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Guerrilla Reconstruction in New Orleans« Thread Started on J

Daily newsbrief journal for July 2007, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


Guerrilla Reconstruction in New Orleans« Thread Started on J

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:19 pm

Guerrilla Reconstruction in New Orleans« Thread Started on Jul 5, 2007, 5:43am » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Guerrilla Reconstruction in New Orleansby Greg Palast Showing FEMA a thing or two about rebuilding communities... Common Ground takes chargeread at source> http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=1723 A fence stuffed with gloves for volunteers. The water was still high when residents formed the guerrilla reconstruction corps, Common Ground Collective. Now volunteers from across the country show up to work in the crews. Photo by Neal Santos, www.nealsantos.com A full year after Hurricane Katrina, 73,000 New Orleans residents remained encamped in FEMA trailer parks, an aluminum gulag spread all the way to Texas. They were waiting for a chance to reconstruct their homes. They’re still waiting. There’s little or no insurance money, and no one is even allowed to rebuild, nearly two years after the flood, in some of the poorer areas like the Lower Ninth Ward.But waiting on compensation from Washington, waiting for a hand-out, waiting for anyone to help save the city is simply not in the constitution of Malik Rahim. The water was still high when Rahim helped create a guerrilla reconstruction corps of local residents. They call themselves Common Ground. When you see progress in the poor sections of New Orleans, you’re often seeing the group’s work crews.The organization started out distributing food and water to hurricane victims and running a free, volunteer-staffed medical clinic (See, YES! Issue 39). It was an insurgent action, neither financed nor sanctioned by state or federal government. Since then, they have organized thousands of volunteers to gut water-damaged homes, removing deadly mold, and in the process trained residents in construction skills.When we were filming in New Orleans, I visited The Woodlands, where Common Ground was doing a gut rehab on 350 apartment units. The residents themselves did most of the work. With sweat equity and small-scratch donations, Common Ground built hurricane-proof homes, a health clinic, even a restaurant for employment of residents once construction was complete.
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