Katrina, one year later: How much have you done?

[KamaAina]

Some DUers have actually gone down to the Coast with relief brigades. :yourock: As for me:

* Given some money (not nearly enough) to MercyCorps:

http://www.mercycorps.org

which has actually been on the ground working with neighborhood organizations, including this one:

* Phoenix of New Orleans,

http://www.pnola.org

for whom I have been doing volunteer research and general brainstorming since about the beginning of this year. It is the emerging organization of the Tulane/Gravier neighborhood centered around Canal and Galvez streets, which had never really had one before.

* Also, I got as far as a phone interview for a policy and research analyst position down there. Yes, dammit, I would have gone, even from Hawai'i, for the once-somnolent (edit: in a political sense) city where I spent those two years has suddenly become the very anvil on which our nation's future is being forged.

Edit: almost forgot (it's been a long year, even out here): I was on a couple of rebuilding boards, now mostly dormant. Also gave some money, and made Mom give some, to Families Helping Families, which serves Louisiana families affected by developmental disability:

http://www.familieshelpingfamilies.net/home.htm

This is the Alexandria (central La.) office, which at the time was coordinating donations statewide. The greater N.O. office is here:

http://www.fhfgno.org/

re-edit: An astute reader caught me out on the "somnolent"; the reference was to the city's political climate only, certainly not to its culture or joie de vivre!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. I went down and worked with Lutheran Aid

for 2 weeks in April

[KamaAina]

3. Did I mention that

:yourock: ?

[LA lady]

2. As much as I could

Took in family members that evacuated

Collected items for transport and took them down

Kids had bake sale and collected donations for the rebuilding of churches

Went down for a few weeks and helped family clean house and get moved back in

Did repairs on houses, elderly neighbours that couldn't manage

KEPT PETS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS! (glad to see them return home!!

Helped set up church parsonage for a family from NO.

Loaned vehicle.

a few more things i may think of later.:)

[uppityperson]

4. Bits and pieces. Made a bunch of new friends

Met a bunch of people. 2 dear volunteer friends died (1 in NOLA), a couple more got married, a couple more will get married. Made an emergency kit for my car and my house and UPJr's dorm room. Bits and pieces, stuff and money, witnessed and listened, med runs and gutted house and helped set up a free store (am soooo tired of sorting used clothes) (summer socks and men's clothing are needed), listened while people talked and talked and talked and talked. Thank you anyone and everyone for whatever you have done. RIP Meg and Dwayne, didn't get to love you long, but did while I could. :grouphug:

Edited to add a word that changed what I wrote to what I meant to write.

[bobbolink]

11. where is a place to send the men's clothes?

I'm sure there is so much around... where should it go?

Thanks for all your efforts! :toast:

[uppityperson]

14. Here are places I know of, have worked with. Thank you much

http://bayoulibertyrelief.org/ volunteer group in Slidell, will take to local distribution place

http://www.commongroundrelief.org/ vol group in NO, 9th ward, Algiers, have distribution also

http://www.emergencycommunities.org/ vol group with community kitchens and some distro in Buras(south of NO) and Violet (next to Chalmette), LA, had distribution, will distribute if you send them.

Note, make sure they are decent clothes, not torn or dirty. They do not need suits, but basic decent jeans, carharts, summer socks, underwear. Many places there is no laundry ability beyond hand wash/hang to dry, a second set is always good. Think of mucking out houses, doing sheetrock, rebuilding. Decent workboots too. Seems like there were plenty of shirts so hold off on them unless a place specifically requests them. There is a lack of storage so clothing that is not needed soon cannot be stored.

[bobbolink]

16. THanks for the info. n/t

[nosillies]

5. Mainly just helped the refs

That was our term of endearment for our refugees. My most satisfying thing was helping gets kids in new schools with no records. Bureaucracy is never fun, nor is starting school. But I used to work in education, so it was easy and rewarding for me to help them navigate a new school system. I also begged up a bunch of Wal-Mart gift certificates to distribute. (Sorry Wal-Mart haters, but Wal-Marts are ubiquitous and carry everything they needed, so that's what everyone wanted.)

[MANative]

6. I closed down my business for 5 weeks and went

to Cape Cod to run - on a volunteer basis - the staffing program for the people providing services to the evacuees who were moved to Camp Edwards. I had been working with my biggest client in Jacksonville FL on the weekend Katrina hit, and four people who were in the program that I was delivering were from the Gulf - 2 from New Orleans, one from Biloxi and one from Pascagoula (sp?) The 2 from NO lost their homes and everything they owned. I knew these folks and it touched me deeply - I had to do something, and since my best skill is in finding people to do jobs, that's what I did.

[uppityperson]

7. 1st thing I did was monitor thru DU, then call Bill Gates foundation

They were the only people I knew who were rich enough to be able to buy helicopters, fly them down and rescue people, bring food/water/etc. Never heard back from them.

Edited to add, in more recent times I harass the white house and my congress people, asking for assistance, and monitoring of finances.

[MasonJar]

8. Thank you all for your wonderful assistance. I took my aunt to NO

on a vacation in June. I couldn't help because she is in her 80's. I love NO and I wanted to see first hand what had been done. Nothing to speak of is the unfortunate answer. We went on the Katrina Tour and saw how much had not been cleaned up. June was 10 months.
Sophie Newcomb/Tulane is one of my alma maters; so in a letter the president of the school told how the students had been helping. For the first time I sent them a sizeable donation as a thanks.
We stayed in the French Quarter which basically looked the same as always. The day we left a 20.000 person library conference came to town; the town's first major convention. I love you, librarians.
I believe that the Dems would have chosen NO for our convention. I am sorry that the city had to pull out of the competition, but the federal government has really let the citizens down in massive way.
One wonderful story I want to share. On the Katrina tour, we went to the Botanical Gardens which were severely damaged. A lady from New York, who loved the Gardens, gave them a million dollars to rebuild.
Seriously if you fine DUers and the other volunteers (Gore comes to mind) had not helped, the people would probably still be on roofs.
Also on NPR this morn did you hear the native who had been in Fargo with his wife and children for years, pulled up and moved back to be part of the solution? His wife and daughter were real troopers, picking up and leaving for him.

[babylonsister]

9. I have given money and collected clothes, but

not much recently. And you are right, there have been some phenomenal DUers, one that I know of who has moved down to the gulf coast to help. Many have given weeks of their lives; everyone should be applauded for their efforts, including you!
:yourock:

[Swamp Rat]

10. k&r

Thank you to everyone who has helped.

[AspenRose]

12. We took a truckload of supplies down to LA in November

eom

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. Luckily, it's my job to help people.

And I've gotten the opportunity to save several homes and people from losing their property. I've begged and pleaded with managment to keep foreclosures on hold to give people the three more weeks they needed to do whatever. I was lucky enough to fight the fight from within corporate America, and there are several people in Lousiana and Mississippi who are almost back in their house because of the things my team and I did. I'm very proud of getting to do what I've done.
Duckie

[Jacobin]

15. On behalf of my fellow Louisianians, I thank each of you.

My town was smashed by Hurricane Rita in the double punch we got last year.

The assistance from individuals (as opposed to the federal idiots) was overwhelming for both Katrina and Rita. Volunteer rescuers in Katrina had to actually evade FEMA idiots who tried to prevent them from rescuing people from rooftops with their private watercraft.

This truly was and still is an overwhelming disaster and it warms my heart to have seen the outpouring of money and assistance by volunteers.

Thank you, each and every one of you.