Fighting for a Voice in New Orleans Elections: Seven months after the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and despite the fact that the vast majority of New Orleans residents have not returned, Orleans Parish is preparing to move forward with municipal elections on April 22, 2006. To read article, click here.

New Orleans Children Being Denied a Public Education: Schools can open in Orleans Parish. Arthur Ashe School and Edgar B. Harny Elementary School sustained little damage after Katrina and could open within one week after the storm. However, the State of Louisiana will not allow the Orleans Parish School Board to open these schools. Dr. Cecil Picard, and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education—which governs the State Department of Education—have refused to open them. To read article, click here.

In Search of Equal Housing Opportunities: Housing, housing, and housing continue to be the pressing needs of residents, many of whom are poor and African American. Equal housing opportunity and desegregation of New Orleans neighborhoods must be the guiding principle for any successful rebuilding effort. Through advocacy and enforcement of anti-discrimination law and policy, the work of GNOFHAC will continue to play a vital role in the rebuilding of inclusive and equitable housing for all New Orleans residents. To read article, click here.

Katrina Survivors Should Get Housing Not Federal Surveillance:A report in late February this year, announced the launch of the first federally coordinated plan for Katrina survivors. It was not to coordinate housing, reunification or even identification of the many dead. The program, coordinated by the FBI, would enable police officers to increase and coordinate surveillance and monitoring of Katrina survivors nationwide. To read article, click here.

Having Their Say, by Marc H. Morial: When Hurricane Katrina broke the levees in New Orleans, it did more than reveal the unimaginable scope of the destruction left behind and the work left to be done to rebuild this magnificent city. Democracy itself is now a disaster in the state, threatening to disenfranchise thousands of registered voters. As New Orleans rebuilds, involving all the people in the decisions of their government is of the utmost importance. To access a copy of this Op-Ed, click here.

Equitable Renewal. With the one year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita’s rapidly approaching and the rebuilding process already underway in the Gulf Coast Region, the country is faced with the opportunity for equitable renewal in the Gulf Coast. To access Ten Points to Guide Rebuilding in the Gulf Coast Region visit: www.policylink.org/EquitableRenewal.html.

Displaced Healthcare. Hurricane Katrina not only displaced the residents of New Orleans, it also displaced the city’s health care system. Charity Hospital, designed to serve the poor and uninsured is inoperable, medical records from a number of hospitals and other medical facilities are inaccessible, doctors and nurses displaced by the Hurricane have yet to return, but the medical needs of the people have remained. To access information gathered by the Kaiser Family Foundation, including a video interview with Gulf Coast residents, visits: www.kff.org/uninsured/voices.cfm.

Universities, Students & the Rebuilding Effort. The Gulf Coast recovery effort needs the expertise, support and energy of many; universities and their students can contribute all three. Universities Rebuilding America Partnership – A Toolkit for Organizing Group Service Trip to the Gulf Coast, visit: http://www.servicelearning.org/filemanager/download/urap/
Universities_Rebuilding_America_Partnership2.pdf.