Union Members Aid Minneapolis Tornado Victims

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/05/27/union-members-aid-minneapolis-tornado-victims/

Doug Flateau, from Working Partnerships in Minnesota, sends us this first-hand report of union assistance to victims of the tornado that ripped through North Minneapolis.

The region in North Minneapolis affected by Sunday’s tornado is mainly residential, with few businesses and no union halls in the area. Click here for a map of the tornado “exclusion zone,” along with its path through the neighborhood.

Some basic facts about the tornado (via Minneapolis Star Tribune):

Toll of the devastation so far: at least $166 million and likely to rise. More than 600 buildings will need major repairs and 35 homes were so badly damaged that they can no longer be occupied. About 2,000 trees also were destroyed, leaving once-shaded city blocks looking vulnerable in the sunlight.

The AFL-CIO Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation and its community services program, Working Partnerships, are responding to the need in North Minneapolis by:

* FUNDRAISING. We’re working with our partner Greater Twin Cities United Way. We’re directing and encouraging union members to donate to the North Minneapolis Recovery Fund, a fund created by the Minneapolis Foundation and Greater Twin Cities United Way in which up to $300,000 of donations will be matched by foundation grants. 100 percent of all donations will be redistributed to provide financial support to those in need in North Minneapolis. All processing fees have been waived.

* VOLUNTEER SUPPORT. Many of the efforts on the North Side have been inundated with volunteers, so we want to be sure we’re sending union members where they are needed. We keep updated through the main recovery site here.

* We have been referring union member volunteers to organizations including Urban Homeworks, a housing nonprofit based in North Minneapolis. Urban Homeworks has coordinated most all-volunteer clean-up efforts following the tornado. UROC volunteers go door-to-door to make sure each resident has resource information, and the organization is a natural fit for union members who do this type of work around electoral activities. After assessments around rebuilding needs for residents’ homes begin, we will coordinate with our affiliates and members in the skilled trades to provide volunteer and organizational support.

* ACCOUNTING FOR AND WORKING WITH OUR MEMBERS. We are working with the Minnesota AFL-CIO in helping local unions get in touch with members who live in North Minneapolis.