The Hurricane

I've been pretty angry about the devastation and lack of effective recovery operations around the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It was mainly white rich people with cars who were able to escape New Orleans, leaving mostly poor minorities to be stranded in their homes (if they have one) and hope for a miracle. Tourists and residents lucky enough to get to the Superdome now take priority over the many who walked or took other desperate action to get to the Houston Astro-dome, leaving those who got there first to wait in the parking lot while others are bused in right next to them. The looters have been marginalized--not as communities struggling to survive in a city where there is no potable water, no electricity, where it is 93 degrees, and under up to 20 feet of water--but as black criminals who take advantage of a crisis and hurt the profits of corporate giants like Wal-Mart?!?! This disaster has truly brought out the classist, racist and capitalistic behavior of America.

However, I have found a glimmer of hope. MoveOn.org has just launched a hurricane housing campaign to join people who need a place to live with generous people who have a room, bed, or couch to offer them. And there actually are some generous people out there. Here are a few postings from the campaigns website, http://www.hurricanehousing.org:

"My name is BB, and I live with my husband and two daughters (4.5 years and 14 months) in rural northeast Georgia (about 90 minutes NE of Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport). We have two rooms with a private bath that we would like to open up to host a family in need due to the hurricane while they wait to be able to get back to their own homes. It's an ideal set up for a family that has small children. One of the rooms has two twin beds (that can be pushed together). The other has a crib if it's needed, and can accommodate our queen-sized air mattress, and/or quite a few sleeping bags (it's the baby's room, but she doesn't sleep there yet). And of course, we've got lots of toys and fun stuff to accommodate kids and hopefully lessen their trauma during this stressful time. We live on 13 wooded acres and have a LARGE fenced area for our dog that could accommodate other dogs, as well. We cannot accommodate cats, though, because of allergies."

"We can house people as long as needed. we (2 people) live in a 3 bedroom house w/ a mother-in-law suite. we have a huge fenced yard for dogs . we will take anybody, and any animal please call we are here to help. "

'We Have Very Nice with 2 extra bedrooms we are a Gay Couple here in Birmingham Alabama, so we Kinda wanted someone Gay friendly or other Gay Men or women is Ok 2..we Might can Help with Work too... '

'I live in a small apartment in mid-town Mobile. We are one of the only homes with power and would like to do whatever we can. I will give up my bed for one person. It is all we have room for. I hope we can help.'

'We have a 4br/4ba townhouse. We have children of our own, but we have room for 2 adults and 3 children for sure. We could move things around to accomodate more if necessary. We also have toys, clothes supplies, etc. And, we are willing to open our home for as long as necessary for someone to put their life back together. There is no time limit on the offer. We are near good schools, and there are jobs available in the area. We are even willing to provide for food and needs for someone needing to stay here, including trying to help with transportation to get here if necessary.'