August 29 to September 2: National Commemoration of the 2nd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

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 .

best, scott

* 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.