Greetings!
I would like to invite you become part of a national commemoration of the 2nd
Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. To register for this event, sign up at http://www.solvingpoverty.com/Katrina_2-
Years-Later.htm.
Nearly two years ago, Hurricane Katrina, aided by
the construction of a substandard levee protection system, killed over 1,800
people, damaged 200,000 homes, and destroyed schools, hospitals, roads, bridges,
parks, and forest lands. The government's response to one of the largest
disasters in the nation's history has been ineffective and weak, and is a
collective stain on the heart and soul of our nation. Of the 148,000 Louisianans
who have applied for aid to rebuild their homes, only 30,000 have received
grants, 86,000 Gulf Coast families are still living in FEMA trailers, and
750,000 residents remain displaced.
During the week of August 29 to
September 2, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project*, which is the national
effort to develop federal legislation to create 100,000 jobs for Gulf Coast
residents, is calling upon communities and colleges across the country to
observe the 2nd Anniversary of Katrina by gathering for commemorative events at
Work Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
projects in our local communities. During the Great Depression, eight
million WPA workers and three million CCC workers built or repaired 800 state
parks, 2,500 hospitals, 6,000 schools, and 13,000 playgrounds.
Most
likely, a public work project is very near you.
By gathering at public
work projects, we will remind the nation on the 2nd Anniversary of Katrina that
there is an effective solution for the problems of the Gulf Coast. The Gulf
Coast still needs to rebuild homes, schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, parks,
and forest lands. This is exactly what our public work projects have
historically built.
On August 29 to September 2, we will gather at
public work projects around the country :
1. to remember the over 1,800
who died in Hurricane Katrina (e.g., a religious leader can speak about the loss
of life),
2. to highlight the struggles of Katrina survivors in our own
communities and the nation (e.g., a Katrina survivor might speak about the
suffering and difficulties they have faced),
3. to highlight the lack of
rebuilding (e.g., local residents who have visited the Gulf on a volunteer
project could speak),
4. to promote federal legislation to create a Gulf
Coast Civic Works Project (e.g., someone can speak on what 100,000 public work
jobs could do for rebuilding the physical structures of the Gulf and allowing
our displaced citizens to return home).
Again, please register for this
2nd Anniversary Katrina event at http://www.solvingpoverty.com/Katrina_2-
Years-Later.htm. You can also contact gulfcoastcivicworks@gmail.com or call
Scott Myers- Lipton at 510-508-5382 .
* The Gulf
Coast Civic Works Project has been working in partnership with Louisiana ACORN
and All Congregations Together (a PICO affiliate of 40 churches in New Orleans).
In addition, the US Social Forum General Assembly in Atlanta passed a resolution
calling on the federal government to create the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project.
Furthermore, the California Assembly's Jobs, Economic Development, and Economy
Committee passed AJR 22, which calls upon the California Congressional
delegation to support federal legislation to enact the GCCWP, in a 5- 0 vote;
the full Assembly will vote on AJR 22 by late August.
For the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project
Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton
phone: (510) 508-5382
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