[URBANTH-L]More on Katrina -- request for assistance and resource link

[Angela Jancius]

From: Lena Jones <j_lena at bellsouth.net>

I live in the Jackson, MS area and other than a week or so without power,
Hinds County suffered only one death that has been recorded relative to
Hurricane Katrina.  Thus, we feel fortunate in one respect, yet helpless in
another.

We are serving as a host city to evacuees, and this has brought to the
surface just how fragmented our social service sector really is and how
vital it is that we make available a one-stop, coordinated approach to
meeting the needs of people displaced by disasters.

I am part of a volunteer effort to foster a more seamless approach to
meeting the needs our newcomers displaced by Katrina.  We are hoping to
develop a one-stop "first call for help" system that will effectively and
efficiently respond to human services needs.

This is a request for help -- intellectual assistance primarily. I am
particularly interested in prototypes that are supported by software that
result in a printout that lists needs and match them with available services
in the local area.  I have gotten a group to donate computers that will
enable evacuees to access needed information (missing family members, job
sources, housing vacancies, etc.) and printers that can help them "Map
Quest" locations within easy proximity to where they live.

Few can argue that poverty has geographical dimensions and spatial
mismatches of job resources; however, this disaster has served as a wake up
call to the problems as access relative to the location of social services
and the limited coordination among free-standing agencies.

Beyond studying the problem, do you know if there are groups or individuals
that specialize in providing practical solutions. Any information or
resources that you can share to help accomplished the ends above would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Lena

====================
From: Alcira Forero <aforero_pena at yahoo.com>

On Katrina and N.Orleans there is an excellent resource in this link:
find the pdf here:
http://www.nycore.org/PDF/An%20Unnatural%20Disaster%20PDF.pdf
or through the NYCoRE website: www.nycore.org

Best,
Alcira FORERO-PENA
Lehman College (CUNY)