[GPCA Updates] Greens to New Orleans: Roadtrip for Relief

[updates-admin at cagreens.org]

Join Green Party member Malik Rahim and activists from across the US in
standing up for the rights of the people of New Orleans.


JOIN THE ROADTRIP FOR RELIEF!!
CLEAN-UP, REPAIR, REBUILD IN THE 9TH WARD WITH COMMON GROUND COLLECTIVE
November 20-27

Common Ground Collective has called a National Caravan to arrive in New
Orleans on November 20th and work over the week of Thanksgiving until
November 27th.  That's less than four weeks away!!!

Contact Susan King funking at mindspring.com for more info on how you can get
involved with your time, energy, funds and/ or resources.

What: 
Common Ground wants hundreds of volunteers from all around the country
to converge in New Orleans with donated funds and building & clearning
supplies.  Volunteers will work on a particular section of the 9th Ward
picking up yard debris, cleaning the streets, tarping rooftops, etc. For
nearly a month, Common Ground has been organizing and meeting folks in the
neighborhood as they return. A community center was just established which
will soon be the site of another Common Ground distribution center of needed
goods.

Why: 
The poor neighborhoods of the city don't have electricity and
are not being cleaned up or repaired, while the French Quarter and other
predominantly white areas are relatively clean and quite functional. This
seems to be a purposeful effort to keep poor and black
residents from feeling any hope of being able to recreate their lives in New
Orleans. While residents are returning, many poor folks are now living in a
vast diaspora around the country, away from their homes, communities, jobs,
families and friends. The concentrated efforts of this caravan will bring
hope to people in that diaspora as they see that it is possible to clean-up
their neighborhoods and rebuild their lives. The work of the caravan will be
a demostration of what is possible.

Who: 
You. Your organization. Self-sustained groups that can organize
themselves. We also need volunteers with specific skills: electricians,
mechanics, plumbers, mold abaters, roofers, construction workers,
carpenters, tree workers, lawyers, cooks – and people who can train
other volunteers and residents in these skills.

When: 
We're asking folks to arrive in New Orleans on November 20th
and work through the Thanksgiving week until Novmeber 27th. Of course,
volunteers are needed continuously and can arrive anytime.

How you can help: 
Get on the bus. Donate a bus.  Organize a bus. Donate $$$$. Donate supplies
(see the list below). Help raise funds, plan a fundraiser, ask your network
to donate. Help spread the word.

To get plugged-in: Please email: sfcaravan at mutualaid.org
A phone number will be worked out soon.

Monetary donations. Please write and send tax-deductible checks to Common
Ground's fiscal sponsor:

Community Futures/ Common Ground Relief (please note "Bay Area" in memo)
221 Idora Ave.
Vallejo, CA 94591
(707) 644-6575

Supplies. When we have a donation drop-off site, I will let you know.
Supplies can aslo be sent to the address noted below.

A beginning needs list (please donate supplies in good condition that are
ready to use):

Tarps (for roofing, 30' x 20/50')Electrical supplies for
rewiring houses (wire, outlets, breakers, etc.)
12 Amp, 100 foot extension cords
Sheetrock
Good quality tools
Tents (12' x 20/30'), Domes
Ready to run computers
Generators!!
Trucks/Tractors
Mobile Kitchens
Liquid vacs (wet/dry vacs)
Chainsaws
Respirators
N95 face masks
Shovels
Brooms
Mops
Hammers and nails
Sledgehammers
Drills and thick screws

To send supplies directly to Common Ground, please mail to:

Common Ground Relief Center
331 Atlantic Ave
New Orleans, LA 70114

Medical: To support Common Ground's Free Medical Clinics, please refer to:
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/2005/09/info_for_volunteers_at_common.html
#more
  AND
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/wish_list/

More about Common Ground Collective:

Common Ground's Mission & Vision
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/mission_and_vision/

Common Ground's Flyer on every door in the 9th Ward
http://www.commongroundrelief.org/flyers_and_graphics_for_download/

Common Ground's Website
www.commongroundrelief.org

Current Common Ground Programs: 
Compiled by Susan King, a Common Ground Volunteer

Distribution of food and supplies:  There are still very few open stores in
the greater New Orleans area, and even in communities that were not flooded,
there is a need for food and supplies. To date, the Common Ground Collective
has provided over 60 tons of food, water, cleaning supplies, diapers, health
and hygene goods and other necessities to more than 15,000 people in
Algiers, Houma and other locations. This week, they will open a distribution
center in the 9th Ward.  People are starting to come back to this community,
and we are working to ensure that they have the basic provisions that they
will need.  More on the 9th Ward below.

Free Medical Clinic: Located in Algiers, with a mobile unit that goes to
other communities, this clinic provides a range of medical support,
including treatments for respiratory illness, infections and other ailments
directly related to exposure to toxins from the flood. The clinic also
provides regular medical check ups, prescriptions and medications, mental
health services, drug and alcohol diversion programs and alternative healing
treatments such as homeopathic medications, massage, and acupuncture. Over
100 people per day line up for services, which are provided from 8 am to 8pm
six days per week. Many visitors to the clinic have not seen a doctor or
medical professional for years, which underscores the neglect and unmet
needs of this community.  Plans are underway to open permanent medical
facilities in Algiers, the 9th Ward, and other low income areas.

Emergency Home Repair: Ensuring access to housing remains a critical need,
and volunteers are working around the clock to assist residents in making
their damaged homes livable and safe to occupy. Immediate work includes:
Roof Tarping for damaged roofs, Debris Removal, Tree Trimming  and removal
and Mold Abatement.  Focus is on assisting home bound individuals and others
not being served by FEMA, the Red Cross and other official relief efforts.
It is not surprising to see that the official relief efforts have been
focused on middle and upper class neighborhoods. The longer formerly
submerged houses go untreated, the less likely that they will be
salvageable, that is why the urgent repair work
focused on the 9th Ward and other low income communities is so critical.

Legal Support: There have been literally thousands of incidents of police
brutality and abuse since the hurricanes hit the gulf. Hundreds of African
Americans have been routinely harrassed arrested and detained for
questionable offenses. There are still no clear reports on how many young
men have been slain by the police (who are shipped in from cities around the
US).  Common Ground has a working group that is focused on Copwatch/Police
Brutality issues and provides documentation and legal support. The other
major legal issue is eviction defense.  Rent increases and evictions are
happening at an alarming pace as low-income residents in undamaged homes are
being moved out to house those able to pay more. Common Ground provides
legal support, monitors incidents of evictions and is providing support and
solidarity for tenant advocates working on these issues.

Housing Advocacy: Common Ground is part of a larger ad hoc advocacy
collective working to ensure the right to return for residents of public
housing. Subsidized housing in New Orleans has been eroding for many years,
and housing advocates fear (rightfully, IMHO)
that housing agencies will use the hurricanes to justify the continued
gentrification of New Orleans.  HANO, the HUD controlled housing agency, is
stalling the re-opening of habitable public housing units.  Developers stack
the official "Bring Back New Orleans" Committee,  which further challenges
efforts to rebuild New Orleans in a just and sustainable way.  Common
Grounds efforts include the organizing of legal clinics for tenants and
working closely with tenant leadership to ensure that they are supported in
bringing the 14,000 or so public housing residents back home.

Communications/Information services: Common Ground operates a local
low-power radio station, Radio Algiers, which provides information,
interviews with residents, tapes of national radio shows as well as a range
of music, including live performances to the
residents of Algiers. Common Ground operates a free drop-in wireless
computer lab in its HQ and has set up five mobile computer labs in New
Orleans for residents. Mesh Wireless Network is setting up a free wireless
service for the entire Algiers area. Common
Ground produces and distributes a range of vital information to residents
and provides assistance in filling out FEMA applications, insurance forms
and other applications.

9th Ward Cleanup and advocacy: The 9th Ward has gained international media
attention due to the severity of the flooding and the exposure of
long-standing human rights violations and neglect the residents have
endured. Damage in the 9th Ward is severe because of
the proximity to the broken levee, the quality of the housing before the
levees broke and the fact that it was flooded twice following both
hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Despite this, there are many homes and
buildings that are worth repairing. Of the two sections of the 9th Ward,
upper and lower, over half of the structures were flooded with 4 feet of
water or less, which means that the chances are very good that these homes
can be salvaged if they are repaired in time. Common Ground has prioritized
the clean-up and immediate repairs in this area.

Advocacy: It is critical that this community not be bulldozed, and official
reports vary on the assessment of the damage and the plans for repair vs.
razing.  Advocacy work focuses on supporting residents demands to return and
for the immediate restoration services (trash removal, electricity and
plumbing) to habitable parts of this area.

Roof Tarping: The first step in repairing involves tarping damaged roofs so
that the building interiors will remain dry when the rains come.

Debris Removal: City officials are now beginning the first phase of removing
large trash heaps from the area, and Common Ground volunteers are working to
ensure that this area receives attention and support provided to other
regions of the city.

Mold abatement is also critical, and Common Ground will begin a Mold
Abatement Training Program for residents to learn to repair their own homes
and gain tangible job skills to participate in official paid clean up
operations.

Health/Environmental Monitoring: Common Ground has recruited skilled
volunteers to do Water/Soil Sampling, coordinate the sharing of this data
with government health organizations and to create and distribute pertinent
information to the public on potential hazards.