Moveon Launches Website for free housing for refugees.

[Uncle Joe]

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52447

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- MoveOn.org Civic Action, formerly known as MoveOn.org, launched a new web site today, http://www.hurricanehousing.org asking its 3.3 million members and the public to post any available housing for the thousands of people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. The organization will directly connect evacuees with volunteer hosts, and also provide the housing information to the Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The emergency drive connects empty beds with hurricane victims in need of housing. The public can post free housing offers (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch), then evacuees and aid workers can search for available housing online at: http://www.hurricanehousing.org.
Tens of thousands of newly homeless families are being bused to the Houston Astrodome, where they may wait for weeks or months. At least 80,000 are competing for area shelters and countless more are in motels, cars, or wherever they can find shelter. FEMA and the Red Cross are working hard to provide shelter for the displaced.
Housing is most urgently needed within reasonable driving distance (about 300 miles) of the affected areas in the Southeast, especially New Orleans.
The process is simple:
-- You can sign up to become a host by posting a description of whatever housing you have available. You can change or remove your offer at any time.
-- Hurricane victims, local and national relief organizations, friends and relatives can search the site for housing. MoveOn will do everything they can to get housing offers where they are needed most, even distributing them to social workers helping families in shelters.
-- Hurricane victims or relief agencies can submit requests to people who post housing offers. They decide if it's a good match and then reply to make the necessary arrangements. The host's contact information is hidden from view until they decide to respond to a particular request.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
-0-
/© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

[Lisa]

1. kicking this to the top

A friend of mine in Alabama has 4 relatives from N.O. bunking with her right now. Even having access to cooking facilities and a washing machine has improved their morale tremendously.

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. The rest of us can easily collect clothing and essentials from yard sales

and other sources and get ready to mail it to addresses to be posted here. There is great need, there is an abundant supply, we need the right addresses to send it to and a description of what is needed.

[starroute]

6. We can contact yard sale people to send their unsold stuff

There's always a lot of unsold items left after yard sales -- clothing in particular.

Any one of us could make a yard sale list from our local paper and go around handing the sellers a flier that explains the need, lists what items are useful, and gives both an address to send things to and our name and phone number to contact if they just want to drop stuff off.

Groups of local friends could do this together and divide up the territory for the next several weeks.

Thrift shops might also be worth contacting -- I know they tend to build up a backlog of less desirable items. (Not the big professional ones but the little ones run by churches and libraries and so forth.)

[OKNancy]

3. Kick

[Parkerfur]

4. It doesn't look like anyone is offering housing....

I was trying to see how many people where offering housing and I typed information into their search engine and nothing is coming up... anyone know what is happening or is no one even offering??

[mccoyn]

9. I think they are matching most the close stuff.

I did within 250 mi of the default zip code and only 5 people were listed. I then did 250 mi of where I live and got a bunch of responses. Maybe they are actually filling a lot of the closer stuff pretty fast.

I put myself on the list. I wonder if anyone will want to move 1500 mi. for shelter.

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. It's now up to over 500

If you use the biggest radius, 500 miles, there are offers from over 500 people, but then there's this one:

800 square foot rural, river cabin on working farm. Caucasion only. Outdoor pets are ok. Work available within 25 miles at chicken plants and pet food plant. Smokers ok, but no druggies or drinkers. Only moral, patriotic individuals considered. Long term arrangement possible for right people. Call 479-299-4334 after dark.

[wryter2000]

10. Welcome to DU

I wish this were happier times to be saying :hi:

[LeighAnn]

5. OK, Got it up here

I'm keeping a collection of things like this.

http://newcenturyfriends.net/hurricanekatrinadisasterrelief.html

[Jacobin]

7. craigslist.com is on it

It already has hundreds of listings offering housing

[bertha katzenengel]

8. WOO HOO!

[raysr]

11. Yeah

there was a thread last nite beating up MoveOn on a voting issue. Pretty petty huh?

[anarchy1999]

12. We have a very small apartment, but we will make room for a small family.

PM us or whatever. We are in Dallas.