[COMM-ORG] community organizing and natural disaster relief, Haiti

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

[ed:  As our hearts and donations go out to the people of Haiti, let's 
make sure our brains go out to them also.  The double disaster of 
top-down disaster management that was so devastating to New Orleans can 
be avoided by reminding ourselves of, and acting on, good community 
organizing principles.]

From:     Steve Bradberry, ACORN <newsacorn at acorn.org>

**********
Help for Haiti

Help by telling:
Pres. Obama to end deportations of Haitians 
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/haiti/?rc=acorn_011510_haiti 

Help by giving to:
Partners in Health 
https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti_earthquake?source=earthquake&subsource=standwithhaiti 
Grassroots International 
https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5123/t/6631/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1694 
Progressives for Haiti 
http://www.progressivesforhaiti.org/#WHAT 
**********



This is Steve Bradberry, Head Organizer of Louisiana ACORN with a special plea for the people of Haiti.

In 2005 I was running ACORN's New Orleans office when Hurricane Katrina hit. I know what it is like to be in the middle of a devastating natural disaster. Haiti's situation is almost unimaginable. The island nation of 10 million, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with almost 80% of its population living in poverty, is facing a death toll that may number in the hundreds of thousands. 

There are two ways to make a difference that empower people to join together and rebuild their lives and communities, the way that I have seen the residents of the Gulf Coast do it.

First: Tell President Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians living in the U.S.

Our friends at CREDO Mobile have set up a petition demanding that the President immediately grant Temporary Protected Status to undocumented Haitian refugees in the U.S. The White House announced that it was "pausing" the deportation of Haitian refugees -- but it has refused to afford Haitians the immigration protections offered to victims of war or disaster from countries including El Salvador, Honduras, Somalia and Sudan. Simply pausing deportation falls far short of the protections advocated by human rights groups. Take action with CREDO Mobile here. http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/haiti/?rc=acorn_011510_haiti 

Second: Give to one of these three organizations working right now to help Haitians help themselves:

Partners in Health/Zamni Lasante 
PIH has been doing cutting edge public health work on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years and is struggling mightily to respond to the magnitude of this disaster. They urgently need your support to help those affected Partners in Health 
https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti_earthquake?source=earthquake&subsource=standwithhaiti 

Grassroots International
Grassroots International building alliances with progressive movements worldwide. In Haiti they work with a coalition of nine Haitian community-based social justice organizations and have set up a fund to support the work of these organizations in response to the earthquake. https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5123/t/6631/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1694

Progressives for Haiti
A cooperative effort among progressive citizens' groups to provide immediate medical aid through Doctors Without Borders to the people of Haiti, in response to the devastating earthquake there. http://www.progressivesforhaiti.org/#WHAT 

I have a personal connection with Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante. In 2005 I received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award from the RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights in recognition of my Katrina-related work. The very first previous recipient that I ever met after I was honored was Loune Viaud, the 2002 laureate. Ms. Viaud is the Director of Strategic Planning for Zamni Lasante. https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti_earthquake?source=earthquake&subsource=standwithhaiti

I still vividly remember the outpouring of support and generosity offered to the victims of Katrina some four and a half years later. It is with that spirit and with a sense of solidarity with this week's earthquake victims that I urge you to contribute to one or more of the organizations above and tell President Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the US. http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/haiti/?rc=acorn_011510_haiti 

My hopes and prayers are with the people of Haiti right now and I know yours are too. 


In solidarity,

Steve Bradberry
Louisiana ACORN Head Organizer




-- 
Randy Stoecker

Professor
e-mail:  rstoecker at wisc.edu

Department of Community and Environmental Sociology
350 Agricultural Hall
1450 Linden Drive
Madison, Wisconsin
53706

Tel: (608) 890-0764
Fax: (608) 262-6022