Spring 2006 Issue of Shetlerforce Magazine: Katrina

Posted by on October 6, 2006

[posted from Comm-Org]

David Holtzman

NEW ISSUE OF SHELTERFORCE MAGAZINE!

The Spring 2006 issue of Shelterforce Magazine features articles on how activists and community developers are organizing and rebuilding the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. We look at how activists have organized evacuees to demand that government provide housing and other critical assistance. We also feature articles on recovery efforts led by community groups with the support of national intermediaries, and activist pressure for citizen-led neighborhood planning. The power of community developers to be a
force for change has rarely been more evident. You will find a summary and links to each of the feature articles below. Contact David Holtzman at dholtzman@nhi.org with questions. To view the full issue or subscribe, go to http://www.nhi.org.

Katrina: A Political Disaster

A history of discrimination and greed compounded by an ideology bent on dismantling government made the inept federal response inevitable. It’s time to bring back good government big enough to meet the people’s needs.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/145/politicaldisaster.html

Picking Up The Pieces
Displaced and overwhelmed, three major organizing networks – ACORN, IAF and PICO – provided immediate aid to evacuees and began working for long-term equitable recovery. Will they be able to rise to the human and political challenges they now face?
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/145/pickinguppieces.html

A National Spotlight on Local Capacity
In the wake of Katrina’s devastation, intermediaries are creating new collaborations. But the Gulf Coast’s limited community development capacity may minimize their results.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/145/nationalspotlight.html

The Shifting Landscape of New Orleans
Big-time planners are working hard to recreate the Big Easy. But if it’s going to be a better city than it was, these planners must involve poor residents as equal partners and give them a place in the new New Orleans.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/145/shiftinglandscape.html

Monkey See, Monkey Do
Katrina coverage spotlights the inability or unwillingness of the media to cover poverty. If the media doesn’t report on it, can we expect the public to understand it?
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/145/monkeyseemonkeydo.html

Also in this issue:

Designing a Socially Just Downtown
A grassroots coalition in Oakland used its organizing and design skills to produce a housing proposal the city couldn’t refuse, despite the mayor’s stiff opposition.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/145/designingdowntown.html

Frank Wilkinson’s Legacy
Remembering an advocate whose belief in decent affordable housing led to a life devoted to the preservation of our civil liberties.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/145/wilkinson.html

Important reading in the new issue of Shelterforce, the Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Building.