When donating to disaster relief, many of us want to make sure our donations are in tune with our values by donating to organizations with direct connections to local communities that will be able to provide relief efficiently and effectively, while also donating in such a way that builds local capacity to resist oppression and create grassroots democracy. The Hurricane Katrina aftermath vividly reminds us that those who bear the brunt of everyday social injustice and oppression are also those who fare the harshest in times of disaster.
The organizations and resources on this list are NOT necessarily endorsed by or personally known to Radical Reference, but this list is meant as a research aid to those wanting to donate to Katrina relief in ways compatible with the values of social justice.
Revision last updated: 6th September 2005
Note: This page is no longer being updated. Please visit Radical Reference's main Katrina guide at radicalreference.info/katrina.
Email Lists
Places to Donate Money and Supplies
Additional Resources
Trauma Resources
Email Lists
Anarchist response to Katrina
Mobilizing for mutual aid in the Gulf Coast region
lists.riseup.net/www/info/katrinaresponse
Southern Anarchists Networking
lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/south
New York City-area listserv
lists.riseup.net/www/info/ny-katrinasolidarity
Places to Donate Money and Supplies
Directory of Grassroots/Low-income/People of Color-led Hurricane Katrina Relief
www.sparkplugfoundation.org/katrinarelief.html
"Where to donate to organizations who are:
- Organizing at the grassroots level in New Orleans, Biloxi, Houston and other affected areas
- Providing immediate disaster relief to poor people and people of color
- Directed by, or accountable to, poor people and people of color
- Fostering the democratic inclusion of poor people and people of color in the rebuilding process"
People's Hurricane Fund
(from the Daily Kos)
"We have set up a People's Hurricane Fund that will be directed and administered by New Orleanian evacuees. The Young People's Project, a 501(c)3 organization formed by graduates of the Algebra Project, has agreed to accept donations on behalf of this fund."
Donations can be mailed to:
The People's Hurricane Fund c/o The Young People's Project
99 Bishop Allen Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139
If you have comments of how to proceed or need more information, please email them to Curtis Muhammad muhammadcurtis[at]bellsouth.net and Becky Belcore bbelcore[at]hotmail.com
Infoshop.org - Hurricane Katrina Mutual Aid Relief
www.infoshop.org/hurricanekatrina.html
Baton Rouge Catholic Worker
Solidarity House
Baton Rouge Catholic Worker
1275 Laurel St
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Phone: 504-389-9572
Publication: Baton Rouge Catholic Worker
Pastors for Peace
www.pastorsforpeace.org
The Pastors for Peace, a grassroots solidarity aid organization that sends aid caravans to cuba (breaking the blockade) and central america, is organizing an emergency aid caravan of five trucks, five routes -- coming from owa, LA and new york city, collecting aid along the way.....we should arrive in new orleans by the end of the week. this is people-to-people aid, no top-down bureaucracy involved. it's all volunteers, the only cost is the gas (and biodiesel, when we can get it) to get the trucks down there. any other money we collect is going to go to buy more aid for hurricane survivors. and we are taking donations of all the essentials - food (non-perishable), clothing, blankets, radios, medicine, etc.
For info, call the Pastors for Peace at 212-926-5757
website: www.pastorsforpeace.org
Please send your check or money order (payable to IFCO) to:
Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)
402 W 145th Street
New York, NY 10031
write "Hurricane Katrina" on the memo line
Food Not Bombs - Southwest USA
www.foodnotbombs.net
Please help Food Not Bombs provide help for the victims of Katrina. We plan to send another busload of food to the effected area. We URGENTLY need your support! If you can help cook and serve food, have money you can donate or have the time to call groceries and warehouses for food please contact us at www.foodnotbombs.net. You can make a financial donation on line or mail checks to Food Not Bombs, P.O. Box 744, Tucson, AZ 85702. Please call (1-800-884-1136 ) or email katrina[at]foodnotbombs.net us if you can join us on the bus or help with gas money. We intend to leave in the next two days. Our Food Not Bombs chapters in New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi have been wiped out. Our groups in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Jackson, Pensacola, Memphis and other southern cities are feeding people fleeing the disaster.
Thanks, Keith McHenry - cofounder of Food Not Bombs.
Food Not Bombs - Northeast USA
www.foodnotbombs.net
Food Not Bombs Needs Help Feeding The Victims of Katrina
Food Not Bombs groups are mobilizing all over the country to feed those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. FNB Hartford is driving a bus to Baton Rouge, LA. on Tuesday Sept. 6 where we will help setup kitchens with other Food Not Bombs volunteers. We really need your help !!!
Donations are being collected at ArtSpace Hartford @ 555 Asylum St.
To find out more check-out www.foodnotbombs.net
To make a donation or for other ways you can help or
if you have any questions contact: Dave-860.978.3562 or Ross-860.930.2467
Local black churches, community organizations, etc., providing aid
List provided by the Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME). www.kickgame.com
Center for LIFE Outreach Center
121 Saint Landry Street
Lafayette, LA 70506
atten.: Minister Pamela Robinson
337-504-5374
Mohammad Mosque 65
2600 Plank Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70805
atten.: Minister Andrew Muhammad
225-923-1400
225-357-3079
Lewis Temple CME Church
272 Medgar Evers Street
Grambling, LA 71245
atten.: Rev. Dr. Ricky Helton
318-247-3793
St. Luke Community United Methodist Church c/o Hurricane Katrina Victims
5710 East R.L. Thornton Freeway
Dallas, TX 75223
atten.: Pastor Tom Waitschies 214-821-2970
S.H.A.P.E. Community Center
3815 Live Oak
Houston, Texas 77004
atten.: Deloyd Parker
713-521-0641
PICO National Network
www.piconetwork.org/katrina.asp
"PICO is a national network of [progressive] faith-based community organizations working to create innovative solutions to problems facing urban, suburban and rural communities... we are lifting up a new vision for America that unites people across region, race, class, and religion."
"PICO organizations and congregations in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida are overwhelmed by the work they are doing to help those who have sought refuge in their communities. One way you can help is to send money or provide other resources to congregations and agencies that are providing refuge to people. Our organizations in Baton Rouge, Houma/Thibodaux, Baldwin County, and Pensacola can help you direct resources to those providing shelter. Call Alia Zaki, PICO Operations Manager, who is coordinating this effort. Her phone number: 619-501-1804 azaki[at]piconetwork.org
PICO website also has a link to let people contact Congress and the President and put pressure on them.
ga3.org/campaign/picokatrinaresponse/step1
NAACP Disaster Relief Efforts
www.naacp.org
The NAACP is setting up command centers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as part of its disaster relief efforts. NAACP units across the nation have begun collecting resources that will be placed on trucks and sent directly into the disaster areas.
Also, the NAACP has launched the Disaster Relief Fund to provide immediate assistance to the worst -affected victims and mobilize resources to feed, clothe and shelter displaced victims in the worst affected areas.
For relief call: 1-866-996-2227
Checks can be sent to the NAACP payable to
NAACP Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215
Donations can also be made online at www.naacp.org
Team Rescue
www.teamrescueone.com
Set up by native New Orleans rapper Master P and his wife Sonya Miller.
Team Rescue will restore order and rebuild the victims of Hurricane Katrina. These collaborated efforts are designed in three phases to assist those in need.
Phase I- Getting People Out!
Phase II-Team Rescue One Family at a Time!
Phase III - Team R.E.S.C.U.E. stands for the following:
Team
R- Rebuild Families
E- Education
S- Support Services
C- Counseling
U- Unity
E- Employment
Louisiana Environmental Action Network
www.leanweb.org
"September 2, 2005
"Dear Friends of Louisiana,
"Due to the catastrophic event of Hurricane Katrina there is an enormous need for life-saving and life-sustaining supplies. At this time, the most needed items are tetanus shots, insulin, IV fluids, as well as financial resources to purchase and transport medical and food assistance directly to victims.
"Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) is working closely with the Office of Representative Brasso of St. Bernard Parish. Our contributions are being immediately given to the residents of St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes, two of the most inundated areas. LEAN feels that by working directly with the parish representatives we are best able to assist in meeting the critical needs of these victims and addressing the crisis in our communities.
"The situation in Louisiana is heartbreaking and we hope that by working together we can help save lives and improve the lives of those who have survived this disaster. We would appreciate donations of medical supplies, food and water, or funds to purchase these supplies. For example, yesterday, September 1, 2005, we purchased medical supplies such as aspirin, neosporin, syringes, hand sanitizer, gloves, tylenol, bandages, and so forth. These supplies were directly air dropped down today on September 2, 2005, to people stuck in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish.
"We can not thank you enough for caring about what is going on in our region. Your prayers and support are greatly appreciated. Words can not describe the suffering and courage of the people here. Please help us help our neighbors in our home state. May God bless you for all your support, concern and prayers during this tragic time.
"With warmest regards,
"Marylee Orr
Executive Director
Louisiana Environmental Action Network
162 Croydon Ave
Baton Rouge, La. 70806"
Get Your Act On!
www.getyouracton.com
"Get Your Act On! (Jeffrey and Andrea) are currently in Waco, TX. We are organizing a relief effort to bring much needed supplies directly into the City of New Orleans as almost NOTHING is getting in via 'official' channels (we have spoken to people still in the city).
Our house is still standing and should be relatively free of flood waters by now, so it will be used as a base for relief efforts as we are just 6 blocks from the lower 9th ward, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods. We will be purchasing a van or getting a large UHaul, filling it with supplies and driving it back to New Orleans."
Indian Country responds to victims of Katrina
www.indianz.com/News/2005/010151.asp
To donate to the National Congress of American Indians Hurricane Relief Fund, send donations to:
National Congress of American Indians
1301 Connecticut Ave, NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
Put "Hurricane Relief" in subject line of check. All donations will go to the tribes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
A large contribution to the fund is expected from a California gaming tribe. The National Indian Gaming Association is helping to coordinate.
More Ways to Help Indian Country Affected by Hurricane Katrina: (The Washington Post)
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians - www.choctaw.org
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe - www.tunica.org
Poarch Band of Creek Indians - www.poarchcreekindians-nsn.gov/tribal_government.htm
Jena Band of Choctaw Indians - www.jenachoctaw.org
Chitimacha Tribe - www.chitimacha.com
Coushatta Tribe - www.coushattatribela.org
Additional Resources
Hurricane Assistance Links
www.state.lib.la.us/links/
From the State Library of Louisiana. Topics range from missing persons to employment and housing.
Craigslist New Orleans: Resources for Katrina Survivors
neworleans.craigslist.org/about/help/katrina_cl.html
Missing persons, housing and shelter, volunteer opportunities, and more.
Katrina PeopleFinder Project
192.122.183.218/wiki/index.php/Help_Needed#Katrina_PeopleFinder_Project
After Katrina many friends and family members have been separated and left with no clear way to find each other. Hundreds of internet web sites are gathering hundreds, and probably thousands, of entries about missing persons or persons who want to let others know theyre okay.
The problem is: the data on these sites has no particular form or structure. So it's almost impossible for people to search or match things up. Plus there are dozens of sites - making it hard for a person seeking lost loved ones to search them all.
The Katrina PeopleFinder Project NEEDS YOUR HELP to enter data about missing and found people from various online sources. Were requesting as little as an hour of your time. All you need to do is help read unstructured posts about missing or found persons, and then add the relevant data to a database through a simple online form.
Questions? Email katrina-people[at]activist-tech.org
Thanks!!!
The Katrina PeopleFinder Team
National Youth Advocacy Coalition
www.nyacyouth.org
The Hurricane Katrina Emergency Relief Fund for LGBTQ Youth & Families
Montrose Clinic (Houston, TX)
www.montroseclinic.org
Provides preventive and primary health care to under-served communities.
Trauma Resources: Websites & Books
American Psychiatric Association - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
healthyminds.org/multimedia/ptsd.pdf
American Psychiatric Association - Storm Disasters
healthyminds.org/copingwithstormdisasters.cfm
Boston Area Liberation Medic (BALM) Squad - Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
www.bostoncoop.net/balm/cisrespond.html
Healing Trauma
healingtrauma.pscap.org
International Critical Stress Foundation, Inc. Signs and Symptoms of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
www.icisf.org/CIS.html
National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Devastating Effects of Hurricane Katrina
www.ncptsd.va.gov/
National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Facts Sheet
www.ncptsd.org/facts/index.html
Support for Healing from Trauma
www.walterzeichner.com/aftercare/html
Trauma Resources
www.trauma-pages.com
Books
Relief and emergency loans may be needed in the frozen south.
In whatever disaster, many are ready to help. Forces of nature are truly unpredictable and once its strikes us down, all we have is each other and any form of help would be much appreciated. The American South has been pulverized by ice and snow, and emergency cash and other relief may become necessary. It might be the worst winter in living memory, and it is bringing almost the entire Gulf region to a standstill. Some states have announced states of emergency. Various are applying for payday loans so they can get what they need to make it through this winter.