Just received the following alert. MoveOn is coordinating offers of housing for people left homeless by Katrina. Here's the site and most of the letter:
http://www.hurricanehousing.org/?id=5945-608668-ztwveEfcDw1TAxcF5omO_A ------------------------------------------------------
Dear MoveOn member,
Hurricane Katrina's toll on communities, homes and lives has devastated the nation. Now victims must face the daunting question of where to go next—and we can help.
Tens of thousands of newly homeless families are being bused to a stadium in Houston, 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 stay out of the elements. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross are scrambling to find shelter for the displaced.
This morning, we've launched an emergency national housing drive to connect your empty beds with hurricane victims who desperately need a place to wait out the storm. You can post your offer of housing (a spare room, extra bed, even a decent couch) and search for available housing online at:
http://www.hurricanehousing.org
Housing is most urgently needed within reasonable driving distance (about 300 miles) of the affected areas in the Southeast, especially New Orleans.
Please forward this message to anyone you know in the region who might be able to help.
But no matter where you live, your housing could still make a world of difference to a person or family in need, so please offer what you can.
The process is simple:
You can sign up to become a host by posting a description of whatever housing you have available, along with contact information. 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. We'll do everything we can to get your offers where they are needed most. Many shelters actually already have Internet access, but folks without 'net access can still make use of the site through case workers and family members.
Hurricane victims or relief agencies will contact hosts and together decide if it's a good match and make the necessary travel arrangements. The host's address is not released until a particular match is agreed on....
------------------------------------------------------
I advertised an apartment in Maryland if anyone can get up here. Would be better for people closer to NO.
Sorry if this is a dupe -- there's a lot going on today and the search function is down.