Bayou Liberty Relief served as an operational base for gulf coast hurricane recovery volunteers by providing secure housing and nutritional meals, coordinating with other hurricane recovery and relief organizations that utilize volunteer services and engaging in direct community service in the greater New Orleans/Slidell area. We work directly with Residents in cleaning out their homes, mold abatement, rebuilding their homes and clearing debris from their yards. We also provide a respite for long-term volunteers.

Making some changes

Mon, 04/30/2007 - 19:31 — Niki

Our website is undergoing some changes at this time. Over the next few days we will be adding new links to Organizations and Projects currently working in Mississippi and Louisiana for folks to volunteer their time, creativity and strength. Residents can also find some assistance by contacting any of the Organizations in their area. We will also be posting articles to keep you informed as to the struggle and achievements of so many Families and Communities through out the Gulf. You are invited to post your thoughts or add comments to any article about what is happening in the Gulf related to Katrina. If you are a Volunteer, please share with us your experiences, pictures and where you've worked. If you are a Resident of the 'Zone' we welcome you to write about your experiences as well. On our News page we will post articles related to important issue to all of us such as housing, education, health care, and our environment.

Broken Promises to a Broken Gulf

Thu, 04/19/2007 - 09:57 — Niki

Published: April 17, 2007

President Bush has reneged on his promises to Katrina’s victims. Shamefully, the president has chosen the interests of bureaucracy over those of American towns on the brink of failure.

Over a year and a half later, there are 64,000 people still sleeping in trailers in Louisiana and far too many communities without schools, hospitals and other basics. These are unacceptable failures. At least part of the problem is a law that requires states to contribute 10 percent of the cost of most federally financed reconstruction projects. Mr. Bush waived that requirement after the Sept. 11 attacks (as his father did after Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki) but he refuses to do so for the Gulf Coast.

Official to tell senators decisions are needed to rebuild

Thu, 04/12/2007 - 10:51 — Niki
GAO investigator to speak at hearing
Thursday, April 12, 2007
By Bruce Alpert

WASHINGTON -- A congressional investigator is expected to tell senators today that rebuilding efforts along the Gulf Coast are at a critical turning point, with key decisions needed soon from the federal government about funding for coastal restoration, levee protection, infrastructure, land use and rebuilding the area's economy.

The main message of Stanley Czerwinski, director of Strategic Issues for the Government Accountability Office, likely will be that a lot has been spent on Gulf Coast Recovery, but much more probably will be needed.

He's scheduled to be the lead witness today at the first hearing of the newly created Senate Home Security and Governmental Affairs Disaster Recovery Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. The GAO is the investigatory agency for Congress.

SEVEN SISTERS MARDI GRAS QUILT

Sat, 03/10/2007 - 15:19 — Niki
SEVEN SISTERS MARDI GRAS QUILT

We want to thank Laura Fogg who created the quilt and donated it to United Peace Relief for this raffle.

  • 1862 reads

Update from United Peace Relief

Sat, 03/10/2007 - 15:00 — Niki

Hi all,

Our website has been updated recently and United Peace Relief still
has a presence in the gulf doing what we can. We have several
projects in the works and need your help.

Help us support reconstruction in the Gulf Coast and disaster relief.
We are very excited about our raffle of this beautiful quilt
celebrating New Orleans and Mardi Gras. We want to thank Laura Fogg
who created the quilt and donated it to United Peace Relief for this
raffle. Laura is an award-winning quilter from Mendocino County. You
can see some of her other beautiful quilts here

Veterans For Peace Return to the Gulf Coast March 19 -31

Tue, 03/06/2007 - 12:04 — Niki

Veterans For Peace Return to the Gulf Coast March 19 -31 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In solidarity with the people of the and understanding that every bomb dropped in explodes over the U.S. Gulf Coast, Veterans For Peace and partner organizations will return to the area devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to aid in reconstruction efforts.

The project will raise money and volunteers to aid in rebuilding homes for survivors of the hurricanes. In addition, we will raise awareness of the continued plight of the gulf coast survivors and the persistent commitment to an illegal, immoral war fought at staggering costs, both financially and in human casualties.

Trailer park being emptied; FEMA says it was unsafe

Sun, 03/04/2007 - 13:55 — Niki

HAMMOND, La. -- FEMA gave residents of a 63-unit trailer park 48 hours notice to leave. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said the park was too filthy to live in. The trailer park's owner said it was bureaucratic vengeance.

Residents got the word Friday afternoon. on Saturday, FEMA teams returned with moving vans and at least 100 people to help residents pack and move.

"Katrina gave us more notice than this," said resident Cecile DeGreat.

FEMA spokesman Ronnie Simpson said, "We don't want to have to do this. We have to." He said the trailer park had become a public health hazard. Its sewer treatment system pours onto grass. The electricity was cut off last week for the third time since Oct. 12.

An Entergy meter service representative told residents the landowners were behind on their bill. The power was restored by Wednesday afternoon.

Feeding 18,000 Families a Month in One Neighborhood

Wed, 02/28/2007 - 00:13 — ken

February 26, 2007

The Right to Return to New Orleans
By BILL QUIGLEY

Each morning, Debra South Jones drives 120 miles into New Orleans to cook and serve over 300 hot free meals each day to people in New Orleans East, where she lived until Katrina took her home. Ms. Jones and several volunteers also distribute groceries to 18,000 families a month through their group, Just the Right Attitude. Who comes for food? "Most of the people are working on their own houses because they can't afford contractors," Ms. Jones said. "They are living in their gutted-out houses with no electricity."

Why do thousands of people need food and why are people living in gutted-out houses with no electricity? Look at New Orleans eighteen months after Katrina and you will realize why it is so difficult for people to exercise the human right to return to their homes.

Half the homes in New Orleans still do not have electricity. Eighteen months after Katrina, a third of a million people in the New Orleans metro area have not returned.

As houses rise in Phoenix, the saws sound sweeter than ever

Fri, 02/02/2007 - 01:00 — Niki

Source: Oxfam  Date: 02 Feb 2007

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Rev. Tyronne Edwards was on a mission—just as he has been pretty much every day since the storm surge from hurricane Katrina sloshed over the levees in his tiny town on the east bank of the Mississippi River. When the water receded—it had been 14 feet deep—there wasn’t much left of Phoenix, La: Out of 166 homes, barely 25 or 30 of them were habitable.

But on this day—with a power saw whining and the sermons of the late civil rights leader blaring from a pair of speakers—Edwards nudged his little community and lifelong home one step closer to recovery. By the time the sun had gone down, he and a small crew of helpers, including his 15-year-old son, Sadiki, had put the finishing touches on an office at one end of an old mobile home that is morphing—yet again—into a new nerve center for Phoenix.

New York photographer help N.O. kids put their world in focus

Wed, 04/26/2006 - 00:00 — Niki

By Lynne Jensen                 
Staff writer

Dancing down the aisle of historic St. Augustine Church in Treme, the Rev. Jerome LeDoux punched the air, singing "Shake the Devil Off" as Nikon-toters recorded one of his last moments as pastor. Among them was Aaliliah Carr, 9, joined by fellow photography student Niya Zulu, 8.

While other photographers are recording New Orleans' bleak, post-Katrina landscape, Jim Belfon is focusing on its storm-struck people, especially young people yearning to see their world through the lens of a camera.

Belfon, whose love of photography blossomed during the heyday of 1950s jazz, is the executive director of the Photographic Center of Harlem, where he has helped children learn and appreciate photography for 18 years. He plans to set up a similar center in New Orleans, where he has taken up residence, to help youngsters investigate photography as a recreational activity, an art form and a career choice.
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