By early december, FEMA will begin kicking people out of the hotels and temporary shelter they have been staying in since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. By January 7th, FEMA will end subsidized housing for alll Katrina refugees. Many families are already trickling back in to their shattered homes. At the same time, the Gulf Winter is beginning to set in:
We need your help. Please recommend this diary, and read below.
The recovery from Katrina is only just beginning.
A few weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, I flew down to the Gulf. I went alone – my efforts at joining the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity were frustrated by the fact that they took weeks to mobilize volunteers (in fact, I wasn’t “mobilized” by Red Cross until October 23rd, a full month after I was already on the ground.) At first I wound up in New Orleans, going from house to house ripping out the toxic sheet rock from people’s homes, or cutting up trees, or hauling the mountains of debris that infested every house. Evenutally I moved on to Waveland, Mississippi, which was at the eye of the storm and was absolutely devastated by Katrina.
In Waveland I found the New Waveland Cafe. At this Cafe, I found something incredible. Volunteers and members of the community worked together to build a beautiful, colorful kitchen and community space that fed upwards of 3,000 meals a day. There was a medical tent where med students volunteered their time, a Kid Space where we would watch children so their parents could work on their houses. It was disaster relief with dignity and spirit. There was no organization, no hierarchy, no politics, and no religion. Everybody chose their own level of commitment, which led to huge commitments from everybody. Over time, the community came to love the kitchen.
I began meeting people involved in other independent relief efforts. Some were just a couple guys, a pickup, and a chainsaw, going from house to house and clearing rubble and fallen trees. There was a Buddhist temple in Biloxi, MS feeding and helping people; debri removal teams in Slidell, LA; a Welcome Home Cafe in New Orleans. We met in parks and parking lots, drove around the Gulf together. Together, we formed Emergency Communities.
Emergency Communities is a new form of disaster relief. We are mobile, dynamic, independent, and on-the-ground. We are made up of volunteers and members of the effected community alike. We allow the community to shape their own relief efforts. Without the hinderance of a large bureaucracy or overhead, we can quickly find the areas or families with the greatest need and help directly.
In that vein, our first large action is going to be a kitchen and community center in St. Bernard Parish, right outside of New Orleans and directly connected to the Ninth Ward. Many of you will know that the Ninth Ward was absolutely devastated by Katrina and following flood, which soaked every house in the area with a toxic stew for weeks.
As I wrote above, FEMA is ending subsidized housing very soon. Our kitchen will provide food and a safe space for all those who return. We are opening December 5th, prepared to feed 3,000 meals per day. WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Please help us get this kitchen off the ground. America needs to know that the recovery has only just begun. Please go to our website. We need volunteers and donations. All donations are 501(c)3 tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor relationship with the International Humanities Center.
This is just the beginning. Emergency Communities will harness the collective compassion and ingenuity of Americans to deal with disasters from now on. The synergy that created the blogosphere can be replicated into disaster relief. Thank you for reading this diary, and let’s do this!
You can contact me through our website, or directly at mweiner@emergencycommunities.org. Oh, and for anyone in NYC, we are having a benefit on December 9th. Come! And again, please recommend this diary so everyone can have a chance to see it. Thanks!
And also, tell me your ideas. What would you like to see in a new disaster relief organization?