< WEBSITE UNDER
CONSTRUCTION >
(2006-01-13 tedc)
All For All, Inc.’s corp. docs filed w/Sec. of State.
Began working with paralegal, filling out 501c3 status application forms.
Website initiation.
Online search for web designer & logo
Approached people about being part of AFA team.
Research & compilation of socially beneficial information.
Plans for 2006
Continue actions & efforts, begun in 2005 (above)
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NEW ORLEANS - 6 MONTHS AFTER KATRINA:
HOPE AND FEAR FOR THE FUTURE
(2006-03-16 tedc)
Considering that AFA would like to help impaired and disadvantaged areas of the world improve their communities, to the extent of their wants and needs, I visited disaster-stricken New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, seeing first-hand, the recently flooded areas in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area.
From the wealthier LakeShore area in northwestern New Orleans, to the lower-income 9th Ward area in southeastern New Orleans, I got a pretty good feeling for how much damage was done by the flooding 6 months ago, and the current state of affairs. I took photographs, shot video, recorded audio & occasionally spoke with people who had suffered hurricane and/or flood damage. These people, ranging from those who recently moved into the area to help rebuild, to long-time residents, told me about their experiences with the hurricane and its aftermath, and their opinions and conclusions regarding it all.
(2008-01-21 additional note: some pictures of this trip at www.tc3imagery.com/neworleansmardigras)
THE GOOD, BAD & UGLY
Sorry to be cliché here, but it really is a lot of good and a lot of bad ugliness. I don’t really know how to distinguish between the bad & the ugly, though. Well, here it is….
The most striking observation I made was not the severity of the damage (yet it was bad as you’ve heard). Most striking is that the notion, so long-running in human civilization, that continues in 2006 in New Orleans: Disasters & hard times bring out the best in people, and they bring out the worst in people.
On the bad & ugly side, price gouging is prevalent in New Orleans since the hurricane. Noting that the displaced are desperate to have housing while they repair/rebuild their flooded homes or in any other way get their feet on the ground, landlords have increased the rental prices of their vacancies, some by as much as 100%! In line with this notion is that contractors, roofers and others who are in high demand have immensely raised their prices, as well. As where one might hope that the community might actually drop the prices of their resources and services to help the inflicted, many are doing the opposite, taking advantage of those in need.
Further ugly badness reported to me comes in the way of police & government corruption. Purportedly, the New Orleans police have been caught committing numerous abuses of power, including the theft of cars from dealers and auto body shops while the area was evacuated. A common opinion among many people of many walks of life throughout the area, is that the local, state and federal governments have been using funds and resources allotted to preventing and recovering from hurricane related disasters, on unrelated things. The general climate among the people of the area ranges from disgust to disbelief to anger to sadness, in regards to their government and police forces.
In beautiful contrast to the price gougers, thieves and corruption, there are groups who have been donating their efforts and resources to those most in need. One such group is known as Common Ground (www.commongroundrelief.org), and they have set up work camps and relief centers in and near some of the more dire areas, such as the Lower 9th Ward, donating their time and efforts. I’ve heard mention of plenty of other individuals & community groups, both from within the New Orleans area, and from afar, who have been donating everything from medical attention, to pet retrieval and care to home rebuilding. Although I didn’t get a chance to interact with many of these people, I’ve heard good things about their efforts and good will.
(2008-01-21 additional note: Burners Without Borders is another helpful group. Started in 2005, in Mississippi, as a helpful response to Katrina, they’ve continued doing amazing feats of social benefit, since then. Learn all about them at http://www.burnerswithoutborders.org/)
MARDI GRAS
What a poignant juxtaposition: in the wake (almost literally) of the worst nature-induced disaster in U.S. history, the U.S.’s largest regular celebration took place, highlighting the optimism and hope for the future that New Orleans residents and supporters have. Though the numbers of revelers were lower than normal in the preliminary weeks of Mardi Gras, the numbers seemed to swell to normal levels during the main final weekend leading up to Fat Tuesday.
As always, costumes abounded at Mardi Gras, and this year’s theme was a taunting of the hurricanes, and a parody of all the bad deeds and ineptness that lead to or resulted from the flooding. People adorned themselves in blue tarps (as so many roofs in the area were covered with until proper repairs could come), as well as a variety of costumes that poked fun at some of the key players in gov’t believed to be responsible for the failings to deal with the disaster.
All in all, despite the mainstream media’s discussions as to whether or not New Orleans should be rebuilt or not, the participants of Mardi Gras 2006 showed - through their hopeful, optimistic and enthusiastic celebration - that New Orleans was left largely intact, and is already rebuilding the areas that were not.
RAISE AWARENESS
Hopefully, through AFA’s efforts, and through the efforts of so many other like-minded people, awareness will be raised about what went wrong and what went right, in Louisiana & Mississippi, as well as also-damaged Alabama, before, during and after the hurricane. As we know, those who do not know the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat it (or something like that).
In this effort to raise peoples’ awareness, I compiled an audio-visual collection of anecdotes, wit, wisdom, heartbreak, scorn, disgust, joy, celebration, hope and fear. Some of this collection presents obvious lessons, while some of the lessons are found from reading between the lines. As time & budget permits, AFA would like to edit this compilation into a presentable video for DVD & web-based distribution. If you or anyone you know would like to help with this, please email me at tedc(at)allforall.us.
In my preparation for this trip, the filmmakers at FilmKatrina.com were brought to my attention, as they were nearing the end of their own 6-month like-minded venture – also raising awareness of the post-disaster climate in the area, in their very special way. I’ve spoken with their Director of Photography, and we decided that at some point AFA and FilmKatrina.com might share resources and media. I’m happy to report that during my visit, I met one other like-minded team, and saw a handful of others. AFA is one of many grass-root efforts who are doing their part in raising awareness.
An interesting aspect I heard from several people, that few people outside of the area seem to be aware of, is that despite the mainstream media’s coverage of the disaster being very New Orleans-centric, Mississippi actually received much more damage from the actual hurricanes. Mississippians, and others, are actually rather upset (one Mississippian even said “resentful”) that New Orleans damage is getting so much more mainstream assistance, despite the majority of their damage coming from preventable flooding, while Mississippi’s damage was from the unpreventable hurricane’s forces. As where only a small fraction of New Orleans is completely destroyed, many small towns throughout Mississippi are entirely gone.
A HELPING HAND
The mainstream media occasionally asks if New Orleans should be rebuilt. Considering that the vast majority of New Orleans is still very much intact and much of it is undamaged by the hurricanes, the question doesn’t make sense, and it certainly dissuades some who might otherwise be inclined to lend assistance.
Katrina survivors, despite the trials & tribulations they’ve faced and will face, are trying to rebuild. As long as there are those who will act to counter the price gougers & the corrupt, the inflicted can have a fighting chance. Because of this, AFA would like to set up housing in hurricane area, where residents and laborers may have affordable short-term housing, while they keep their nose to the grindstone, act quickly to get homes back to a livable state of shelter, and then vacate the AFA housing in order to allow others the same opportunity.
There are large-scale buildings in New Orleans that can accommodate this effort that have been vacant since before the hurricanes, and would work well for this effort. I’m sure the same can be said for inflicted areas outside of New Orleans as well.
Obviously, as AFA is a brand new organization with no budget as of yet, this is a tall order, not feasible as of now. Regardless, it is something AFA aims to do. On a side note, it would like to set up similar accommodations in other areas of disadvantage throughout the world, to aid with their wants or needs.
If you have any funds, organizational efforts, buildings or otherwise that you can contribute to this goal, please email me at tedc(at)allforall.us.
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(2007-01-25 tedc)
Website update.
Research & compilation of socially beneficial information.
Plans for 2007
Continuation of things started in 2005 (above)
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(2008-01-13 tedc)
Website update.
Research & compilation of socially beneficial information.
Plans for 2008
Continuation of things started in 2005 (above)
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(2008-01-21 tedc; updated 2008-01-23)
I’ve collected some clothes & toiletries to take down to my local Stand Up For Kids (“SUFK”) outreach center, so I called them up. They said that they currently have plenty of donated clothes, toiletries and other items - which is strange (but good) since they said also have more kids than ever - and they're now open 7 nights/week (used to be only M-F).
Right now, they all that they are in need of is hot meals delivered to them (i.e. pizzas). The San Diego branch opens 7 days/week at 5:30pm.
I guess I'll just take the clothes I've already gathered and take them to GoodWill or something. Maybe Buffalo Exchange and buy some hot meals with the money :-)).
As for SUFK branches outside of San Diego, they may or may not have enough clothes, toiletries, etc. So, if you have extra that you’d like to donate check with http://www.standupforkids.org to find the branch near you.
If you don’t already know this organization, check ‘em out. They’re really really great. They help homeless kids (who are often/usually living out on the streets) w/meals, showers, toiletries & other needs. They also do nightly outreach on the streets to seek out and help the kids.
They’re nationwide and can use all the volunteer assistance or funding they can get! The San Diego branch told me they have more kids than ever these days.
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(2008-01-24 tedc)
I just had a good conversation today, with Tom Spaulding, Executive Director of Angelic Organics Learning Center in Illinois.
I first learned about, and started tuning in to this group, back in 2005. As they state at their site, (http://www.learngrowconnect.org), they “empower people to create sustainable communities of soils, plants, animals and people through educational, creative and experiential programs. The Learning Center, a nonprofit organization, is the educational partner to Angelic Organics, a vibrant Biodynamic community supported farm.”
As Tom told me this morning, they are currently looking for capital, to purchase additional land that will enable them to improve the biodynamic state of the organic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm that hosts the Center.
If you are interested in environmentally sound farming/agriculture, investing in them financially or just learning about some good for the body and good for the soul food, I highly recommend you research them. (I think they’ll even train you to be a farmer and start your own farm!)
At the very least, take a look at their site, and if you’re ever in the area, try to stop by. I hope to!
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(2008-01-26 tedc)
I’m surprised I didn’t think to
post this quite earlier.
I know there are lots of ways out there that people can help with the recovery & rebuilding from the Southern California fires of 2007 – I just don’t know what those ways are – except for one.
There is a non-profit organization out in Dulzura (almost an hour east of downtown San Diego), whose land has been used by many different areas of the community for retreat, celebration, relaxation, prayer & rejuvenation, for a few decades now. When the fires hit in late 2007, they lost 20 of their 22 structures and pretty much all of their tools and pretty much a whole heck of a lot more. Some of them lost most of their worldly possessions.
Yep, I know, a similar, and sad, story heard many times over.
If you already know of someone to help, go for it, and help them out. If you’d like help some more, or to now start helping, check out this group and their list of needs they’ve posted on their site.
They are called Madre Grande, and you can see their Wish List at http://www.madregrande.org.
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(2008-01-28 tedc)
AFA just received it’s 1st contribution/participation reply to this webpage, via email tonight. It was an addition to the “THANKS” page Header. I’ll take that as pretty nice foreshadowing…..
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(2008-02-13 tedc)
So, I still have these clothes that were going to go to SUFK (see earlier post), but now aren’t. One of my next thoughts was Salvation Army (“SA”), but, really, what are they all about? We always see the storefront bell ringers around Christmas, and there is the occasional thrift store perusal (or dropping off of unwanted goods), that many people do, but how is this all helping people?
I made a very quick call to a SA thrift store near me, and they told me this: Here in the San Diego area, the proceeds from the donated items they sell (i.e. clothes) in their thrift stores goes to fund the S.D. Adult Rehabilitation Center, rehabbing adults from drug and alcohol problems/addiction. I asked, and the guy said that some of proceeds goes to administrative costs, too.
Regarding money going toward administrative costs, SA’s http://www.satruck.com says, “According to the Army's most recent annual report, more than $.80 of each dollar spent by The Salvation Army is used to fund direct services for people.” I don’t yet know if 80% is a typical “return-on-donation/R.O.D.” (I just made those terms up), or better or worse than normal, but for the small amount AFA has to donate, it sounds okay for now, so I dropped off the clothes at a SA thrift store.
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(2008-03-12 tedc)
Wow, talk about grass roots efforts….
I just bumped into friend & artist Nigel at grocery store tonight, we got to talking about AFA. He told me about another great non-profit out there, called Discover Hope Fund, who help impoverished women, by giving them very small loans to help them acquire things needed to kickstart some business venture (no matter how simple). As they metaphorically say on their site, they’re not exactly giving giving out fishes, or teaching to fish, but they’re giving the women fishing poles. Make sense? Well, they articulate it better over at http://discoverhopefund.org. At first glance, it looks like a really good thing.
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(2009-06-03 tedc)
Website update.
Research & compilation of socially beneficial information.
Plans for 2009
Continuation of things started in 2005 (above)
(2009-06-03 tedc)
The San Diego Marathon was this
past weekend, as was the accompanying Health/Fitness Expo at the S.D.
Convention Center.
Give Your Sole
was at the Expo, collecting moderately used athletic shoes to provide
to less fortunate people. They also said they'd be at the finish
line of the Marathon the next day, collecting shoes right after the
race, and providing free flip-flops for those who donate.
Sounds like a great idea, one worth mentioning here, and on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle section. However, one concern - the flip-flops are all made in China. Should that be a concern?
Neither I nor AFA are informed
well enough yet to have a strong opinion on this, but it is well-known
that buying Chinese goods directly finances and empowers the brutally
oppressive Chinese gov't who regularly violates the civil rights of her
citizens.
We have not thoroughly checked out this group yet, but at first glance,
aside from the Chinese goods issue, this group seems to be off on the
right foot ;-)
< WEBSITE UNDER
CONSTRUCTION >
This page last updated on
2009-06-03