United Peace Relief establishes volunteer base camp in Slidell, LA

[uppityperson]

http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/6407_comment.php#6528
11/22/2005, by Iggy
United Peace Relief (UPR) is an organization founded by veterans of the various VFP (http://www.neworleansvfp.org ) relief camps in Covington, LA that disbanded after hurricane Rita.

These folks desire to continue providing assistance to the people of gulf region, while maintaining the larger peace and justice focus that VFP brought to this work.

To this end UPR has acquired use of a large (20+ acre) property on Bayou Liberty in Slidell, LA. UPR's primary mission is to provide a long-term base camp for volunteer workers to stay at. Volunteers with any of the many relief organizations in the area are welcome to stay at the camp and be fed, gratis. UPR may offer formal overflow housing for specific organizations, in addition to accepting campers ad-hoc. Returning residents are, of course, also welcome to stay at the UPR camp while they figure out their situations.

In addition to housing people who actively commute to volunteer assignments on a daily basis, UPR also hopes to offer respite for longer term volunteers who are facing burn-out. The location is stunningly beautiful, with lawn, trees, wildlife and bayou within sight of the camping area. For my own sake seeing hawks and hearing fish jump was a much welcomed change from the scene of all disaster all the time to which I had become accustomed to. There are canoes available for use, and Kevin, the owner of the property, offered to take me out to visit a 4' alligator he knows of next time I visit.

UPR is willing to house and feed up to 35 people right now, and will be increasing capacity as they build solar showers and composting toilets to take the load off of the aging septic systems. As fundraising progresses UPR hopes to be able to continue offering travelling clinics and reconstruction assistance throughout the gulf coast region. UPR also hopes to be able to reimburse volunteers for the fuel expenses they incur commuting from Slidell to their volunteer assignment.

Currently the kitchen is in a tent in the front yard of one of the homes on the property. There is a working bathroom with hot water in one of the other houses. The house with the bathroom was flooded and is pretty moldy, but Ken and Niki pressure washed the entryway and bathroom, so it is quite usable unless you are already sensitized to mold.

While I was there we gutted the smallest of the three houses on the property to remove the mold conditions. Once the floors get shored up and the plumbing reconnected this house will offer a (mold free) second bathroom as well as indoor kitchen facilities and a computer lab. New Orleans VFP is working on getting a satellite link out there for internet.

The property currently does not have power, but someone from Texas is supposedly on their way with an array of solar panels, so this may change soon. In the mean time there are several inverters available to power AC devices from an automobile.

If you are in the area and need a place to stay, or if you have been immersed in relief operation and are in need of a sanity break, I encourage you to visit the good people at UPR.

A couple more pictures and more information at link.

[uppityperson]

1. One kick from myself for a good group and a good picture

[400Years]

2. kick

:kick:

[uppityperson]

3. thanks.

beating my own drum, tooting my own horn, onward. peace

[Wind Dancer]

4. This is wonderful news!

Thanks for sharing this info. I watched the congressional hearings that Cynthia McKinney chaired and felt such outrage and sadness as I listened to the community leaders share their horror stories. The residents need to be allowed back to rebuild their homes instead of Halliburton and *'s cronies getting all the contracts.

I wonder where all the money is going that's been collected for the residents? Families are still not united, 6000+ are not accounted for - it makes absolutely no sense!

The city of New Orleans remains in a state of emergency with most residents unable to return. Many say they have been abandoned by the federal government, the same way they were abandoned during the first days of the storm. The Times-Picayune carried an editorial on the front page recently pleading "Do Not Let the City Die." Local advocates say the government is not committed to rebuilding the city for all of its citizens. They point to the fact that few public housing units have been reopened and that landlords are being allowed to evict people in mass numbers.

80% of New Orleans residents have not returned. And those who have are mostly white and wealthy. African-Americans especially feel the government is not making an effort to ensure that they are able to return. A group of homeless evacuees are filing a lawsuit in Federal Court today contending that FEMA engaged in illegal practices by denying or delaying their requests for temporary housing. They are also demanding that the agency back off of its plan to kick people out of their hotels in the coming days. The FEMA deadline for evacuees to be out of their hotels is December 15th with evacuees in some states granted until January 7th to find new housing.

A recent poll conducted by the Washington Post found 61% of evacuees sampled in Houston said their experience since Katrina has made them think that the government doesn't care about them. 68% of those surveyed believed that the federal government would have responded more quickly if people trapped in the city were "wealthier and white rather than poorer and black."

On Tuesday, a special House Select Committee held a hearing focusing on the role of race and class in the government's response to Katrina. The hearing was requested by Georgia Representative Cynthia McKinney. She was one of the few Democrats to participate. It was a most unusual hearing - one that we rarely see on Capitol Hill. Survivors and activists testified that racism was a big reason so many were abandoned and allowed to die. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/09/1443240

[CottonBear]

5. Mr CB grew up on Bayou Liberty in Slidel. It is so beautiful.

He was born and raised in NOLA then moved to Slidell during his last years of grammar school. The bayou is so beautiful. He had a pirogue which is a traditional wooden boat carved from a tree trunk. His family lives down in St. Tammany Parish. Slidell was hit really hard. :(

[uppityperson]

6. Slidell looks like the Mississippi coast is. Destroyed.

Much focus has been on NO, but the coastal areas are decimated. Slidell boat parking.

Bay St. Louis, MS car parking.

[CottonBear]

7. My sister-in-law live in Lacombe which had lots of tree damage

but no flooding. She still doesn't have her roof repaired though. :(
Oner of Mr. CB's cousins lived in Grand Isle (right on the lake) and her home was flooded. It is really bad.