Been There Clearing House

We’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again today — being a part of this Clearinghouse and the efforts of so many people here have been a highlight of our lives. 
From the early days of Katrina when we were screaming at our television sets at the horror and injustice of the destruction and […]

FROM PROJECT KATRINA:
Louisiana Medicaid is resuming its annual financial eligibility reviewfor all Medicaid enrollees whose renewal had been deferred due to last years’ hurricanes.
In addition, it will review Medicaid financial eligibility for all enrollees whose renewal is past due (normally reviewed annually), and whose last reported residential address is out-of-state.
Enrollees are being asked, on […]

Forwarded from Project Katrina:
Child Support Enforcement Hotline…………….(877) 696-6775For single moms due support, the US Department of Health and Human Services will send them a free handbook complete with excellent advice and all their local contact numbers for help.
Child-Care Subsidy Hotline………………………(800) 424-2246When daycare costs are too high, there is help. The National Association of Child Care […]

Great news from a Been There Clearinghouse reader, Mary in NOLA:

Rocky & Carlo’s is coming back! Frank Davis interviewed ‘em for Channel 4 and they’ve got sheetrock (for those not in NOLA, this is a rebuilding milestone celebrated with great enthusiasm, similar to, say, baby’s first steps, you take pictures, share ‘em with everyone who […]

Emily and I will never know what it was like to face Katrina head on, to live through the Superdome, to hang for dear life from a roof top, or to wade through a river that was once a street. We did not feel what it was like to not know how - or where - our family was; […]

If you are displaced by Katrina and living in Los Angeles, or would like to help those who are, please click here.
On the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, leading online parenting website www.momready.com, is reaching out to evacuees in Los Angeles. Through their site, Katrina evacuees currently living in L.A. can connect with individual donors locally […]

First let me say thank you to everyone who has extended a helping hand to all of us Katrina survivors (I never knew in my life time I would be proud of this so much.) As the anniversary of Katrina comes up I would ask everyone to please say an extra, special prayer for everyone […]

Spike Lee is releasing “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” his four-hour documentary on HBO this month.
The New York Times reviewed it today. Here’s a quote that got me:
‘“Levees” started out as a two-hour, $1 million film. HBO executives looking for a Hurricane Katrina project snapped it up. Mr. Lee […]

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people affected by Katrina and Rita have found a home in Philadelphia. We are happy to announce that we have added a tab to the Clearinghouse for Gulf Coast citizens who have relocated to Philly and the people of Philly, and elsewhere, who want to help them.
Please use the “Philadelphia” tab above to post […]

Emily and I recently returned from Amherst, Mass. where we attended the first annual Media Giraffe conference, “Democracy & Independence: Sharing News & Information in a Connected World” and talked about all of you here at the Clearinghouse. 
We sat on a panel with the amazing Jon Donley, the esteemed, Pulitzer prize-winning editor of NOLA.com. The three […]

We received this important information about Louisiana housing grants today from Sharon Juli of Project Katrina:
“You may want to post this on your web site. It was forwarded it to me from the director of our project.”
Here is the link - Louisiana Rebuilds Info (The Road Home.)
What is The Road Home?  The Road Home Housing Program […]

As a new hurricane season approaches, we must not forget about those who were affected by last years devastating storms.  Many of these people are still having problems getting their lives back on track and the disruption of a new storm season may cause them more anxiety that will only complicate their efforts to rebuild […]

Rev. Yarbrough sent us this link to an interactive, moment-by-moment reenactment of the flooding in New Orleans the day Katrina hit. It makes clear in the most visual of ways how devastating - and immediate - the destruction was.
It just makes my heart ache.
http://www.nola.com/katrina/graphics/flashflood.swf
 

Yesterday I had the honor of attending a meeting of The Gulf Coast Connection here in Pittsburgh, an association of about 200 former residents of the Gulf Coast who relocated to Western PA after Katrina and Rita.
The Gulf Coast Connection is run by a force of nature named Lurline Cadogan, a resident of New Orleans […]