liz_marcs | Looking for Long-Term Needs Charities

Thank you everyone for being patient with the break in your normal fluffy programming on this LJ.

There is still a lot of information coming in about Katrina and the aftermath, so much so that I can't keep up with it all. My outrage hasn't dimmed, trust me. If anything, as more reports are coming in, I'm even more pissed about the criminal incompetence that's been put on display.

But it's nice to see that people across the religious, political, and ideological divide are outraged with me.

However, the news blogs here on LJ and elsewhere are going a much, much better job of keeping up with the unfolding issues on the ground and tracking who's changing their story, and, most importantly, who in the federal government is playing CYA. Here's hoping that the press is finally pissed off enough to not let anyone get away with CYA. I'm not hopeful, though.

In the meantime, I'm looking for some good long-term funds to donate to, i.e., funds that'll buy things like school supplies, clothing, relocation assistance, job search assistance, scholarships, debt relief, long-term medical assistance, low-interest loans, etc. In short, some good funds that'll be working with an eye to helping Katrina survivors, regardless of the state, with their long-term needs. God knows there are a lot of them.

We're all so foucsed on "immediate needs," i.e. the Red Cross, that I know that I've lost sight of the fact that residents of the Gulf States will be grappling with this for years and may well never recover. God knows, upon looking at NOLA, Biloxi, and Gulfport, I find it very, very hard to believe that anything resembling a complete recovery is possible.

Which, unh, is the point of this post. Seed money for long-term recovery is extremely critical for the survivors.

If anyone has any suggestions, post a reply to this post. I'll keeping linking to this post so we can get a list going. Hopefully, in a week or so, I'll have a list of long-term funds to put in a main post, along with links and instructions to donate.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

On a Fluffy Note: After thinking hard about it, I decided to stick with my original idea for The Acme Heartbreak Repair Kit. I think it's a matter of just tweaking a few ideas and a few parts. At any rate, story is coming. Thanks for your patience again.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'd just like to say thank you for being a linchpin in efforts to help during the aftermath, Liz. If not for your posts, I might not've found half the information on both what was going on, and how to contribute aid, as I did.

And trust me, I'm not about to forget the things the Feds have and haven't done. You're not alone in your fury at their seemingly wilful incompetence.

Habitat for Humanity already has plans to build housing for those left homeless by Katrina. You can find info here: http://www.habitat.org/disaster/2005/katrina/ . I've donated to the Red Cross already, but plan to do a lot more for this charity, as well.

I also want to say thanks for posting all the links in the past week. I had a hard time watching the news, because I would burst into tears.

Doctor Who icon! Cool!

And ITA on Habitat.

But it's nice to see that people across the religious, political, and ideological divide are outraged with me. Maybe this should end "... divide are outraged as well."

Chiming in with my thanks for all your done this last week as well. You helped make some sort of sense of the senseless.

I'm unaware of any long term assistance, but I'm glad your making the effort to let people know about this as well. It's just so easy to get caught up in the immediate moment that it's easy to forget there is even more to be done when the waters roll back. I'll keep an eye out and post anything I find.

Slightly off the subject, but an idea that's popped up is a New Deal for New Orleans (http://www.first-draft.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4100&mode=nested&order=0&thold=0), which might help to prevent excessive long-term needs. Not necessarily, of course, since some won't implement a Keynesian strategy...

...also, thanks much for Katrina-blogging.

This is something I was just talking about with my husband. When we give to charities we try to divide our approach between the immediate needs (usually IRC, Red Cross) and long-term type (we like organizations such as Accion). We wondered whether there were any such organizations emerging for help in the Katrina disaster. I see in the comments a link to Habitat for Humanity, and that sounds good. I'll check back here again to see if there are any more later.

Not necessarily for the long term, but let's not forget our friends of the furry nature...

Many pets were abandoned when Katrina came along, and those that survived need a home.

http://www.aspca.org/

Farm Aid has opened a fund for the small family farmers effected (http://www.farmaid.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6511) (Also includes donations to the Farmers Legal Action Group to help farmers navigate the potiential quagmire that is dealing with FEMA.) The linked press release has all the details.

Rebuilding Together (http://www.rebuildingtogether.org/main-pages.php?page_id=main/media/in_the_news-katrina.php) (I don't know much about the org but I don't think they are evil. I know they are not affliated with any one church and seem to be doing all the right things.)

I just posted a pimp for Church World Service, which focuses on longterm development needs. They're part of the National Council of Churches (so are too lefty for the fundamentalist types, if that makes them more appealing :) ).

I used to work for them in various program offices. Literacy, family life and population (that program disappeared, I believe) and development.

Not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for but First Book.org is providing books to the children affected by Katrina. For every $5 donated they'll maych it with one book that will go to children in the devastated areas.

Oh, and http://www.apse.us is collecting money to help rebuild schools hit by the Hurricane.

Considering that the South didn't officially recover from the Civil War 'till the mid 1970's. It's quite possible that those communities affected by Katrina will still be struggling to recover by the time our children's children reach majority.

There is a website that serves as a clearinghouse for many many charities now for Katrina and all the time for just about any cause you can imagine. The site gives you information about the charity, who's behind it, their financial statement to the IRS, etc. And you can just donate at this site for any of the charities you choose, very informative and very simple.

networkforgood.org

There are a lot of animal rescue and relief organizations working in New Orleans listed on this site, if that's your thing. There are loads of other charities too, but the animals this week have been a huge worry for me.

Thanks for focusing on long-term needs.

May I suggest the Unitarian-Universalist Gulf Coast Relief Fund:
http://www.uua.org/news/2005/050831_katrina/donate.html

All funds received in the UUA-UUSC Gulf Coast Relief Fund will be used

1. to address the needs of the most disadvantaged and marginalized communities in the affected areas as they rebuild their lives and livelihoods, and
2. to support Unitarian Universalist congregations as they rebuild their ministries in the region of the hurricane.

Looking for Long-Term Needs Charities

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Katrina charities

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