===== Katrina Village Concept ========

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Let's revive the Katrina Village Concept

Today is Friday, February 10, 2006. __Is Monday, Feb. 13 really EVICTION DAY for the thousands of Katrina victims still living in hotels? __

If you are truly concerned please read about Katrina Villages below. It's not too late for the private sector to build instant transistion housing for people who are still homeless due to the storm. Take this idea and run with it yourself or contact me and we can work together.Liza Loop

Emergency message circulated by Common Ground Volunteers

The Official "First Response" Solution

31 Aug 2005 - FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Admistration, is providing initial rescue and very temporary shelter for displaced individuals and families. But two or three days is about as long as anyone should have to stay in such a place. Some will find safe harbor with friends and family. What are we, the private US residents, going to do to help the rest? Liza Loop

3 Sept - By now the news media and internet blogs are filled with awe and disgust about how slow and "unacceptable" the government response has been. I urge you not to waste too much time venting about "them." Most of us cannot be part of the First Response. This site is about what we can do. Think globally, act locally and quit your bellyaching until you have done both. Have you pledged anything on the Contributor Page? Read more about Katrina Villages and then do what you can. Liza Loop

A Grassroots Response === Temporary Katrina Villages

Let’s build temporary RV villages on small parcels of unused private land and help the communities set up interim self governments and services. I have 7 acres north of San Francisco. What do you have?

Connie Williams In speaking with Liza directly, her idea is to bring together unused trailors, RV's, and similar houses on wheels to private land for the temporary housing of refugees from Hurricane Katrina. Owners of the RV's, trailors, etc. would not be giving up ownership of their vehicles/houses. They would be arranging to have their RV brought to a piece of land where a refugee family could live. Obviously legal details would have to be worked out to protect the owner of the RV or trailor from damage or theft by the temporary occupants see Details Pages. As the summer season is over, many people will not be travelling in their RV's and could donate use of their RV to some unoccupied land near where they live. Many people own undeveloped land they have long-range plans for. This project is looking for such land sites for temporary use to house these "Katrina Villages". By bringing up to 20 families to the same site, which could be anywhere in the United States, volunteers in these local communities could focus help on say 100 people. Those in the Villages would be able to help each other out as well. Education for children, whether in nearby public schools, or whether at the site itself would also have to be arranged. We're looking for people's reactions, positive or negative, to these ideas and welcome all relevant suggestions. Thank-you. Sept 2, 2005.

Practical Details Page

Government

Some of us are skilled organizers, others have either lived our lives answering to “the man” or are in so much shock that we can’t think straight. Katrina Villages will need guidance to set up community councils to administer themselves. However, over the course of one or two months it is reasonable to expect that democratic decision making can be incubated.

Services

Imagine yourself suddenly transported to a strange location where you had food, shelter, clothing and basic medical care but nothing else. You would need activity for your body, engagement for your mind and succor for your spirit. These needs translate into employment, educational opportunity, art/games/spiritual practice.

Barter Job Banks – Many villagers will arrive with no money and many localities will not have job vacancies for them. But we can show them how to set up a barter job bank starting from nothing. To do this, each person registers the skills they have to offer and the services they wish to buy. Each resident is issued $500 or $1000 worth of job bank credit when they arrive and trade can begin immediately. The more exchanges that take place, the wealthier each community becomes.

Who out there has a workable job bank program they could donate - one that will work on an old computer? Who has an old computer they could offer to a Katrina Village to run their job bank?

Education Banks – Those who are not fully occupied in productive jobs can engage themselves in learning. What could they learn?

Carpentry and Construction Skills: Adults and older children will be facing major reconstruction tasks when they return to their storm-ravaged homes. They can begin by learning to build porches and other facilities for their villages…to be continued..

Trauma Counseling - Some people hit the ground running after a disaster and display an amazing ability to contribute immediately to rebuilding a society around themselves. Others take days, weeks, or months to reach a state where they can function with some degree of normalcy. Not only must we provide for the physical needs of Katrina victims, we must also insure that counseling support is available to those who need it.

A Third Response === Planning for Permanent Relocation

Each Katrina Village Household needs to begin planning for its permanent home as soon as it is able. For some this will mean dreaming and planning for a return to the Gulf Coast. Others may decide they want to make a new start in a new place. Some will have brought their skills, education and initiative with them. Others will wish they could let the flood waters wash away their poverty, ignorance and sense of victimization. Katrina Villages can be places where all of these can happen.

Additional 2005 Postings

More on Permanent Relocation

Alternative to Katrina Villages

This is a work in progress – contact Liza Loop, Learning Options Center for further collaboration. Phone: 650 964 5623 Email: Katrina@loopcntr.org