Been There Clearing House

Rev. Yarbrough of Plaquemine, LA sent us this video. The pictures and music say it all.
http://gmagic.com/katrina/

I have an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today about an amazing person, the Rev. Marlon Yarbrough, who is doing what he can, through his own initiative, to help his friends, family and neighbors in New Orleans. Click here for a link to that piece.
The Reverend is doing what many of the “institutions” are not - helping small, home-based businesses in the Ninth Ward of […]

Since we started the Clearinghouse, Emily and I have made a commitment to sticking to what we are doing here, focusing on getting help to those who lost so much in the hurricanes and staying away from the politics of the situation. Having just returned from New Orleans I can’t stay quiet anymore. What is happening […]

Because of each of you - those who come to this site looking for a little help and those who offer it - the Been There Clearinghouse has been named the Most Inspirational Blog of 2005 by the Best of Blog Awards. Emily and I are inspired every day by you and for that reason […]

We wanted to share this article that ran in the Larchmont Gazette last week about the Clearinghouse.

In response to that article, we got this email, which we also wanted to share:
What a breathe of fresh air it was to find out about your website on the Larchmont Gazette.  I live in Larchmont, and was helping […]

For all of you who visit the Clearinghouse regularly, have donated goods and services, have received help, and perhaps even more important, have found here some words of support, this is for you:
The Been There Clearinghouse is a finalist in the “Best of Blogs” Awards as one of the Most Inspirational Blogs of the Year!  […]

Here’s an article that ran today in the Pittsburgh Herald about the Clearinghouse, and all that’s going on for the 400 people who’ve moved to Pittsburgh after Katrina forced them from their homes.  Wait til you read about some of the imaginative ways that Pittsburghers are welcoming and taking care of their new arrivals!

When the church down the street in Crowley took in over 100 people (not a big church either), I knew I must do something to help.   I took them some children’s clothes,  children’s videos and towels.  When I got there, I met a man that needed to go to the social security office.  I told […]

    It took many hours to figure out how I would begin this article. The last four weeks have been the hardest most trying time in my life. It is hard to see nothing but destruction around you, and try to remain calm and level-headed. I guess I should start with a little on me and […]

Go to NPR www.npr.org to hear recordings of actual conversations between the Governor of Louisiana, the Mayor of New Orleans, FEMA officials and others as they planned for and responded to Hurricane Katrina.  Available are hours of conversations that transpired, beginning days before Katrina hit.  Walter Maestri, the emergency manager from New Orleans’ Jefferson Parish […]

It feels good to know somebody cares.
We got the first of two boxes in today (from a Been there Clearinghouse donor) and it was like xmas for Ty and I. He had his first hot bath in almost three weeks tonight. He chowed two bottles of formula, one of water, and curled up in his […]

Please note: While this story is very moving, we are hearing from others about significant logistical complications related to doing something like this on one’s own.

Jane Ellen Boothe is with the Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home in Ruston, Louisiana and last night she said to me, “This little parish has tripled in size in three days. We’ve taken in 36 children, ages 9-17 from New Orleans and many of them don’t know what’s happened to their families. The staff from a […]