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Hurricane Katrina: Your ideas
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YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSCNN.com asked readers to share their ideas and solutions to the problems caused by Hurricane Katrina. Here is a sampling from the responses, some of which have been edited: The Americans of the United States can help by donating anything; money, clothes, food, water, toys, paper, pens, crayons, coloring books, etc. to your local American Red Cross, Church, Salvation Army, etc. You can also create care packages to be sent to the shelters, which are the victims' home for now. A simple care package would mean so very much. I have several packages ready to be sent to the Astrodome. I know from experience, as I was affected by the three hurricanes which crossed over Polk County, and Lakeland, Florida, last year. I lost my house, I was nine months pregnant with my first child, I had no home to go to and my baby was due. I felt alone, so I know what the victims are experiencing. I will do everything in my power to help, I know that I cannot help them all, but a little goes a long way. We have hundreds of thousands of churches in America. Many of them could "adopt" a family, transport them to their locations, provide housing, food, clothing and assist them in finding employment. This would even out the huge task at hand and get people out of sports facilities and barracks. It would give them an opportunity to be part of a community and have their children in schools with other children that are not overcrowded. The few states that have graciously taken in these people should not bear the brunt of the burden. We all are responsible as American citizens. These are our people. If they choose to return to their homes in the future, they will take with them memories of people that care and will have made new friends for life. When looking at the refugees I cannot help but think of the children, having to endure all the hardship of this tragedy and as children, it is hard for them to express their suffering and anxiety. I think it would be a good idea if professionals trained in working with young people would come together in teams to provide support and group activities at the shelters in the coming weeks. How wonderful it would be to bring a smile back to those tender faces. I have been thinking seriously about the nurses and medical personnel who were left to care for the sick on the Gulf Coast --especially the nurses who were stranded in Louisiana. I think that after everything stabilizes for these folks it would be nice to congratulate these special people. I heard that many nurses called to alert the media about the need to evacuate the sick patients to safety. It was because of their heroics that many of these infants and sick people got the help they needed. It was because of their dedication to save these patients that many made it out alive. The doctors and especially the nurses were hand bagging the critically ill, ventilator-dependent patients for hours. One nurse, according to CNN, talked about how some of the nurses and doctors became ill themselves and the other healthcare providers started IVs on them. After re-hydrating them they returned to worked with their IVs in place and cared for the sick. Help me tap the right sources and get the recognition for these caring angels. -------------------------------------------------------- Think of all the things we have that the people in the wake of this storm have not. Give a dollar or five or ten or whatever you can afford for each item we take for granted and these poor people must do without. Ask small children to think of one thing they would miss if they were in this situation: a home? a job? a glass of water? a bath? a bed? a hug? The list is phenomenal. If you cannot send money, send your prayers for these people. Nashville, Tennessee, (Metro Housing Development) has several family units that are currently closed. The Government is tearing them down to build single family homes. We need to open up all those units to provide housing for these families at their time of need. These units are in great condition: 500 -700 units at John Henry Hale Housing Projects and possibly 200 units at Vine Hill housing. Section 8 certificates should be available to help with placement. Is it possible to evacuate the homeless survivors to U.S. Military bases? We have tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers and reserves stationed in Iraq. Does this equate to tens of thousands of empty bunks in barracks around the country? Plus the infrastructure to feed, provide medical care, etc. would already be in place. Why are airlines and major hotel chains not creating "pools" for us to donate our frequent flyer miles and hotel reward nights to Gulf Coast victims? We should be able to turn on our computer and immediately see these opportunities! I am watching and waiting in northwest Arkansas. My mother-in-law evacuated from Waveland, Mississippi, on Sunday. She has rented a home close to Bentonville. She is lucky and fully insured. A group of us critical care nurses and a doctor tried to volunteer to travel to the Gulf Coast today. We were told the Red Cross didn't have any requests for help in that area. WHAT???? This is very frustrating to those of us who can and are willing to help. I am currently speaking with local officials in Bend, Oregon, to see what our community can do to help. One of my suggestions has been to send contractors and engineers along with building materials down to the cities taking in evacuees to erect temporary shelters and build roads. Another idea I've had is to have our community send temp agencies down to sign up people and have the businesses that employ them transport them to the area. Local real estate investors could put them up in their vacant properties (rent free of course.) My bookkeeper tells me it's tax deductible if done properly. Finally, our Mayor (Bill Friedman) has suggested adopting a city as a sister city (such as Biloxi or Gulfport as they are our size) and help them rebuild. He has suggested we could directly work with our counterparts down there in helping rebuild and give aid. 
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