'Katrina' Victims Support
Under a 2006 policy, FEMA can donate such temporary housing stock to states, local governments and voluntary organizations to help disaster victims. The agency is now working with the state to find someone willing to accept responsibility for the donated units, according to the spokesman, Kurt Pickering.
Earlier this month, FEMA announced that 19 Alabama households will have to be out of the temporary housing by the beginning of next month. As the Press-Register reported Tuesday, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs wants to transfer housing ownership to a faith-based community organization.
At that time, another FEMA spokesperson had not been able to confirm that the agency had signed off on the plan.
Of the 19 households, 17 are in Mobile County, according to FEMA. Several have indicated that they already have other housing lined up, the agency said earlier this week.
"I'm thrilled," Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis said Thursday, calling the group "one of the greatest American rock bands of all time."
In the wake of Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast in August 2005, Bon Jovi gave $1 million to help build 28 homes for low-income families displaced by the storm.
The homes were built in Houma, a coastal community roughly 50 miles southwest of New Orleans, through Habitat for Humanity and Oprah's Angel Network.
"That really says something about this group's sense of humanity and responsibility," Davis said. "It says that they're unique and extraordinary, that they have a spirit and a soul ... to be that generous."
Bon Jovi formed in the early 1980s with lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan and drummer Tico Torres. The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
The group will join Dr. John, Kings of Ten, The O'Jays, Cowboy Mouth and more than a dozen other acts performing on May 2. In all, Jazz Fest spans seven days over two weekends — April 24 to 26 and April 30 to May 3.
Others slated to perform at the festival's 40th anniversary are Wynton Marsalis, Joe Cocker, Henry Butler and Trombone Shorty. They will entertain audiences on different stages April 24, the festival's opening day. Other first weekend acts include Irma Thomas, James Taylor, Wilco, Erykah Badu, Pete Seeger and Etta James.
Performing the second weekend are Ben Harper, Emmylou Harris, Sugarland, Tony Bennett, Bonnie Raitt, Allen Toussaint and Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.
Like last year, the Neville Brothers will be the festival's closing act on May 3.
On the Net:
Jazz Fest,: http://www.nojazzfest.com
According to mirror.co.uk, the couple set up the foundation - Make it Right - with 3.5 million pounds of their own money following the 2005 disaster. They will build an additional 150 green properties in New Orleans for the homeless.
Pitt said: "You have no idea what a high it is for me to see the delight on these people's faces when they see how these homes work."
A new study released by Children’s Health Fund notes many children in Katrina trailer parks are anemic
New Orleans, Louisiana (CaymanMama.com) — Residents of Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Louisiana are still trying to recover from the after effects of the devastating distaster, though some are fairing worse than others.
Sadly, a new study study released Monday by the Children’s Health Fund says that many of the displaced infants and toddlers who lived in Louisiana’s largest trailer park are now anemic due to consuming poor diets, “at a rate more than four times the national average.”
According to the study, nearly 41 percent of 77 children under the age of 4 suffered from the blood condition this year. It is estimated that probably all of the children resided in the Renaissance Village trailer park in Baker.
Anemia is an iron deficiency in the blood and causes fatigue and learning problems. A heightened deficiency in youngsters can lead to an unfortunate delay in growth and development and even cause heart murmurs.
The national rate for kids of that age is below 10 percent. Louisiana leads with one of the country’s highest anemia rates, “with about 24 percent of all children below the age of 5 affected” as per the 2007 Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance survey.
“Now it’s more difficult, because they’re no longer in the trailer area. They’re dispersed around the state. So it’s a little harder to get follow-up,” said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, Louisiana’s health officer.
At 10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20 in the John M. Reeves Student Recreation Center, 20 members of Centenary College's faculty and staff, as well as a number of students will participate in a Drag Fashion Show as part of a fundraiser for Centenary's 2008 Centenary College Disaster Relief Trip.
This is the second year that Centenary has held this event to raise funds to benefit those who have been affected by natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, there was a national call for volunteers to help with rebuilding the Gulf Coast region. In January 2006, a group of 125 students, faculty and staff from Centenary and Drew answered that call, traveling to New Orleans to provide support for the rebuilding effort.
This is now the fourth year that both institutions will combine resources to renovate homes, schools and churches in Louisiana. In addition to continuing the post-Katrina rebuilding, Centenary and Drew representatives will also work with individuals affected by Hurricane Gustav during their upcoming trip in January 2009.
Profits from the Drag Show will be used to cover expenses of this year's trip, as well as tools, building supplies, clothing and food that the volunteers will distribute in January. Although this event is open to the Centenary community only, donations would be appreciated to support this cause. For more information, call (908) 852-1400, ext. 2315.
Thousands of Starbucks Corp. employees are helping rebuild and beautify New Orleans neighborhoods as the coffee company seeks to distinguish itself during tough economic times as socially and environmentally conscious and more than just a place to buy designer drinks.
The company, which is holding its North American leadership conference in the city, says more than 10,000 store managers and others are working on dozens of projects in what's considered to be one of the largest outpourings of corporate support, in terms of volunteer labor, since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005.
The work on Monday came as Starbucks announced its "Shared Planet" goals, focusing on areas from volunteerism to going greener and buying all coffee from producers adhering to strict standards. The goals, which president, chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz called aspirational, are to be achieved by 2015.
Schultz, who was painting houses in the Broadmoor neighborhood, told reporters that the effort builds on what Seattle-based Starbucks has long stood for. Given the tough national economic times, it's important to give price-wary consumers "real value" and more than the coffeehouse experience, he said.
The company is launching "gold cards," with consumer discounts. It's also stressing community involvement among employees and in-house efforts to go greener — moving to reusable or recyclable cups, boosting recycling in stores and reducing water usage, for example.
Starbucks, in a sign of corporate belt-tightening, this summer announced plans to close 600 stores, including 13 in Louisiana.
"I also think that customers have many choices to make about all different types of products and services and a company that they trust, a company that has like-minded values to their own, is usually a company that they're going to support," he said.
Kristin Gisleson Palmer, with Rebuilding Together New Orleans, said Starbucks employees will work on various projects, including 31 houses, planting trees and helping to create an urban garden. She and other volunteer coordinators say it's getting tougher to find people to help meet the still-great need for rebuilding assistance three-plus years after Katrina.
"I've never seen this magnitude from one corporation before, I'll say that, in terms of the sheer numbers," she said.
The Sunset Limited could be on track for full restoration of service in South Mississippi with a new law that gives Amtrak $1 million to study reinstating the line, which was canceled after Hurricane Katrina.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, chaired by James Oberstar, D-Minn., and the railroad subcommittee, chaired by Corrine Brown, D-Fla., inserted the language in the bill.
"This is a big step in restoring the Sunset Limited route, which is so important to communities along the Coast," said U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, who pushed for the funding. "I am thankful to committee chairman Oberstar and subcommittee chairwoman Brown for including this study in the bill, and for continuing their commitment to hurricane recovery."
President Bush last week signed the Amtrak reauthorization bill, H.R. 6003, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, a five-year authorization of the national passenger line.
The provision requires Amtrak to report to the House and Senate committees that oversee it in nine months. The law stipulates that "the plan shall include a projected timeline for restoring such service, the costs associated with restoring such service, and any proposals for legislation necessary to support such restoration of service."
The law says that "in developing the plan, Amtrak shall consult with representatives from the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, railroad carriers whose tracks may be used for such service, rail passengers, rail labor, and other entities as appropriate."
Amtrak operated the Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Fla., until Katrina tore up the tracks in 2005. The tracks were repaired within seven months, but Amtrak has not continued the route past New Orleans.
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