Color of Change - NOLA

I received this 12/19 - sorry it has taken so long to post. IT's just been one of those winters for me.

Anyway, here's their most current newsletter. It really is a good way to keep up on news of NOLA....


While New Orleans faces its worst housing crisis in over 100 years, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) insists on carrying out a plan to bulldoze 4,500 units of affordable public housing, much of which could be made available to residents.

If HUD is allowed to proceed, it will eliminate the majority of affordable public housing in the city1, shutting out thousands of low-income Katrina survivors who have been fighting for over two years to return home. It would be a shameful slap in the face.

Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards, and the leaders of both houses of Congress--Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid--have called on President Bush to issue a moratorium to stop the demolition. But HUD hasn't budged, even with HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson and his staff under federal investigation for corruption in their handling of the contracting for the redevelopment plan.

It's time for everyday folks to take a stand. As early as Thursday, the New Orleans City Council will vote on whether to permit HUD to carry out its demolitions. You can let them know that you expect them to reject any plan that uses federal dollars to gentrify New Orleans. And you can add your voice to the public demand that Bush hold HUD accountable and block any action until problems with the plan are addressed and the investigation of Alphonso Jackson is complete. It takes only a moment:
http://www.colorofchange.org/hudhousing/?id=1793-142179

New Orleans Housing Crisis

With New Orleans in the middle of a serious housing emergency, it just doesn't make sense to destroy housing that's in good condition.2 Rents have gone up 45% since Katrina, the city has already lost 9,000 units of affordable housing, and half of the families that want to return home make less than $20,000 a year. In the last two years, New Orleans' homeless population has more than doubled--12,000 New Orleanians have no place to live.3

Many of the units HUD plans to destroy are in very well-constructed buildings that were barely damaged by Katrina, and would require a minimum of renovation to provide quality housing, even if only temporarily.4 Rather than addressing the pressing, immediate need for affordable housing, HUD's plan threatens to make the problem worse.

HUD's flawed redevelopment plan

Whatever your views are on public housing, HUD's redevelopment plan is ill-conceived and irresponsible. The plan calls for replacing New Orleans' current public housing with mixed-income housing, which many believe is a better model for public housing. But in making the switch, HUD refuses to rebuild the same number of affordable public housing units as it destroys. HUD's plan would destroy 4,600 affordable public housing units, while the new mixed-income housing would only include 744 units of affordable housing, and building those units will take several years.5 The inevitable result will be thousands of low-income residents--most of whom are Black--pushed out of the city.

Questions have also been raised about the motivations behind HUD's plan. The head of HUD, Alphonso Jackson, and his staff are under criminal investigation – by the FBI, Department of Justice, and HUD's inspector general -- for corruption in HUD/Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO)'s process for handing out contracts related to the redevelopment plan. The contract for demolishing and rebuilding the St. Bernard housing project was given to a firm that owes Jackson at least $250,000 (and as much as $500,000). Scott Keller – Jackson's right hand man and point person for dealing with New Orleans public housing – pushed hard for that firm to receive the contract. Investigators are also focusing on the fact that HUD/HANO paid $485,000 to one of Jackson's golfing buddies for work as a construction manager over an 18-month period.6,7

No Demolition without a solution that makes sense

At best, HUD has a goal that many think is good (moving towards mixed-income housing), but a deeply flawed plan that will be disastrous to New Orleans residents who need the most help. At worst, HUD is pushing a plan that will help enrich its secretary and his cronies, while leaving working-class people out in the cold and dramatically reshaping the class makeup of New Orleans. Either way, it would be a huge mistake to let HUD push forward with demolitions until these issues are addressed and resolved.

Tomorrow, the New Orleans City Council will decide whether it's going to allow HUD to continue down this reckless path. Council members need to hear that people across the country disapprove of HUD's plan. Will you join us in calling on the city council to reject the plan, and on President Bush to stop HUD from proceeding?

http://www.colorofchange.org/hudhousing/?id=1793-142179

Thank You and Peace,

-- James, Van, Gabriel, Mervyn, Clarissa, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
December 19th, 2007

References:

1. Fewer Homes for Katrina's Poorest Victims, PolicyLink, December 2007
http://www.policylink.org/documents/nola_fewerhomes.pdf

2. Condition of the Four New Orleans Housing Projects Slated for Demolition, Gulf Coast Fair Housing Network
http://fairhousingnetwork.org/node/10

3. Speaker Pelosi and Reid Urge President to Halt Demolition of Public Housing in New Orleans, The Gavel, December 15, 2007
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1001

4. See reference 2.

5. HUD Sends New Orleans Bulldozers and $400,000 Apartments for the Holidays, Common Dreams, December 3, 2007
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/03/5568/

6. HUD Probe Heats Up, National Journal, December 14, 2007
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/071214nj1.htm

7. Questionable Contracts, National Journal, December 18, 2007
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/071004nj2.htm

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Schools Still Struggling

Gulf Coast schools still struggling to rebuild
Eighteen months after Katrina, education is hardly back to normal in the affected communities
From eSchool News staff and wire service reports

In January, members of the Hurricane Education Leadership Program (HELP)--a group of educational technology companies and organizations that is helping to rebuild damaged Gulf Coast schools as 21st-century learning environments--toured the Mississippi Gulf Coast and were surprised at what they saw: 18 months after Katrina struck, there is still much rebuilding to be done.

February 15, 2007—A year and a half after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, destroying schools and displacing students, school leaders are still struggling to rebuild damaged facilities and technology infrastructures.

In January, members of the Hurricane Education Leadership Program (HELP) Team--a coalition of ed-tech companies and organizations that is helping to rebuild Gulf Coast schools as 21st-century learning facilities--took a tour of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and were surprised by what they saw.

"[We were] stunned at the lack of progress in getting recovery to these folks," said Terry Smithson, education strategist for Intel Corp. and leader of the HELP Team. "In some places, it still looks like a bomb has gone off."

Guided by Sandra Reed, a Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District administrator, team members saw up close the damage that still exists after nearly a year and a half.

All buildings in the six-school Bay St. Louis-Waveland district took on water from Katrina's storm surge or from extensive roof damage. Infrastructure for both the wide-area and local-area networks was destroyed, and servers and most computers and monitors throughout the district were damaged beyond repair.

The district's loss of buildings and contents has been estimated at $40 million. Insurance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency will cover some, but not all, of the cost, according to the district's web site. That includes rebuilding two elementary schools and renovating other schools. The district has been able
to replace only 120 computers so far, out of 800 lost.

While FEMA and other recovery agencies say that monetary assistance has been distributed to schools, local school and district officials say they have not necessarily received the money earmarked for their rebuilding and recovery.

About a year has gone by since Congress authorized the bulk of its rebuilding aid for the region, and nearly six months have passed since President Bush visited New Orleans on the anniversary of the storm and extolled the "amazing" reconstruction effort.

But a review of the devastated region shows that rebuilding is in a deep stall. Tens of thousands of residents remain displaced as authorities dither over how to disburse housing assistance. Many crucial infrastructure projects have yet to start. Of the tens of billions appropriated by
Congress, half remains unspent.

According to the White House, the federal government has provided $110 billion for the Gulf Coast region. But nowhere near that amount of actual cash has been made available. The total is spread over five states and covers damage done by three separate storms. Some of it consists of loans. A chunk comes from government insurance payouts that ultimately derived from
premiums paid by homeowners themselves.

Of $42 billion given to FEMA, the agency has spent only $25 billion, federal records show. Most of that went to temporary housing, debris removal, and emergency operations in the early days of the disaster. It has spent more than $4 billion on administrative costs.

Louisiana says the Army Corps of Engineers has spent only about $1.3 billion of the $5.8 billion it received to repair the levees in and around New Orleans. Only about $1.7 billion of the $17 billion received by the Department of Housing and Urban Development has made its way to the streets, the agency says.

In New Orleans, officials say they have received only about 14 percent of the estimated $900 million in reconstruction money they figure is needed to fix the ruined city. "We have lots of meetings," says Cynthia Sylvain-Lear, the city's liaison with FEMA.

More at http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6872

From A Survivor

6/7 - long but worth the read. Prayers are all that are asked for.
Just wanted to give you all an update on Kelsey's best friend Rayven. She was the one who's leg was crushed by a golf cart the day before Mother's Day. Kelsey was with her when it happened. She has spent the past few weeks at a new hospital in Louisiana, West Jefferson. She underwent another surgery to close the wound on her leg. At this point, her family is looking for a miracle to save her foot. She is not getting the blood flow to the entire foot. She needs many, many continous prayers over the next few days.
She is so special to our family and that's why I am asking for everyone to please keep her in your prayers. Thanks and God Bless!!
[Update]
Thanks for all of your prayers J. We ventured over to West Jefferson today to see her and it was not a good day, at all. This afternoon I found Kelsey in her room crying because she misses her and hates the fact she is kinda far now. They are SO close.
Her (Rayven's) dad would tease me about paying me child support because she spends so much time with us. The news today is that they are going to continue Hyperbaric treatments for another week or so. Her little toes are still black and if they could get just another inch of blood higher in her foot they could just take the toes.
She is so strong because she said she knows Kelsey could have never survived something like this. I laughed because Kelsey said that very same thing a few weeks ago. They are like sisters.
I actually saw her cut on the inner thigh where they took the artery from, there must be 30 staples there. She also was cut on her right side to perform an angiagram (spelling ?) and also cut on her left side to re-route that artery. She had a very large open wound on the right leg where they had to go in and shave some of the muscle.
The compound fracture is healing nicely but she will probably have the pins another 6-8 weeks. Sometimes when I look at her I think she has as many battle scars as some of our soldiers and shes only 13, it breaks my heart.
Thanks for the favor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will keep you posted. Tell everyone I said hello.
From "J":
"W" is a friend who used to be the school secretary in Pearlington. She is now secretary at the middle school. I've known her daughter Kelsey since before she started school. There's been a terrible accident that involved a friend of Kelsey's. I know prayer works...please remember them in your prayers. Having you as friends is such a blessing!

3/14 - and from another:
I don't imagine most people still realize what has happened here...I still think that New Orleans is still the focus. I say this because when I came home and was dealing with creditors trying to tell them we still didn't have Mail service...post office...etc.... That they were like why not? I would go thru my usual rant and they would be like oh Hurricane Katrina...yeah I did hear something about that...are you near New orleans? I would tell them an hour and half and they would basically blow me off like we didn't get anything because we were so far from New Orleans...which would further enrage me....Trying to educate everyone just wears me out!

3/7
Hello all!

I am here to make the rest of the country aware of one more Hell that hurricane victims are having to endure. I am not talking about getting the insurance to pay off, I am talking about finding AFORDABLE INSURANCE! I just got my renewel for this year from All State and they have dropped wind coverage and put us into the MS wind pool and raised our annual premium from $1,100 a year to $4,700! $4,700 breaks down to about $400.00 a month! How are people supposed to afford this?

Do I sell my car to buy homeowners insurance? Give up electricity and cable? My mortgage company says I must pay for homeowners insurance or they will charge me $300.00 a day! until I do!

Let me also put this out there for you to think about, I live almost an hour away from the water on the coast! We had no water, nor threat of water in our home. I carry flood insurance just because I want to be sure and not get left losing it all (not that this helped many on the coast). We got a new roof, due to major loss of shingles which was the average loss in our area or trees that had fallen on homes.

I complained to a friend and she told me of another pal of ours that lives on the coast and hers has gone to $6,200.

This is a major problem! Until now I wasn't effected greatly by the hurricane over 18 months ago except for mentally and emotionally watching all the others suffer! I tried in many ways to help those who needed food, clothing, furniture, appliances and whatever else we could help with.

My insurance company is cancelling wind coverage for any homeowner that didn't have car insurance with them prior to November 2005. Most other insurance companies are either not writing new coverage or not covering wind.

I ask those of you on the coast of MS, who is writing affordable homeowners insurance? Prior to Katrina it was considered highest risk in the 3 coastal counties, now it is the 6, where we are. I am one county north or Jackson County.

Why would people on the coast that are average folks of average means want to rebuild? It is really really sad!

If anyone has any ideas or comments please post them! If there is any movement on this to help people with lowering insurance costs please advise!

Thank you!

Commercial Rebuilding Gone

Dave Moynan's voice grew into a deeper, depressed state as he rattled off some of the obstacles to rebuilding his arts business on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Foot traffic from shoppers in Old Towne Bay St. Louis, a historic district, is a fraction of what it was before Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005.

Loans are due, Moynan said. And an unthinkable insurance rate hike has loomed over the art dealer and his neighbors for almost a year.

They've heard the political promises to shrink the average 268 percent commercial rate hike from the state-created insurer of high-risk properties, the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association. But approval to use federal or state money has not come.

Moynan's coverage for wind damage will rise from $5,350 to $14,860 by the end of the year without a government subsidy. His yearly insurance costs will rise from $14,000 to $23,000.

"We keep getting told, 'Wait. It will get better,' " said Moynan, who owns Maggie May's, an art gallery.

"How long?"

Gov. Haley Barbour asked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to lower rates by using $30 million of the more than $5 billion pumped into the state after Katrina. A required public comment period ends March 5.

Meanwhile, state representatives passed House Bill 243 throwing $30 million into the windstorm association, known as the wind pool. The proposal sits in the Senate as leaders haggle over whether to use federal money alone or a total of $60 million to lower rates.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jack Gordon, D-Okolona, said he will look at House Bill 243, but coastal lawmakers may not like the way he's leaning.

"I'd rather have the federal money than use the state money," Gordon said. "Then, we'd have the money for education."

House Speaker Pro Tem J.P. Compretta, D-Bay St. Louis, would prefer to see the wind pool get $60 million. When he drives home from Jackson each weekend, affordable insurance is the hottest topic in town.

"It's stopping building," said Compretta, who authored House Bill 243. "Everything's stopped in its tracks because of this insurance issue."

Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, he said, but owners are either waiting to rebuild or leaving town. "We should have already had (the bill) on the governor's desk," Compretta said.

Most insurance companies have stopped covering wind since the hurricane, driving more customers into the wind pool. The wind pool covers wind damage for structures in the six southernmost counties.

As the pool grows, so does the need for reinsurance, the primary driver of rates, which is coverage from other firms for protection against losses caused by catastrophes, such as Hurricane Katrina.

Reinsurance costs for 2005 were $8.8 million. The cost for 2006 is still in negotiations but could top $70 million, wind pool attorney Greg Copeland said.

To lower rates significantly, any assistance is welcome, he said. "If they pass (the House bill), we will hold rates down lower and longer," Copeland said of combining funds.

Barbour, a Republican, has said he wants to try the route to federal funds first.

A similar $50 million request was approved by HUD last year to bring residential rate hikes in the wind pool to 90 percent from the almost 400 percent proposed.

The Mississippi Development Authority has not received public comments on the commercial rate plan, disaster recovery director Donna Sanford said. Once the comment period ends, she said MDA will push for the money to be released by the end of the month.

The funds could bring the rate increase to 142 percent, according to MDA documents. However, the eventual rate is unknown because insurance formulas vary daily.

"You're really almost pulling rates out of the air," Insurance Commissioner George Dale said. "You would like a way to reduce cost of commercial rates now. It's not going to be an overnight thing you infuse."

Copeland said once the money is released, it could be another four to six weeks before new rates are set.

Some business owners said they never would have rebuilt if they had known the wait would be this long.

Renee and Drew Boxx lost their house in Katrina and bought a new one in Bay St. Louis. They and their four children hoped to live there and reopen their two businesses, a boutique and a cabinet-making shop. Insurance quotes for the older house hit $22,000 when including the stores.

"We don't have that kind of money," she said. "Old Towne hasn't come back yet."

So they moved her Funky Rose and his BoxxWorks Cabinets to a strip mall on U.S. 90. They hope to open in mid-March. Removing the businesses dropped their insurance on the house to $6,000. Their plan is to stick it out a year.

"What we were asked to do is come back and rebuild," Renee Boxx said. "We truly never thought it would be this much money to insure this building. We feel trapped."

High insurance rates not only stifle stores and restaurants, the expense also restricts apartment development, said Sen. Billy Hewes, R-Gulfport.

"It may take both pots of money," Hewes said. "Commercial development on the Coast has ground to a halt."

BY THE NUMBERS

Customers have flocked to the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, which insures property other companies refuse on the Gulf Coast. Rapid growth has driven insurance rates higher.

Before Hurricane Katrina:

15,252 policyholders

$1.87 billion total insured value

After Katrina:

32,847 policyholders

$5.6 billion total insured value

That includes 2,267 commercial policies with a total insured value of $1.5 billion.
Source: Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association

Gulf Coast Civic Works Project

Call on Congress to support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project
Click here to add your voice!

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project was proposed a few months ago by Prof. Scott Myers-Lipton, a Professor at San Jose State University, in California. His proposal captures, in simple language, a common-sense approach for rebuilding the Gulf, providing economic opportunity for Katrina survivors, as well as "restoring faith in the government’s social compact with its citizens."

This is a plan that should be embraced by every member of Congress and every American. It's a big, comprehensive initiative, but it's not a bloated program. It speaks to core American values of community and individual responsibility and equality of opportunity, while recognizing the importance of culture and history. And fundamentally, it makes sound economic sense.

There is no other plan that takes advantage of the economies of scale and available labor pool represented by the city's former residents for rebuilding. And it fits perfectly with the stated desires of officials at every level, who say they want to preserve the character of New Orleans and to make it possible for New Orleanians to return.

Here's the proposal as laid out by Prof. Myers-Lipton:

The Proposal:
The GC Civic Works Project will hire 100,000 Gulf Coast residents to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding region. The residents, who will be given subsidized tickets back to their neighborhoods, will build and repair houses, schools, parks, and other civic buildings and spaces.

The Gulf Coast Civic Works Project accomplishes 4 things:
provide our citizens with living wage jobs,
make housing available for themselves and their communities,
restore a sense of personal empowerment and hope, something which has been stolen from our people, and
restore faith among our citizenry of the government’s ability to respond to the needs of its people through a public-private partnership.

Projected Cost:
Based on a ratio of labor to materials of 80-20, and a wage rate of $12 per hour, the total cost of the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project is $3.125 billion. The projected cost of wages is $2.5 billion, while the cost of materials is $625 million.
Note that $3 billion is roughly 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the war each month in Iraq according to the Congressional Budget Office. And while the Iraq War has been plagued with graft and corruption, similar large-scale civic projects have operated in the United States with little to no corruption.

Historical Precedent
This is not the first time that the United States has faced massive social suffering. Our senior citizens, as well as our history books, have passed on to the current generation, the pain and suffering that so many people experienced during the Great Depression.
When Americans were faced with this crisis, the people realized that self-help initiatives alone would not solve the people’s problems, and they turned to solutions that got things done. During the Depression, people didn’t want a handout, but a hand up.

The U.S. Government developed the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CWA employed 4 million workers immediately in construction work (i.e., school repair, sanitation work, road building, etc.). Within 2 weeks of starting the project, 814,511 were on the payroll; within 2 months, 4.2 million were working.

The Works Project Administration (WPA) replaced the CWA. In its 7-year history, the WPA employed a total of 8 million people and its accomplishments were many: the WPA built or improved 5,900 schools, 2,500 hospitals, and 13,000 playgrounds.

The CCC provided the opportunity for 500,000 young men (ages 18 to 25) to work on environmental conservation projects at 2,600 camps each year. The goal was to employ restless and discouraged young men, many of whom had previously roamed the nation looking for work. In addition to their salary, the youth provided educational assistance.

NeighborWorks Grant Article

NeighborWorks America, a nonprofit community development group chartered and financed by Congress, has opened a resource office on Poydras Street and is committed to spending $100 million through various partnerships to create 10,000 affordable housing units across the Gulf Coast.
Ken Wade, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks, said that the $100 million committed to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama can be leveraged into $1 billion in housing by beefing up nonprofits that will administer a variety of housing programs.
The office, dubbed NeighborWorks Louisiana, opened Monday at 1515 PoydrasSt., Suite 105, with James Ross, a native returning from Washington, D.C., acting as regional consultant.
Ross will run an information center that will help nonprofits and developers get needy individuals and families into homes and apartments. The center will help them provide credit counseling and other assistance, including grants and mortgage assistance.
The group was created in 1978, and Lauren Anderson, head of the Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, a decades-old local nonprofit, has been working with NeighborWorks for years. NeighborWorks focuses on low- to moderate-income developments, but Ross said there could be some mixed-market projects financed by the group as well.
"They bring a lot of resources to the Gulf Coast," Anderson said. Besides the $100 million for housing, "their strongest asset is their training capacity."
In fact, about 2,000 members of NeighborWorks organizations from across America are in the city for one of four annual training sessions on fundraising, training programs, grant applications and other issues. They also spent days gutting new Orleans homes, points out CEO Wade.
But what the meeting here really does is bring together experts from nonprofit housing groups from across the nation who can advise Gulf Coast groups or individuals on everything from tax credits to financing to construction supervision. NeighborWorks often picks up the expense of bringing the expert to the particular nonprofit or project.
The group also wants to train 1,000 "resident leaders" in the Gulf Coast, activists who can recognize housing needs in their own neighborhoods and act as block captains in bringing assistance to those in need.
Further, Wade said that 100 scholarships to the next March training seminar in Atlanta will be awarded to members of nonprofits.

GULF COAST REGION TRAINING CALENDAR
For more information or to register for these events, call:1-866-861-7508

Normally, to participate in NeighborWorks programs, a group is thoroughly vetted.
"It's a process that can take three to five years" to earn the certificationof a "NWO," or NeighborWorks Organization, and there are 260 NWO-certified nonprofits across the country, Ross said.
Ross said that there are two NWOs in the region now, Anderson's and one inMississippi, and the goal is to create 10 NWO partnerships across the hurricane-ravaged coast.
Even groups that don't become certified NWOs are eligible for assistance because of the scope of the devastation, Ross said.The goal, according to Ross, is to streamline the vetting process and qualify either existing nonprofits or new ones for housing programs.
NeighborWorks has already spent about $5 million to date, $4 million directly toward affordable housing. NeighborWorks has already made a grant to Providence Community Housing, which is tackling 7,000 affordable apartment units through tax credits and other means. Providence is the affordable-housing arm of Catholic Charities.
The group could also provide equity for projects, along with grants, making the development easier to finance.
Further, its directors are all from U.S. Treasury agencies, which creates a comfort level with banks to do business with the NeighborWorks-backed nonprofits or projects. For example, Thomas Curry, director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is chairman of the board of NeighborWorks America and was in town Monday for the opening of Louisiana's first NeighborWorks office.
Ross said NeighborWorks will be in Louisiana and the coastal areas for years. "We've made the commitment to be here a number of years, as help is desperately needed. We'll provide leadership in rebuilding . . . We don't how many organizations (will end up being helped) or how long the(NeighborWorks) commitment will last, but we're in for the marathon, not the sprint."
In the past five years, NeighborWorks America has generated more than $10 billion in reinvestment and has helped an estimated 780,000 families purchase or improve their homes or find decent rental housing.

MS United Methodist Katrina Response

2/11
Our GoalsRestore persons to safe, permanent homes as soon as possible. Whose homes?
Be attentive to and, where possible, address spiritual, emotional, and other needs of these persons.
Affirm, encourage, and offer support to local churches in the recovery effort.
Organize and deploy volunteers to maximize recovery to extend beyond what congregations can accomplish on their own. How to volunteer
Partner with other organizations where possible to enhance efforts.

Tell the story - keep people abreast of the amazing work being done by local churches and United Methodist volunteers.
Help us archive the incredible story of Miss. United Methodist Katrina recovery
Thousands of United Methodists have come to help heal hearts and homes in Mississippi. It is a beautiful story of hope; a testament to being the church Christ called us to be. We want to remember the many acts of encouragement and hope and share them with generations to come. Many of you have or will take photos and DVDs of your time volunteering in our communities. We are asking you to share those and your testimonials with us. Be sure to identify the who, what, when and where for each photo and testimonial. E-mail to lisacmichiels@bellsouth.net or mail to Seashore District UMC, Attn. Lisa, 1509 24th Avenue, Gulfport, MS 39501. Photos should be e-mailed as jpeg files.

A note from Robert
What compels us to be in ministry to others? Is it because we want to be or because someone compels us to be? What is the church? What does the church do? How is the church to react to others in need? Who is the church?

I think more than 50,000 United Methodist Volunteers in Mission have found the answer to most of these questions. As they have come and given of their time and money they have found that we all are the church. Christ compels us to be in ministry and to meet the needs of others here on this earth.

This disaster called Katrina has given the church a great opportunity to be just that: the CHURCH. As Mother Teresa has said, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” To all these wonderful people who have begun, please give them thanks when you see them. The people of the coast would be years behind in recovery if not for them. God bless our volunteers!

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. - John Wesley

Tu hermano en Cristo,
Robert

Robert Sharp of Ocean Springs is coordinator of the Mississippi United Methodist Katrina Response.

1/10
After much frustration, we finally got our permit to construct our second multi-purpose building at Nugent UMC, Gulfport. Our first building at Vancleave UMC in Jackson County is moving along nicely. We will move into the warehouse portion of that building this month, which will allow us to close down the rented warehouse in Wiggins. We still have work to do to complete the dormitory portion of the Vancleave building.
Like almost everything down here, these buildings have taken longer to construct and cost more than anticipated. And, we still have some fundraising ahead of us to complete them. They are being constructed with what Mark Twain called "tainted money," i.e. money that "t'aint yours and t'aint mine."
All of the funds to construct these buildings have come from a special grant from UMCOR and donations from churches and individuals. Not one penny of the dollars designated to help families recover from Katrina will be used in their construction. We are now prepared in the eastern area of the Coast to sustain a long-term recovery effort and at the same time are positioned well to respond to future hurricanes.
I recently finished reading a series of articles in The Gazette, the newspaper of Medina County, Ohio. It is about the efforts of the Medina UMC to help the people of Pearlington, Miss. The series is titled "A Prayer for Pearlington." These stories reminded me of my first visit to Pearlington after Katrina struck, which I talked about in our April 7, 2006, e-mail update. They also just reinforced one more time the goodness of people who have come and continue to come to help us in our recovery and the spirit and courage of those who have lost so much.
I have been truly blessed by my association during these many months with simply wonderful and special people - volunteers, victims, clergy and staff in our United Methodist Church, and certainly the members of our Mississippi Katrina Response team. I have gained many friends and have been inspired by many people during this time.
As Dinah Haakenson penned:
You are my Friend.
A priceless gift I treasure,
A blessing without measure.
You've given me laughter, love, and caring,
Your moments, your hours, freely sharing.
You've given me memories, joy that won't end,
You've given me you; you are my friend.

Thank you, my friends, for what you have all meant to me and to Mississippi. - Ed BlakesleeBlakeslee is coordinator of the Mississippi United Methodist Katrina Response.
Mississippi United Methodist Katrina Response Update March 3, 2006

Notes from Ed

Thank you for responding to our request last week for construction facilitators. We now have some candidates to interview for these jobs.

We continue to need donations of building materials (sheetrock, shingles, etc.) and equipment to handle the materials.

We have access this year to several warehouses/buildings that we can use (including the one at Heritage UMC mentioned below), but we still need to move ahead swiftly to construct the multi-purpose buildings mentioned in the Feb. 17 update.

In the Feb. 17 update, we also told you about withdrawing from Katrina Aid Today funding but that we anticipated additional contributions from United Methodists across the country would offset these dollars. Well, God has provided. We anticipate that in early April, UMCOR’s Board of Directors will increase our funding for this year from $2.6 million to almost $3 million. Most of these dollars will be used to fund case management staff beyond the four regions we have set up in the south.

We have employed Margaret DiSalvo to supervise these case management people and to provide technical assistance to case management staff in our four regions. Margaret was performing case management for FEMA on the cruise ship in Pascagoula before coming on board with us.

All of the dollars we are spending in the conference organization are provided through UMCOR. Cash donations from volunteer work teams remain with the local churches to help pay for housing volunteers and to provide some materials for reconstruction.

Beginning with Hurricane Betsy through Katrina, I worked six hurricanes for Mississippi Power Company. We made mistakes in each one and learned from each one. Our church has made mistakes in this effort, and we will make some more before we are through. I am convinced that no one was prepared for a disaster of this magnitude and that we are plowing new ground. But, we will learn from these experiences and be much better prepared for the next disaster.
- Ed Blakeslee

Ed Blakeslee of Gulfport is coordinator of the Mississippi United Methodist Katrina Response.

Showers
As noted in last week’s update we have installed two showers at St. Mark’s UMC in Gulfport so that volunteers do not have to drive 20 minutes to Gateway UMC on the north side of Gulfport to take a shower. This week volunteers have installed two more showers at Gateway, so that we now have four showers there.

From the Feb 17 update:
Volunteers: DRC
The Disaster Response Center in Meridian seeks volunteers who can work one day or half a day a week on a continuing basis. “We have been really fortunate to have a handful of regular locals and several teams from out of state who have come for two weeks at a time, but we could use more Mississippi people who can give a day or a morning continuously,” said Chris Bowers, conference logistics coordinator. Tasks include answering calls and doing clerical work. For more info about volunteering at the DRC, contact Bowers at 866-435-7091.

Other Needs
Church recovery needs…
* Architects willing to help churches with rebuilding or expansion plans
* Certified land surveyors
* Certified electricians to help meet code specs
Contact Chris at cumbestc@bellsouth.net or 601-826-7728.

From Emailing Chris, I have found out the there is a prioritization of houses they are working to restore/rebuild.

The homes highest on the list are:
Those of single parents
Large families with financial difficulties
Disabled
Elderly

All of these must own their own home, own only one home and have little or no other assistance in rebuilding.

Unfortunately, this is a large number of families.

Talking to Ben Moore who was at the Main St UMC in Bay St Louis, they had a list of over 400 homes and more being brougth to their attention daily. So this is no small feat.

The churches themselves are in need since they were collectively underinsured by approximately $4million.

If you would like to assist in any of these areas, please use the above contact numbers or:
Contact the Mississippi Conference Disaster Response Center toll-free at 1.866.435.7091
or
disastercenter@meridianumc.org
to schedule a work team or send a gift to help with hurricane recovery.