To those who have been checking this space from time to time:

Today is my last day in the office. I start a new position near San Antonio next month working at the Center for Servant Leadership at Texas Lutheran University. Monica, my co-worker in the Gulf Disaster Response program, will continue for another 6 months, but she too is nearing the end of her term.

MCC is in the process of thinking carefully about long-term leadership for its long-term presence in New Orleans. It might be a few more months before everything is sorted out. In the meantime, this blog will go into hiatus. Thanks for stopping by!

Peace,
tim

The news release below was sent out by the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice on May 30. Click here to see a video about the strike. --tim

WASHINGTON, DC – Indian guest worker Paul Konar, the "hunger strike strongman" who is leading a fast on behalf of over 550 Indian labor trafficking survivors, astonished doctors during a brief hospital visit on Thursday with his near-ideal health after more than two weeks without food.

"My strength is God's gift," said Paul, who celebrated his 54th birthday on Wednesday, blowing out birthday candles on top of a water bottle. "I have 140 nuns praying for me morning and night in the Convent of St. Alfonse. Their prayers are my food." (See photos at www.flickr.com/photos/nolaoworkerscenter.)

Paul's incredible endurance has helped inspire allies from the Jobs With Justice coalition in over 40 US cities to write 8,766 letters to US Congressmen in support of the workers since the start of the hunger strike.

Read more! »

This is a message from UNITY of Greater New Orleans, a collaborative of 60 agencies working to end homelessness and bring New Orleans home. --tim

Please do not abandon the most vulnerable victims of Katrina and Rita -- that is the message we want to give to national congressional leaders this week. We have set a goal of generating 1000 more calls from Louisiana and around the country into the offices of the national Congressional leadership by Thursday!

Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Senator Robert Byrd, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, have led a successful fight in the Senate that resulted, two weeks ago, in inclusion in the Supplemental Appropriations Bill of funding for 3000 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) rent vouchers for the most vulnerable victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita for Louisiana. This week we must fight relentlessly to preserve this victory as the Bill goes to the House! Please send this Call to Action to your friends and family around the nation!

As early as this Thursday, the House of Representatives is expected to vote whether to accept the Senate's version. There is pressure to eliminate the Permanent Supportive Housing funding, modest as it is. The House so far has omitted Louisiana's vouchers from its version of the Bill!

Read more! »

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that many people in New Orleans are still experiencing mental health problems. While its been almost three years since the levees broke, the reality is that many people are still living three to four families in a home, more and more people are visibly homeless, most of the levees aren't any stronger than they were in 2005, the service economy still isn't paying living wages, violent crime continues to rise, and the criminal justice system is just as broken as it was before.

An article in this week's Gambit newspaper draws attention to yet another broken social system: mental health care. According to the state board of medical examiners, there are only 138 registered psychiatrists in the city, a third or a fourth of the national average for comparably sized cities. The situation is so bad that for the last 18 months, the federal government has designated New Orleans as a "Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Area." And this is in the midst of a documented crisis situation; studies show that 25-40% of New Orleans' residents suffer from disaster-related mood and anxiety disorders.

In this light, MCC's current and partnership with the Twomey Center for Peace Through Justice (Loyola University) seems even more important. For the last 18 months, the Twomey Center has organized and coordinated trauma healing workshops to empower New Orleanians with the skills they need to deal with their own trauma and pass on those skills to others. The 2-day workshop model originated in South America in response to political and natural disasters. In New Orleans, it has been adapted to incorporate the ongoing traumatic effects of racism and other isms, in addition to responding to trauma resulting from Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaks.

The picture above was taken during one of the workshops and provided by the Twomey Center. --Tim

Mennonite Mission Network recently published this really insightful discussion about race and history. Having talked about some of these same topics just yesterday (while discussing black-brown opportunities in New Orleans), it seems that this exchange is very relevant to Gulf Coast Reconstruction. --Tim