My name is Mark Weiner, and I am the Executive Director of a grassroots, disaster relief group called Emergency Communities. I have diaried about our efforts on the Gulf over the past year (here, here, and here). Clammyc wrote a diary on Monday detailing some of the conditions down here, particularly in the Lower 9th Ward of Orleans Parish. He suggested that people might want to know how to help, and Kossacks have helped before, so I'll let you know after the jump.
First of all, we're a community-based disaster relief group - we build "temporary community centers" in fields, destroyed buildings, and warehouses where we can provide for the local needs: three meals a day, free laundromat (the biggest need, really!!), free distribution of clothing, groceries, and baby supplies, as well as other community support: live music (good ol' nawlins jazz), movies, and town halls. Heres some pics:
Anyway, you can sort of get the idea from those. As a small but effective group, we can bypass the bureacracies of the big relief org's and really get it done.
We have thus far been working in St. Bernard Parish and Buras, LA. Buras is a town in Plaquemines Parish - the little boot part that sticks out into the gulf. We are at the bottom of that, where Katrina first made landfall. It's utterly devastated, even still, but the residents are upbeat and we're helping get them back on their feet.
In the next two weeks, we'll open our fourth site, this one in the Lower 9th Ward. Many of you will remember the Lower 9th as the "ground zero" for the worst of the flooding and the worst of the FEMA response. People are moving back - in fact, the local Times-Picayune just had a story yesterday called Against All Odds about the first official resident:
Robert Green lost his mother and granddaughter when his house floated away near the Industrial Canal breach during Hurricane Katrina. But he has returned, a pioneer, encouraging his neighbors to come home.
Given the desolation of the place, there is an astonishing amount of traffic. Besides the contractors and tourists -- who still come, although in lesser numbers -- Green says there is a constant trickle of former residents cruising past, checking their neighborhood for some sign of returning life.
Well, there is returning life, and we hope to support it. Many of the residents are living in shelters, in their cars, or in their destroyed homes. Some are homeless, some are separated from their families in other cities. I know many Kossacks believe that this is the government's job, and this is what we pay taxes for - and I think you're absolutely right. However, this administration has failed so badly, and while these people are victims of that failure, we're determined to help until we can get an appropriate government response.
So - how to help? You can go to our website and donate money for Christmas on behalf of someone else, and we'll send them a Christmas Card with a picture of what we do. You can also just donate regularly. You will receive a tax-deduction for any type of donation. We are a United Way Partner Agency, so you can trust that the funds you give will go directly to the cause.
You can also donate toys, baby supplies, clothing, and other goods. If you decide to donate clothing, please make sure it is good quality and preferably warm clothing. Our address is:
Emergency Communities
4316 Baronne St., Suite D
New Orleans, LA 70115
Don't worry if it won't make it before Christmas, we have a free distribution all year long.
Or you can volunteer! We can always use help down here, and you can be sure it is a life changing experience.
Though I'm nervous about doing this, here is my phone number if you have any questions: Nine One Seven Four Four Two Eight Nine Zero Zero.
Thanks so much for reading!