lumber and got to work. On Friday, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the chapter partnered with Rebuilding Together New Orleans for the Rebuilding Together Juneteenth Volunteer Project, a day of hands-on service at the Algiers home of Mr. Charles Gillam, an 80-year-old artist, educator, and community treasure whose work has helped define New Orleans culture for more than four decades.

Mr. Gillam is a self-taught woodcarver and mixed-media artist who built his reputation transforming Mississippi River driftwood and salvaged materials into carved portraits of the city’s jazz and blues legends. His breakout commission, a wooden bust of blues legend Charley Patton for the House of Blues, opened the door to a career that now spans more than 100 carved likenesses of musicians, including Louis Armstrong and Aaron Neville, with his art on display in House of Blues locations across the country. His 2005 painting of Fats Domino, “Ain’t That a Shame,” is part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

But Mr. Gillam’s impact goes well beyond his own artwork. Since 2000, he has co-directed the Algiers Folk Art Zone & Blues Museum out of his own property, opening it as a community-based art collective and creative space where he has spent decades mentoring young and self-taught artists and teaching the next generation about recycling, reuse, and the value of found materials. For the brothers of Gamma Rho, preserving that space, and the home Mr. Gillam has shared so generously with others, felt like a fitting way to spend Juneteenth.

Rebuilding Together New Orleans, the chapter’s partner for the project, works year-round to provide free critical home repairs to elderly, disabled, and low-income homeowners across the city, helping residents remain safely in the homes and neighborhoods they’ve spent a lifetime building. For this project, the focus was fencing: brothers spent the morning measuring, cutting lumber, and building new sections of fence around Mr. Gillam’s property, alongside painting, general repairs, and beautification work throughout the yard and grounds. What started as a service project quickly became a true display of fellowship, with brothers working side by side, all in service of one goal.

The project also drew the attention of local media. WDSU sent a crew to capture the day, and video coverage of the build is now available for the chapter and community to view.

This project is part of a growing slate of Social Action initiatives for the chapter, and the Social Action Committee is already looking ahead to the next opportunity to serve. Brothers interested in future builds, cleanups, and community partnerships are encouraged to reach out to the Social Action Committee for details on how to get involved.

For the Gamma Rho Chapter, the Rebuilding Together Juneteenth Volunteer Project is exactly the kind of work the fraternity was built to do: identifying a need in the community, showing up prepared to meet it, and honoring the people whose lives and work have shaped our city. Mr. Gillam has spent decades pouring into New Orleans through his art and his mentorship of others. On this Juneteenth, more than 20 brothers of Gamma Rho were honored to pour a little back into him.